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They were off early this morning in Las Vegas as players began their efforts to capture the Shriners Children’s Open. With ideal conditions and not a breath of wind, numerous players dismantled TPC Summerlin with ease. Some better than others, as it was Sung Kang who got off to the early lead, courtesy of a 10-under 61.
Unfortunately, a week too late on our end when it comes to Kang, the South Korean rode nine birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey to his memorable day. Beginning his round on the back-nine – the slightly easier side – Kang turned in 5-under 31. Remaining at said number through 12, the 34-year-old found a different gear in the final third.
Making birdie on three of his next four holes, Kang skirted by the difficult par-3 eighth before arriving to the gettable par-5 ninth. Hitting his drive into the fairway bunker, Kang would find the green from 260 yards out, converting an unlikely eagle to card a first round 61.
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He will head into the second round with a two-stroke lead over his fellow countryman Sungjae Im, former Las Vegas resident Charley Hoffman, and PGA Tour rookie Chad Ramey. With plenty others within striking distance, Kang will need to keep the birdies coming as a winning score somewhere north of 20-under is likely to present itself, barring any ugly weather.
The oddsmakers at PointsBet Sportsbook have Im as the favorite with 54-holes to go despite trailing his fellow South Korean by a couple of strokes. Searching for his first victory since the 2020 Honda Classic, the 23-year-old ironman has taken to TPC Summerlin in the past and appears to have once again.
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Updated Odds to Win (Odds Via PointsBet):
+800: Sungjae Im
+1200: Matthew Wolff
+1400: Charley Hoffman
+1600: Hideki Matsuyama
+1800: Louis Oosthuizen
+2000: Sung Kang
+2200: Sam Burns
+2500: Taylor Moore
+2800: Chad Ramey
+3000: Talor Gooch
+3300: Adam Schenk, Corey Conners, Viktor Hovland, Taylor Pendrith
+4000: Cameron Tringale
+5000: Anirban Lahiri, Brandon Hagy, Brooks Koepka, Chesson Hadley, Jason Kokrak, Mito Pereira
Round 2 Plays (Odds Via PointsBet):
Cam Davis (+139) over Nick Taylor and Kevin Tway
On paper, a course such as TPC Summerlin should fit Davis’ game like a glove. A big-hitter by nature, the smooth swinging Australian opened Thursday with a round of 4-under 67. Despite a decent start, it could have been much better for the recent Rocket Mortgage Classic victor.
Gaining strokes in each tee-to-green metric, the 26-year-old ranked 11th in said category on Thursday. However, losing more than a stroke on the greens, Davis’ first-round left plenty to be desired. Having figured out these greens in the past – posting +6.4 Strokes Gained: Putting in 2018 and +2.6 SG: Putting in 2020 – I expect some regression on Friday. Typically doing his best work on bent grass, Davis should continue to give himself plenty of scoring opportunities, it will just be a matter of converting them at a more efficient clip.
A player who did putt well in the first-round was Taylor who opened with a 6-under 65. On the shoulders of a steady short game – 33rd in SG: Around-the-Green and 13th in SG: Putting – the Canadian threatened to grab the early lead.
If not for this, it could have been a long day for Taylor as his irons fell short, something I see continuing into tomorrow. With Tway struggling in the ball-striking department and putting on Thursday, if Davis improves slightly on the greens in Round 2, he should be able to take care of business.
Hudson Swafford (+205) over Si Woo Kim and Patton Kizzire
Finishing the day 25th in SG: Tee-to-Green, I figure it is worth wagering Swafford can continue his steady ball-striking tomorrow. Top-20 on approach, the former Georgia Bulldog struggled on and around-the-greens. While the shortcomings are not unusual around-the-green, on the greens he has been better, especially on bent grass.
Gaining strokes on the field in his last three outings on bent grass – the John Deere Classic, the Barbasol Championship, and the BMW Championship – a clear comfort level on this surface has been established. Having hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation in the first-round, if Swafford strikes his irons in a similar manner, he should be able to improve on his round of 4-under 67.
Both Kizzire and Kim had their difficulties from tee-to-green. For Kim, his irons weren’t all too bad, but his short-game was nowhere to be seen. Similarly, Kizzire also struggled in those areas of the game in addition to his iron woes. While both of these players have shown the ability to find form out of thin air and bounce back from a poor round, I’ll side with the heavy underdog with the better ball-striking in Swafford.
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