The PGA Tour continues this week as it visits TPC Summerlin for the 2021 Shriners Children’s Open. Read on below to see my prediction for who will win the tournament, as well as my predictions for who will finish in the top 10, my dark horse, and my player to fade.
Winner: Abraham Ancer- Ancer has been one of the hottest golfers on the planet the past few months, with 9 top 20 finishes in his last 12 starts, including a win at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and is coming off of back-to-back top 10 finishes to close out the FedEx Cup Playoffs at the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. Ancer has been feast or famine at TPC Summerlin, with 2 top 5 finishes and 3 missed cuts in 5 career starts. Ancer has been lighting up courses of late also, going a combined -48 in his last 4 starts. All of this leads to a victory for Abraham Ancer this week!
Top 10: Si Woo Kim- Kim has kicked off the new PGA Tour season in fine fashion, finishing T-11 at the Fortinet Championship and T-8 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Kim rides that momentum into TPC Summerlin, where he has 3 top 25 finishes in 4 career starts, including a T-8 finish here last year. Kim is playing some fine golf right now and I predict that that will culminate with another top 10 finish this week.
Dark Horse: Matthew NeSmith- NeSmith has struggled lately, missing 7 of his last 12 cuts. However, he has a sterling track record at TPC Summerlin, with a pair of top 20 finishes in his 2 starts here, including a T-8 finish last year. NeSmith has shot in the 60’s in each of his 8 rounds here and will be a force to be reckoned with if he can get the putter going. A top 30 finish is certainly realistic for NeSmith this week.
Player to Fade: Jonas Blixt- Blixt has been in quite the slump of late, missing the cut in 7 of his last 10 PGA Tour starts, including both cuts this season. Blixt comes into TPC Summerlin with mixed results, including a 3rd place finish here in 2012 to go along with 3 missed cuts in 5 starts in this event. With no rounds better than 72 so far this season, Blixt is an easy fade and will miss the cut this week.