There aren’t any Presidents Cup snubs on the 2022 Shriners Youngsters’s Open leaderboard, solely those that competed a pair weeks in the past at Quail Hole Membership. Mito Pereira leads the cost after a scorching 8-under 63 on Friday, and is atop the leaderboard alone at 12 below heading into the ultimate 36 holes at TPC Summerlin.
Using a staff competitors as a launch pad for one’s season is nothing new on the PGA Tour (simply take a look at Scottie Scheffler final yr), and for Pereira it seems he isn’t alone. His fellow teammates from Quail Hole, Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim, are a few of his closest pursuers as they verify in two strokes off the lead at 10 below alongside Las Vegas resident Maverick McNealy.
Cam Davis, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Sungjae Im all discover themselves inside the highest 20 in the interim, however to say the Shriners Youngsters’s Open has strictly been a world social gathering could be a lie. People Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa will certainly have one thing to say in regards to the end result of this event with each solely 4 strokes adrift in a tie for ninth.
The 2 males from america have but to show their A-games round TPC Summerlin, and are greater than able to firing a spherical within the low 60s on Saturday to take management. Whereas scoring is down a contact in comparison with current years, favorable pin positions and splendid climate might result in a birdie barrage lastly coming to fruition over the weekend in Sin Metropolis.
The chief
1. Mito Pereira (-12)
After flashing critical kind within the center levels of the 2021-22 season, Pereira went chilly. Showcasing his skillset on the 2022 PGA Championship, the Chilean went on to overlook 4 of his ultimate six begins to finish his first full marketing campaign on the PGA Tour. Whereas he limped to the end line, Pereira’s play was nonetheless sufficient to garner him a spot on the Presidents Cup staff, the place a few of this misplaced confidence might have been rediscovered.
“[Captain Trevor Immelman] Simply actually tried to place us ready that we actually need to play properly and actually trusting ourselves,” Pereira mentioned of the worldwide confidence. “Day by day he did like a bit of speech of how good we’re and the way we are able to do that. So I believe it actually touched us.”
Different contenders
2. Robby Shelton (-11)
T3. Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim, Maverick McNealy
T6. Kevin Streelman, Cam Davis, Chad Ramey (-9)
T9. Patrick Rodgers, Patrick Cantlay, Matthew NeSmith, S.H. Kim, Adam Hadwin, Max Homa, Sam Ryder, Keith Mitchell (-8)
It was a run-of-the-mill first 11 holes for Si Woo Kim, who reached 10 below early in his second spherical. Stalling across the flip, catastrophe struck for the South Korean when he bladed his chip shot into the water on the par-4 twelfth resulting in a triple bogey. Kim later made amends with a hole-out eagle on the par-4 fifteenth from the greenside bunker and a birdie on the par-5 sixteenth to achieve 10 below but once more to maintain his identify in rivalry.
“I had a bit of between numbers after which hit a bit of pull hook. I believe all the time pull hook is a bit of bit additional, so I miss it. I simply missed the one shot after which sort of had a tricky lie. Then I had a nasty chip after which make triple,” mentioned Kim. “However Manny, my caddie, mentioned hold it constructive and we are able to get again. Yeah, I stored constructive and simply performed my very own.”
Momentum from Presidents Cup carrying on
Initially of the week, 10 Presidents Cup members teed it up at TPC Summerlin with the overwhelming majority coming from the worldwide aspect. All 10 have made their method into the weekend with eight at the moment residing inside the highest 20 — six of that are worldwide. Led by Pereira and the South Korean duo, a brand new sense of confidence might been instilled from this staff competitors only a couple weeks in the past.
“Clearly, with the quantity of stress there may be within the Presidents Cup, and usually you play for your self in particular person tournaments, however you play for the entire staff. For me, it is truly like — it was so snug simply understanding if I miss a shot, it is on me,” mentioned Tom Kim. “I am not hurting anybody else. Simply issues like that, the place you are in a mindset the place you are a bit of extra snug. For lots of us gamers, it was an enormous studying expertise, and I believe we will continue to grow.”
Cantlay discusses TPC Summerlin’s new greens
Horse for the course, Patrick Cantlay is as soon as once more well-positioned to contend for the Shriners Youngsters’s Open title. Coming into this week having notched a victory, two runners-up and a top-10 lead to his 4 prior journeys to Las Vegas, this time round has been drastically completely different. Identified to be top-of-the-line putters on the PGA Tour, Cantlay was vocal along with his displeasure with regard to placing surfaces within the desert.
“It is [TPC Summerlin’s] in lots worse situation, and you may see that with the scores,” mentioned Cantlay. “The greens have not fairly settled, so that you get all types of bounces on the market. Each inexperienced and each little spot is a distinct firmness. It is laborious to foretell and laborious to get it shut due to that, but it surely’s the identical method for everyone. I am going to simply do my greatest to hit it as shut as I can and make as many birdies as I can.”
The world No. 4 continued: “The greens should not settled. It’s totally laborious to learn the greens. Even for those who learn it accurately, it may bounce offline in a heartbeat. I believe it places much more of a premium on ball-striking round this place. If I may hold driving it the best way I’m and hit a number of extra pictures nearer, I will be in a great place.”
2022 Shriners Youngsters’s Open up to date odds and picks
Odds by way of Caesars Sportsbook
- Mito Pereira: 9/2
- Tom Kim: 11/2
- Patrick Cantlay: 15/2
- Si Woo Kim: 10-1
- Robby Shelton: 10-1
- Maverick McNealy: 12-1
- Cam Davis: 16-1
- Max Homa: 18-1
- Sungjae Im: 20-1
All the massive hitters got here to play this week, however I’ve a way of a Saturday run coming from a participant not on this record. Sam Ryder has been a reputation I have been following this week as he arrived with each his irons and putter in good kind. By way of two rounds, he ranks tenth in strokes gained method, and could be discovered on the primary web page of the leaderboard if not for a poor placing show on Friday. As a substitute, Ryder is 100-1 sitting at 8 below and in a tie for ninth the place he takes a backseat to the likes of Cantlay and Homa regardless of nonetheless being in rivalry.
