Former UNLV golfer searches for swing at Shriners Children’s Open
Under most circumstances, Taylor Montgomery would feel like he has an advantage playing at his hometown Shriners Children’s Open.
The former Foothill High and UNLV golfer can sleep in his own bed and will have the support of friends and family in the gallery for each round. There’s also his familiarity with TPC Summerlin, where he is able to use 3-wood off the tee on several holes and mitigate his wayward driver.
“It just is a very relaxing week,” Montgomery said. “But lately I haven’t been playing my best, so it doesn’t matter what course it is, it’s not that comfortable right now. I’m hoping to change that around soon and just happy to be playing golf.”
Montgomery endured an injury-plagued season after tearing muscles in both shoulders this spring. He finished 11th at The Players Championship in March, then made six starts the rest of the PGA Tour season, which included three missed cuts and two withdrawals.
It hasn’t been much better during the FedEx Cup Fall. Montgomery withdrew after an opening-round 74 at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi, two weeks ago. He missed the cut at the other two events, including last week’s Black Desert Championship in Ivins, Utah.
Those struggles dropped Montgomery to No. 128 the FedEx Cup Fall standings. Players who finish in the top 125 earn their PGA Tour cards for the 2025 season.
“I just try to play good golf. If I have a top-10 finish, I’ll just move up a lot of spots,” Montgomery said. “I can’t really control what other people are doing. I can only try to control myself, which is hard enough. Just to be able to go out there and not think about it is I think the best approach.”
Backswing issues
Montgomery continues to be one of the best putters on tour and is first in strokes gained putting. But he ranks 175th in strokes gained off the tee, total driving efficiency and greens in regulation percentage.
The problems originate in Montgomery’s backswing.
“I’ve been going down in my backswing, and that’s kind of caused all sorts of issues,” he said. “So trying to do that, and even when I try sometimes I still go down and just causing a lot of bad shots.
“This is a muscle-memory game, and if you practice the right way, good things are going to happen. I’m just trying to do that with a full swing and figure that out so that I can be consistent with that part of the game as well.”
Montgomery, who recently donated $75,000 to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, isn’t feeling hometown jitters entering his third appearance at the Shriners Children’s Open. He finished tied for 15th in 2022 and was tied for 35th last year when Tom Kim won for the second straight year.
Montgomery tees off at 8:23 a.m. Thursday in a threesome with Matti Schmid and David Skinns.
“I don’t really feel any sort of different pressure yet,” Montgomery said. “I feel more comfortable being at home, especially right now where my game is at.”
Withdrawal
Emiliano Grillo, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, withdrew Wednesday from the event. First alternate Nicholas Lindheim took his spot in the field and will tee off at 12:51 p.m. with Adam Schenk and Kevin Kisner.
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.
Up next What: Shriners Children's Open When: Thursday-Sunday Where: TPC Summerlin TV: 2-5 p.m. daily (Golf Channel) Favorite: Tom Kim, 15-1 Thursday tee times a=amateur First tee 6:55 a.m.: Ryan Moore, Robby Shelton, Chan Kim 7:06 a.m.: Callum Tarren, Patrick Fishburn, Hayden Springer 7:17 a.m.: Charley Hoffman, Ben Griffin, Rico Hoey 7:28 a.m.: Austin Eckroat, Gary Woodland, Francesco Molinari 7:39 a.m.: Luke List, Lee Hodges, Taylor Moore 7:50 a.m.: K.H. Lee, Ryan Brehm, Daniel Berger 8:01 a.m.: Davis Riley, Seamus Power, Chad Ramey 8:12 a.m.: Scott Piercy, Eric Cole, Zac Blair 8:23 a.m.: C.T. Pan, David Lipsky, Roger Sloan 8:34 a.m.: Chesson Hadley, Brandon Wu, Will Gordon 8:45 a.m.: Ryan McCormick, Norman Xiong, Dan McCarthy 11:45 a.m.: Joel Dahmen, Greyson Sigg, Vince Whaley 11:56 a.m.: Doug Ghim, Joseph Bramlett, Jacob Bridgeman 12:07 p.m.: Ryan Palmer, Aaron Baddeley, Pierceson Coody 12:18 p.m.: Matt McCarty, Kevin Yu, Tom Kim 12:29 p.m.: Cam Davis, Stephan Jaeger, Tom Hoge 12:40 p.m.: Davis Thompson, Kurt Kitayama, Trey Mullinax 12:51 p.m.: Nicholas Lindheim, Kevin Kisner, Adam Schenk 1:02 p.m.: Danny Willett, Beau Hossler, Ben Taylor 1:13 p.m.: Lanto Griffin, Justin Lower, Morgan Hoffmann 1:24 p.m.: Alexander Bjork, Tom Whitney, Ian Gilligan (a) 1:35 p.m.: Rafael Campos, Paul Barjon, Caden Fioroni (a) 10th tee 6:55 a.m.: Bud Cauley, Matt NeSmith, Ben Silverman 7:06 a.m.: Michael Kim, Alex Smalley, S.H. Kim 7:17 a.m.: Justin Suh, Ben Kohles, Sami Valimaki 7:28 a.m.: Taylor Pendrith, Nick Taylor, Rickie Fowler 7:39 a.m.: Jhonattan Vegas, J.T. Poston, Harris English 7:50 a.m.: Harry Hall, Camilo Villegas, Webb Simpson 8:01 a.m.: Chris Gotterup, Adam Svensson, Matt Kuchar 8:12 a.m.: Nate Lashley, Troy Merritt, Carson Young 8:23 a.m.: Taylor Montgomery, Matti Schmid, David Skinns 8:34 a.m.: Mark Hubbard, Tyson Alexander, Alejandro Tosti 8:45 a.m.: Trace Crowe, Kevin Dougherty, Erik Matthewson 11:45 a.m.: Keith Mitchell, Henrik Norlander, Chandler Phillips 11:56 a.m.: Tyler Duncan, Kevin Streelman, Sam Ryder 12:07 p.m.: Hayden Buckley, Andrew Novak, Dylan Wu 12:18 p.m.: Nick Hardy, Nico Echavarria, J.J. Spaun 12:29 p.m.: Cameron Champ, Brendon Todd, Andrew Putnam 12:40 p.m.: Patton Kizzire, Erik van Rooyen, Chez Reavie 12:51 p.m.: Peter Malnati, Brice Garnett, Adam Hadwin 1:02 p.m.: Maverick McNealy, Ryan Fox, Carl Yuan 1:13 p.m.: Garrick Higgo, Martin Laird, Sam Stevens 1:24 p.m.: Joe Highsmith, Wilson Furr, Nicolo Galletti 1:35 p.m.: Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Christo Lamprecht, Neal Shipley
