Shotgun Start: Previewing the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open

It’s tournament time! The Fall Series kicks off in Las Vegas at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, the first of four events that covers the end of the PGA Tour’s 2012 schedule. Here’s a tournament primer to get you prepared for the week.

The course: TPC Summerline returns as the host course for the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. For players who have spent the last few months battling swing and confidence issues, the Vegas course could be the place to get everything back on track.

The layout ranked as the second-easiest par 71 on the PGA Tour last season; and in 2009 and 2010, it actually ranked as the easiest on tour. Needless to say, birdies and eagles are the name of the game this week on the 7,342-yard stadium course.

If you want an idea of how easy TPC Summerlin could play this week, eight of the 18 holes on the course have had an under par average since the course first started hosting the tournament in 2008.

With generous greens and fairways, players shouldn’t have any trouble padding their fairways hit and GIR percentages for the week. With every player in the field capable of going low, the tournament will once again come down to the guy who’s wielding the hot putter.

One hole to keep an eye on this week has to the be the drivable 15th. The 341-yard par-4 should be reachable for some of the long bombers in the field and is perfect risk/reward hole with desert running down the left side and bunkers surrounding the entire green.

The schedule: The tournament runs Thursday-Sunday. All four rounds will be broadcast on the Golf Channel from 4 to 7 p.m. ET.

The field: With the PGA Tour’s regular season in the books, players — especially those outside the top 125 on the official money list — turn their attention to the first event of the Fall Series. Most of the tour’s big names are taking a couple weeks off to recharge following the FedExCup and Ryder Cup, but having Justin Timerlake as a host gives the Vegas event some much-needed star power. Some of the marquee names in the field include Nick Watney, John Daly, Kevin Na, Johnson Wagner, Kyle Stanley, Jason Day and Jhonattan Vegas, Harris English and Casey Martin.

The video: Check out some of the memorable moments from the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open’s history.

Your turn. Who are your picks for this week? Swing away!

Devil Ball Golf – Golf – Yahoo! Sports