The PGA Tour is already entering its fourth tournament of the 2022-23 season with the Shriners Children’s Open taking place this weekend at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Some players who competed in the Presidents Cup two weeks ago are in the field this week, including some who are making their season debuts such as Patrick Cantlay and Sungjae Im.
Im and Cantlay are recent winners of the Shriners Children’s Open with Im taking home the trophy last year and Cantlay winning in 2017.
In addition, Rickie Fowler and Jason Day, two former golfers who were at or near the top of the Official World Golf Rankings, also in the field this week.
Unlike last year when Las Vegas was home to two consecutive tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule, the Shriners Children’s Open is the main event this year in Sin City.
Here are 10 players who can win the tournament on Sunday.
10. Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler is a PGA Tour Player who is trying to remake a name for himself this week at the Shriners Children’s Open as he was the final player in the FedEx Cup playoffs two months ago at spot No. 125.
Fowler, who reached No. 4 in the world ranking in 2016, does not want to get to the point where he loses his PGA Tour Card at the end of the season in 10 months. Getting a win in Las Vegas would mean the 13-year PGA Tour veteran would be able to retain his card for another two years.
Fowler got off to a good start to the season at the Fortinet Championship with a score of -11 and a sixth-place finish.
Keeping that momentum would be huge heading into this week’s Shriners Children’s Open. On Thursday, Fowler tees off on the 10th hole in a featured group with Jason Day and Taylor Pendrith at 7:13 a.m. PT.
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9. Harry Hall
With some of the game’s top golfers not in the field this week, it opens for the door for younger players and PGA Tour rookies.
The next three players have all earned their PGA Tour card for the 2022-23 season through the Korn Ferry Tour and have a legitimate shot to win this week.
Despite missing the cut at the Fortinet Championship and the Sanderson Farms Championship last week, Hall has the opportunity to change that in his second appearance in Las Vegas.
Twelve months ago, Hall recorded his best PGA Tour finish to date with an eighth-place card at last year’s Shriners Children’s Open. He started the tournament 66-65 to help him make the cut and work his way up the leaderboard to a top 10 finish.
Hall tees off Thursday at 1:08 p.m. PT on the first tee with Taylor Montgomery and Justin Suh.
8. Nick Hardy
Nick Hardy is a PGA Tour rookie this season as he was one of 25 players to earn their PGA Tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour.
He ultimately could have earned PGA Tour full exemption status, but he finished one spot behind the mark a couple of months ago. By just missing out on his exemption status, he still improves his card to conditional status this season.
Hardy has the momentum in his favor heading into this week as he finished top five at the Sanderson Farms Championship last week.
Hardy tees off at 8:08 a.m. PT on Thursday with Justin Lower and Austin Smotherman on the first tee.
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7. Thomas Detry
Thomas Detry was another player who saw excellence a season ago on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn himself a spot on the PGA Tour.
Like Hardy, Detry also has momentum on his side this week after he finished 12th at the Fortinet Championship and ninth last week.
Having that consistency early, especially for a rookie, is key even if Detry were to go up against players with years of PGA Tour experience on Sunday in a playoff.
In the Shriners Children’s Open first round, Detry tees off at 8:41 a.m. PT with Joseph Bramlett and Derek Deminsky.
6. Tom Kim
Tom Kim enters this week after a two-week break from competing for the international side at the Presidents Cup.
At Quail Hollow, Tom Kim had one of the top shots of the week with a birdie to seal a full point for the International Team that gave them some spark heading into Sunday.
Tom Kim, who is making his 2022-23 PGA Tour season debut this week, recorded a victory at the Wyndham Championship to punch his ticket in the FedEx Cup Playoffs the following week where he got to the BMW Championship but could finish inside the top 30 in the standings to compete at the Tour Championship.
From last season’s PGA Tour finish to his motivation at the Presidents Cup, Tom Kim is a player to watch this week.
5. Max Homa
Max Homa was on a roller coaster before teeing off for Team USA in Charlotte, N.C a couple weeks ago. Homa won the first event of the PGA Tour schedule at the Fortinet Championship before winning all four of his matches at the Presidents Cup.
At the Fortinet Championship in Napa, Calif., one of the positives for Homa was he one of six golfers with four or less bogeys for the entire tournament. In addition, the 31-year-old’s first round was successful due to his greens in regulations clip at 83.33%, which helped jump out to a 7-under 65 to begin his tournament and his season.
Related: U.S. wins ninth straight Presidents Cup
4. Cam Davis
Cam Davis was another member of the International Team that competed at the Presidents Cup a couple weeks ago.
Davis won two of his five matchups, going 2-3-0.
This week, Davis is making second start of the season and enters the year after winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic during the 2020-21 season.
The Aussie, who currently resides in Seattle, missed the cut at the Fortinet Championship. However, he and others from the International Team at the Presidents Cup were able to take a lot in not only for their team, but also for themselves as individuals playing on the PGA Tour.
The confidence will only be able to grow as he begins his first round on Thursday in a featured group at 12:13 p.m. PT with K.H. Lee and Christiaan Bezuidenhout on the first tee.
3. Si Woo Kim
Si Woo Kim was another International Team participant at the Presidents Cup two weeks ago. Despite a losing effort, each player is looking to keep that confidence moving forward,.
The 27-year-old and South Korean native is looking to start his season off on the right foot at the Shriners Children’s Open.
Si Woo Kim tees off in a featured group with Homa and Tom Kim on Thursday at 7:24 a.m. PT on the 10th tee.
Related: Sungjae Im defends at Shriners Children’s Open
2. Sungjae Im
One of the best moments from the Presidents Cup two weeks off the course was Sungjae Im dancing to “Gangam Style.”
However on the course, there is a reason Im represented the International team. Im went 2-2-1 during his five matches, including taking down one of the PGA Tour’s breakout players from a season ago in Cameron Young, 1 up in the final round of singles match play.
Im, who is the reigning champion of this event, was not only atop the leaderboard in scoring a year ago, but he had an astonishing 86.1% clip with his greens in regulation. That led him to having a tournament second-best 26 birdies.
Finally, in order to win on Sunday, you have to put up a good score and Im did that, firing a 9-under 62 in last year’s final round of the Shriners Children’s Open on the par-71 TPC Summerlin course.
1. Patrick Cantlay: The Shriners Children’s Open headliner
Patrick Cantlay enters this week’s Shriners Children’s Open as the game’s best golfer in the field with a No. 4 Official World Golf Ranking.
Cantlay, 30, has played this event having finished no lower than eighth in 2020, including winning he event in his first appearance in 2017. In 2018 and 2019, Cantlay finished second both years, highlighted by shooting an 8-under 63 in the third round of both events.
The track record for the 2021 FedEx Cup Player of the Year is strong as he remains one of the favorites in the field this week.
Cantlay tees off Thursday on the first hole in a featured group with Im and Harris English at 12:24 p.m. PT.