Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Your primer on the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

Smylie Kaufman Wins Shriners Open

Isaac Brekken/Associated Press

Smylie Kaufman hoists the trophy after winning the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open golf tournament Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015, in Las Vegas.

The PGA Tour is coming to Las Vegas for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, supporting the mission to provide quality care to children with special health needs and to cultivate clinical research and practitioner education aimed at improving that care.

Where to watch

• When: Nov. 3-6

• Ticket prices: $35-$125

• Course: TPC Summerlin

• Field: 144 PGA Tour players, including Ryder Cup players Ryan Moore, Brooks Koepka, J.B. Holmes and Davis Love III and major championship winners Jimmy Walker, Ernie Els, Graeme McDowell, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Stewart Cink and Vijay Singh

• Defending champion: Smylie Kaufman

• Total purse: $6.6 million

• Winner's share: $1.2 million

• The Hill: The 10,000-square-foot entertainment pavilion overlooks the 16th, 17th and 18th holes and offers gorgeous views of the course and Red Rock Canyon. It also has comfortable seating, more than 20 plasma televisions to keep up with the tournament (as well as college and pro football), and a center island bar. Tickets for The Hill are $35 for one day or $100 for all four days of the tournament, though anyone with tickets to the event can enjoy the venue.

• The PKWY Patio on 17: New for 2016, this spot behind the green of the 17th hole is great for close viewing of tee shots, and the $99 price of admission includes unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks.

• Lee’s Liquor Shank Shack: Also on the 17th hole, featuring specialty cocktails.

Local contender

Charley Hoffman has many fond memories of Las Vegas. The No. 56 golfer in the world was on the 1998 NCAA championship team at UNLV and was an honorable mention All-American.

Playing at the links of TPC Summerlin, where the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open will be this year, Hoffman placed fourth in 2013 but missed the cut the past two years.

“It’s a golf course that I’ve played a ton through the years, but I’ve never played particularly well,” Hoffman said. “I love the course, but I’ve never had success, even in college.”

He makes no excuses but admits his off-course activities during the tournament week make it hard to be at the top of his game, including hosting his own pro-am at TPC Summerlin the Monday before the Shriners Open.

The spinoff is through his Charley Hoffman Foundation, which he founded with his wife, Stacy, in 2009 as a fundraising outlet for charities benefiting local children. The price is $2,500 per player, with proceeds supporting the missions of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Goodie Two Shoes, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Blessings in a Backpack and Shriners Hospitals for Children.

“My body feels good, and I feel like I can contend (this year),” Hoffman said. “I would love to be on the 18th green on Sunday with the chance to win the tournament in front of all of my local friends and family.”

Past winners

• Tiger Woods: Woods took his first of 79 PGA tournament wins at the Shriners Open in 1996. He defeated Davis Love III in a playoff at Las Vegas National Golf Club and rode the momentum of that win into his legendary performance at the Masters the next season.

• Fuzzy Zoeller: Zoeller won the inaugural tournament in 1983 (then called the Panasonic Las Vegas Pro Celebrity Classic) and claimed his share of the $750,000 purse, the largest in the PGA at the time. The following year, the tournament became the first event to offer a purse exceeding $1 million.

• Jim Furyk The PGA veteran is ranked 29th in the world and is the only three-time winner of the tournament, in 1995, 1998 and 1999.

• Ryan Moore The UNLV graduate finished 24-under par to win the 2012 Shriners Open for his second tour victory. Recently, Moore earned the match-winning point for the U.S. in the 2016 Ryder Cup.

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