TPC Summerlin Key Fantasy Stats

Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

November 2nd – 5th, 2017

TPC Summerlin

Las Vegas, NV

Par: 71 / Yardage: 7,255

Purse: $6.8 million

with $1,188,000 to the winner

Defending Champion:
Rod Pampling

by Sal Johnson

Founder, Chief Data Officer, GOLFstats

E-mail me at:
sal@golfstats.com

This is based on the most vital stats from TPC Summerlin based on data from last year’s Shriners Hospital for Children and using data from all the players in the field with stats from 2017.
TPC Summerlin has a long history on the PGA Tour, it was first part of the Shriners rota in 1992 just after the course opened when the tournament was 90 holes and utilized three courses. Starting in 1995 it was the home course of the event and became the sole venue of the tournament in 2008. The course has always been well respected and for a desert course is one of the hardest. The Par 71 course measures 7,255 yards. It has a course rating of 74.3 and a slope rating of 139. The players love the course, many since they can score low on it on a normal day without wind.

Last year the course played to a 69.62 scoring average, a shot and a half under par. It was the 40th hardest course on the PGA Tour. One of the reasons for the low scoring is the three par 5s, they played to an average of of 4.54, as the field of 144 was 598 under par. So with that thinking you may think the course is a bombers delight, but it really isn’t. If you look at the winners of this event since 2008 only one bomber won the event, Smylie Kaufman in 2016. But in looking at all of the other winners, champions like Rod Pampling, Ben Martin, Webb Simpson, Ryan Moore and Marc Turnesa have always been part of the bottom third of drivers so they don’t hit it far. So what kind of players wins at TPC Summerlin?

Of the ten champions since 2007, five of them were in the top-five of greens in regulation and only one champion, Kevin Na, was higher than 13th (Na was 40th when he won in 2011). Another important item is putting, five of the winners were in the top-10 in putting average with only two not in the top-20. The one stat that seems important is that of the ten winners, seven of them were in double digits in under par figures on the par 4s. 2010 winner Jonathan Byrd was the best at 14 under, last year Rod Pampling was 13 under on the par 4s.

In looking at the course averages from last year, the one thing that sticks out is that TPC Summerlin was the 7th hardest course to drive it on the fairway. Last year it was the hardest in looking at the history of the course, in 2016 it ranked 11th and in 2015 it was 17th so hitting it straight is important. In looking at our champions since 2009, all of them finished in the top-20 with last year’s winner Rod Pampling ranking T-15th. Some other keys to playing well is making lot’s of birdies, last year Pampling had 24 birdies and 2 eagles, so meaning that for every three holes he played, he was under par on 1 hole.

One important item is the weather, everyday is mostly perfect in Las Vegas this time of year with lot’s of sun and temperatures in the mid-70s. But if the wind blows, that is the only true challenge for the players. Last year there was very little wind, reason for the low scores. But this year it will be windy, on Thursday it will blow 12 mph, on Friday and Sunday 14 mph and Saturday the wind will blow at 17 mph which will make things harder for the players.

So in looking at our four categories, we see how much driving hit straight and far makes a difference. So we pick Strokes Gained off-the-tee because driving is the key to playing well. Our second important category is proximity to the hole. The course ranked 39th in greens hit which means lot’s of greens will be hit, but something that is striking is the course ranked 11th last year in proximity to hole, averaging 37 feet, 3 inches from the hole. So in order to make birdies, the person that gets his shots from the fairways close will do very well. Next up we pick not only scrambling but Sand saves, because if the greens are missed you have to still make par. Last year the field averaged 11th in scrambling and with 51 greenside bunkers, the field was 5th in sand save percentage so our third category is strokes Gained Around-the-Green. Last we pick par breakers which is the combination of birdies and eagles made during the round. Making lot’s of birdies and eagles is always important, especially on a desert course like TPC Summerlin.

*Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green: Looks at the combination of length off the tee and accuracy, then getting the ball on the green so it determines who is best at all of these items.

*Proximity to Hole: The average length of that a shot going into the green leaves a player.

*Strokes Gained Around-the-Green: Looks at the combination of gaining strokes by getting up and down after missing a green.

*Par Breakers: Combination of birdies and eagles to get a percentage of holes played under par

93 of the 144 Players from this year’s field with stats from 2017:

Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.