The PGA Tour makes the trek back west to Las Vegas for the Shiners Children’s Open hosted once again at TPC Summerlin. We are going back to the well this week in terms of how to handicap this field and what metrics to emphasize. It may sound overly simplistic, but in a birdie fest at TPC Summerlin, we are focusing on approach play and putting. Over 70 percent of strokes gained among top finishers historically in this event have come from approach and putting. That is one of the highest marks of any course on Tour. Thus, off the tee and around the green only account for less than 30 percent total of strokes gained. Why is that the case? The green-in-regulation rate here is extremely high, which means fewer opportunities to be chipping and pitching around the green. In terms of off the tee, this course is not overly difficult and not overly long so strokes gained ends up being fairly condensed.

Keep it simple this week and look at players who can hit their irons well and/or putt the lights out. Let’s look at three players to target this week:

Adam Schenk $9,200

Schenk is one of only two players who rank both top 10 in approach and putting in this field (other is Eric Cole). He has finished 27th or better in five of his last six starts in this event. Schenk has made great strides over the last year going from outside the top 200 in the world to his current rank of 42nd. The $9,200 is a very cheap price in this field for a player who made it all the way to the Tour Championship this year, where he had the sixth best gross score of the week.

Tom Hoge $8,700

This is a great buy-low spot for Hoge. We are getting a bit of a depressed price because of his lackluster summer. Hoge came back to form last week, finishing 13th at the Sanderson Farms while gaining 5.7 strokes on approach. He has finished 24th or better in each of his last three appearances at this event, including a fourth place finish last year. If he can continue that hot approach play, he will have a very good chance at recording another high finish in this event.

Doug Ghim $7,800

Most people are going to just pass by Ghim at this price. But if you dig into Ghim’s performance and metrics, he actually has great value this week. I know he missed the cut last week at the Sanderson Farms. However, Ghim shot four-under the first two rounds while losing over three strokes putting and missed the cut on the number. Prior to last week, he made nine of his last 10 cuts, including finishing top 27 in eight of those 10 events. He also ranks top 10 in approach in this field and has made the cut each of the last two years at this event. The $7,800 price is a great value for a player who is very likely to make the cut and give us a chance at a top 20 finish.