A handful of Ryder Cup players will make their PGA Tour season debut on Thursday when the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open tee off at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas. Brooks Koepka, Harris English and Scottie Scheffler will be in attendance at the 2021 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open this week after helping Team USA destroy Europeans at 19-9 in Whistling Straits last month. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Tiger Woods’ first PGA Tour win at TPC Summerlin, only the fifth start of his professional career. Martin Laird is the defending champion after taking his first Tour win in more than seven years in a playoff and his second at Summerlin (2009).
Viktor Hovland is the 20-1 favorite in the latest Shriners Children’s Open 2021 golf odds from Caesars Sportsbook. Sam Burns, who took a win in Mississippi last week, is 22-1 along with Koepka, and Scheffler (25-1) and Abraham Ancer (25-1) are also expected to be in the mix. Caesars lists Laird as a big 150-1 long shot to defend his title at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Before you bet on the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open or make any predictions about the PGA Tour, you need to see what established golf insider Sal Johnson has to say.
The media legend and respected golf insider has a strong track record of picks and knows what it takes to win on the PGA Tour. And last week at the Sanderson Farms Championship, he nailed Burns as his winner. He noted the 25-year-old’s recent results and knew he’d finished third in Jackson two years earlier.
Burns went out and made four birdies on a six-hole course on Sunday’s second nine to win his second PGA Tour title, and Johnson knew he had the swing.
Johnson is also coming off a stellar season in which he demonstrated his uncanny talent at judging how players fit the courses. Before the US Open in June, he counted Jon Rahm among his best bets on victory and praised Louis Oosthuizen 45-1 as his best long-shot candidate. Rahm and Oosthuizen fought to the finish and Rahm stormed to his first major title.
And before the Tokyo Olympics, he counted Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama among his top five golfers. Schauffele won the gold medal for Team USA while the other three made it to the bronze playoff.
He was also one of the few experts to say Kevin Kisner had a legitimate 55-1 chance before taking his first stroke play win in more than four years at the Wyndham Championship. Anyone who followed Johnson’s advice made a lot of money.
Now Johnson, the first producer of “Inside the PGA Tour,” a longtime ABC Sports golf producer who worked with Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, and founder of the world’s leading golf statistics database, has his highly trusted Shriners Children’s Open golf tips for 2021 published and they will surprise you. You can only see Johnson’s expert PGA tour picks on SportsLine.
Top predictions for Shriners Children’s Open 2021
Terrifyingly, golf expert Koepka, who is one of the favorites among odds makers, pales. The 31-year-old finished in the top six of three majors and won a tournament last season despite undergoing major knee surgery in February. But Koepka has set a spotty record at TPC Summerlin. He finished second in 2017 and fourth with the same number of points in 2015, but missed the cut in his three other appearances. The golfer doesn’t know which Koepka will show up this week, and he has several better options that may fly under your radar.
Johnson, on the other hand, has been watching Hovland develop since he turned pro two years ago and knows he should be in the mix. The Norwegian has two tour victories and also won the BMW International Open in Munich this summer. This is his first time with the Shriners, but his game should suit Summerlin well. Last season he was fifth on the tee shot, eighth on the tee shot to the green and ninth on the scoring average (69.888). He finished in the top three five times, including a win at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in December.
The golfer also knows Webb Simpson doesn’t get a lot of attention, but he certainly has a knack for holding his own. Simpson is overlooked for lack of strength (134th in driving distance last season) but his ability makes up for it. He is one of the most accurate players on the tour (21st on the greens in regulation, 26th in accuracy) and he does poorly (eighth in par breakers, 10th on average). He won this event in 2014 and was in the top 10 four times in 10 appearances. He missed the cut on his debut, but was only under 31st place one more time.
How to do 2021 Shriners Children’s Open golf picks
This week, the golf expert in Las Vegas is backing a massive long shot that lands at around 50: 1. This golfer got off to a strong start to the season and is known to be dangerous when he gets rolling. He could easily take a shocking win at TPC Summerlin and anyone who supports this underdog could cash in tremendously. You can only get this selection and the rest of Johnson’s PGA Tour forecast and analysis from SportLine.
Who will win the Shriners Children’s Open 2021? Where do Viktor Hovland and Webb Simpson end? And what huge width is a must-back? Check out the odds below, then head to SportsLine to see Sal Johnson’s full standings, tips and analysis for the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open, all from insiders who know what it takes to win the PGA Tour, and find out.
2021 Shriners Children’s Open Odds, Field, Top Contenders
Brooks Koepka 20-1
Viktor Hovland 20-1
Sam Burns 22-1
Abraham Ancer 25-1
Webb Simpson 25-1
Kevin Na 25-1
Louis Oosthuizen 25-1
Scottie Scheffler 25-1
Hideki Matsuyama 28-1
Will Zalatoris 28-1
Harris English 30-1
Patrick Reed 30-1
Paul Casey 33-1
Corey Conners 33-1
Sungjae Im 33-1
Si-Woo Kim 35-1
Adam Scott 40-1
Cameron Tringale 40-1
Matthew Wolff 45-1
Jason Kokrak 45-1
Joaquin Niemann 45-1
Erik Van Rooyen 45-1
Maverick McNealy 50-1
Charley Hoffman 50-1
Kevin Streelman 50-1
Brian Harman 50-1
The myth of Pereira 50-1
Russell Henley 60-1
Talor Gooch 66-1
Marc Leishman 66-1
Ryan Palmer 80-1
Adam Hadwin 80-1
Taylor Moore 80-1
Ian Poulter 80-1
Cameron Davis 80-1
Emiliano Grillo 80-1
Aaron Wise 80-1
Rickie Fowler 100-1
Patton Kizzire 100-1
Carlos Ortiz 100-1
Pat Perez 100-1
Doug pin 100-1
Luke List 100-1
Stewart Cink 100-1
Sebastian Munoz 100-1
Seamus Power 100-1
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 100-1
Chad Ramey 100-1
Kevin Kisner 100-1
Lanto Griffin 100-1
Denny McCarthy 100-1
Danny Willett 100-1
Joel Dahmen 100-1
Sahith Theegala 100-1
Henrik Norlander 100-1
Lucas Glover 100-1
Charl Schwartzel 125-1
Garrick Higgo 125-1
Roger Sloan 125-1
Russell Knox 125-1
Joseph Bramlett 125-1
Cameron Young 125-1
Rasmus Hojgaard 125-1
Ryan Moore 125-1
Stephan Jäger 125-1
Scott Stallings 150-1
Tom Hoge 150-1
Hayden Buckley 150-1
Brendan Steele 150-1
Martin Laird 150-1
Francesco Molinari 150-1
Harry Higgs 150-1
Brandt Snedeker 150-1
Dylan Frittelli 150-1
Seth Reeves 150-1
At Reavie 150-1
Hudson Swafford 150-1
Adam Schenk 150-1
Kyle Stanley 150-1
Troy Merritt 150-1
Scott Piercy 150-1
Brendon Todd 150-1
Matt Kuchar 150-1
Charles Howell 150-1
Nick Watney 150-1
Matt Jones 150-1
Zach Johnson 150-1
Mark Hubbard 175-1
Chesson Hadley 200-1
Chun-An Yu 200-1
Keith Mitchell 200-1
Matt Wallace 200-1
Sam Ryder 200-1
Peter Malnati 200-1
James Hahn 200-1
Nick Taylor 200-1
Sepp Straka 200-1
Robert Streb 200-1
Matthew NeSmith 200-1
Nate Lashley 200-1
Rory Sabbatini 200-1
Brian Stuard 200-1
Greyson Sigg 200-1
Michael Thompson 200-1
Doc Redman 200-1
Kevin Tway 200-1
Aaron Rai 200-1
Davis Riley 250-1
Adam Svensson 250-1
Hank Lebioda 250-1
Bronson Burgoon 250-1
Wyndham Clark 250-1
Trey Mullinax 250-1
JT Poston 250-1
Brandon leaves 250-1
Brice Garnett 250-1
Andrew Landry 250-1
Andrew Putnam 250-1