Shriners Children's Open Each-Way Tips: Kim can land Vegas jackpot

Main Bet: Si-Woo Kim each-way @ 41.040/1

I've always wanted to have a good record in the PGA Tour's annual stop in Las Vegas - one of my favourite cities - but it's been a tough puzzle to solve.

That can be true of birdie-fests and this is certainly one of those with 10 of the last 12 being won with 20-under or lower.

The last three produced winning scores of 23-under (Kevin Na), 23-under (Martin Laird) and 24-under (Sungjae Im) so there's no sign of it becoming any harder.

Strong winds can be a defence at TPC Summerlin, as was the case when Patrick Cantlay won with just 9-under in 2017 but, at the time of writing, the forecast shows gentle breezes for the first two days and light winds on the weekend.

Discipline is needed to be a consistent winner at the blackjack and poker tables on the famous Las Vegas Strip and, somewhat surprisingly, that seems to be case at this course too.

Bomb and gouge might produce some runs of birdies but over 72 holes it's Driving Accuracy that beats the house.

Looking at how many fairways the winners have hit reading back from last year, the trend is strong: 73.2%, 78.6%, 71.4%, 78.6%.

Cantlay hit just 64.3% but that ranked him 5th in fairways in those high winds.

Playing from the short grass around three quarters of the time looks the target this week with breezes light and I'm going to make Si-Woo Kim my first bet.

His countryman 'Tom' Kim got most of the attention from an International Team perspective at the recent Presidents Cup but it was Si-Woo who emerged as their top scorer after banking three wins in his four matches.

That's an impressive addition to the CV and, of course, his biggest achievement was landing The Players Championship in 2017.

That was with 10-under but his other two victories have come in birdie-fests - 21-under at the Wyndham (R2 60) and 23-under at The American Express - and those numbers should get our attention given the examination paper in Vegas.

In theory, his game looks good for TPC Summerlin but what is the reality? It's certainly encouraging: three top 25s in five visits, including tied 15th in 2018 and tied 8th in 2020 when firing a Saturday 63.

In the former, he ranked 1st for Strokes Gained: Putting.

Kim's Sunday at the Presidents Cup was particularly memorable as he took down Justin Thomas in the opening singles match.

Yes, his team lost but Kim left Quail Hollow rightly proud of his efforts and hopefully that will fuel a big week here.

Main Bet: Aaron Wise each-way @ 29.028/1

My first thought when looking at the entry list was 'check out Aaron Wise'.

Wise is someone that always springs to mind when birdies are needed, a reputation he helped forge when landing the AT&T Byron Nelson with 23-under.

That came less than a year on from his Web.com win at the Air Capital Classic with 21-under. He started that event with a pair of 62s!

Wise really began to mature as a golfer last season and his current world ranking of 36th represents a career high.

That rise up the OWGR was helped by a second place at Memorial and making the top 35 in each of the final three majors.

He capped an excellent season with the tied sixth best 72-hole score in the Tour Championship.

Wise ranked 21st in Birdie Average last season and that ability to keep adding circles to his scorecard has served him well in this event.

The American was tied 10th on debut in 2016, tied 15th in 2018 and tied eighth last year when blitzing the par 71 on day two with a 62.

Wise has made Las Vegas his home since 2016 so this is a home game and locals have done well in this tournament before.

Vegas is at altitude so being confident on how far the ball flies is clearly a help.

Lots of roads lead to Wise so I'll play him at 28/1.

Main Bet: Justin Lower each-way @ 101.0100/1

My roll of the dice bet in Vegas is going to be Justin Lower at 100/1.

The 33-year-old started to appear on PGA Tour leaderboards in the summer with tied eighth at the Barbasol and tied 16th in the Barracuda.

He added tied 30th at the Rocket Mortgage and tied 36th in the Wyndham Championship and more recently we've seen him kick on again.

Following a tied ninth in the Korn Ferry's Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship in Ohio, Lower opened with a 63 and posted tied fourth in the Fortinet Championship - his best finish yet at this level.

Lower - "rhymes with power" as it says on his PGA Tour profile - is a straight hitter and his Driving Accuracy ranking has been 19th, 2nd and 3rd in his last three events.

He putts well too and has ranked in the top 20 for SG: Putting in both his PGA Tour starts this season.

Add in 6th for Birdie Average so far (46th last season) and he looks a good fit to quietly go about his business and cause a surprise.

In the summer, Lower infamously three-putted the final hole at the Wyndham Championship to lose his PGA Tour card: a teary interview afterwards was all over social media.

But due to LIV players being removed from the top 125, he now has full status again.

It's been a rollercoaster ride but he's already shown that getting a reprieve has lifted a weight off him by scoring a top four finish at the Fortinet where he held the 54-hole lead.

Hopefully he can ride his luck to a big payout in Vegas.