BlogTexas Children’s Houston Open Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

(Buyer beware – Updated on Wednesday)

Just found out that Wyndham Clark suffered a back injury during practice this week.  He hopes to play through the issue, but frankly, this makes him damaged goods for this week, and it’s best to avoid him.  This report was from Golfweek.com.

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So it’s year four of the Cadence Bank Houston Open being played at Memorial Park. When its original sponsor Shell Oil left in 2017, it left this event near death. The event needed help finding a new sponsor and looked bleak. But Houston Astros owner Jim Crane came in with financial backing, with one stipulation. The event would return to its roots and to Memorial Park, a course located just outside downtown Houston. The course was the site of the second Houston Open in 1947, and then between 1951 and 1963, it started to fall into disrepair. With the help of the Astros Golf Foundation, they revamped the course at the cost of 34 million dollars. The course was upgraded, and the club ensured it was PGA Tour ready to play. The course added yardage, and for the Houston Open, it is playing at 7,412 yards and to a par of 70.

Three years ago, the course held the Houston Open for the first time, and it was well-received. Players seem to like the course and have told others about it. Unfortunately, the field is not any better for this year, mostly due to the loss of players who went over to LIV Golf. For example, four past championship winners since 2014 are now on LIV Golf: Jason Kokrak, Carlos Ortiz, Ian Poulter, and Matt Jones.

Things you need to know about the Houston Open

This will be the 76th edition of the Houston Open. This is the fourth year of the Texas Children’s Houston Open with new leadership. They have a new sponsorship, and those running the event have roots with the Houston Astros baseball team. The significant change is playing at its new home, Memorial Park, a public course in downtown Houston ready for fans. The event started in 1946, and the following year, Memorial Park was the tournament’s home for 14 events, mostly between 1951 and 1963. When the tournament left, the public course fell into disrepair.

After two years of renovations by architect Tom Doak and player consultant Brooks Koepka, the course opened in 2020 to great fanfare, not only from the fans but many of the players liked what they saw. In prior years, the tournament was held at the Golf Club of Houston, then across the street at the Members Course at Redstone between 2003 and 2005. Before that, the TPC at the Woodlands had been the site between 1985 and 2002. Courses used before 1985 include the West course at the Woodlands, River Oaks C.C., Memorial Park G.C., Pine Forest C.C., Brae Burn C.C., Sharpstown C.C., Champions G.C., Westwood G.C., and Quail Valley G.C.  The first Houston Open was played in 1946 and was called the Tournament of Champions. Byron Nelson beat Ben Hogan that year by two strokes at River Oaks.

Course information:

• Memorial Park Golf Course
• Houston, Tx.
• 7,412 yards     Par 35-35–70

Memorial Park was always the sentimental home of this event. I went to about a dozen Houston Opens between 1990 and 2003; those who ran the tournament always wished to return one day to Memorial Park. But at that time, the course was in terrible shape and beaten up, as it was nothing but a cheap place for 18 holes. When the Astros Golf Foundation took over the operations of the Houston Open, they spent $34 million to redesign Memorial Park and build an education and golf center for the course. Architect Tom Doak redid the course, and his mission was to make it enjoyable for recreational golfers and tough enough for PGA Tour players. One unusual characteristic of the course is that there are only 17 bunkers on the par-70 course. What makes it challenging is accuracy, which is a must with the thick, rough, tight grass slopes and contours. The weather will make the course challenging; when the wind blows, especially a north or northeast wind, it will make things very tough. The course was opened for play in November of 2019, and the Bermuda grass has come in, and the course will be in good shape.

But look for low scores, as there are several drivable par-4s and two reachable par-5s. The greens are big, 7,000 square feet, and they are flat, like most municipal courses. In looking at the weather for the week, it’s going to be close to perfect, with each day being in the low 80s with no rain, but winds will be a problem as they will be 8 mph on Thursday but move up to 20 mph on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The good news is there is no chance of rain during the week.

The big surprise is how tough the course has played. In 2021, Carlos Ortiz shot just 13 under. Of the 68 players that made the cut, only 39 were under par, which means the course played hard. The reason is the weekend, they had wind gusts of up to 25 mph. After the first two days, the scoring average for the course was 71.82, and even with the winds, the average was 70.28 in the third round and 68.74 in the final rounds.

In 2022, much of the same as the course still played hard. Winner Jason Kokrak was just 10 under par, and of the 67 players that made the cut, only 28 were under par.

Last year, Tony Finau played great and won with a 16 under-par total. Of the 68 that made the cut, 38 were under par for the week.

Some of the keys to playing well at Memorial Park is this. First, hitting greens is essential. Another key is long hitters have to be careful since the rough was one of the most demanding of the year. The course ranked 2nd in rough proximity in both 2021 and 2022; last year, it was 4th, meaning that if you drive it off the fairway, getting it on the green is nearly impossible. So, players who hit it in the high grass will have a tough time. That may be why some of the tour’s longest hitters aren’t playing this week. So it’s essential to keep it in the fairway.

Players needed help to make birdies and eagles on the course.

In 2021, it ranked 17th with a total number of birdies made (1,221).

In 2022, it ranked 15th with 1,071 birdies made.

Last year, it ranked 23rd with 1,191 birdies. So, it proved to be challenging, as the course was 6th in Par Breakers in 2021, 4th in 2022, and 8th last year.

But as we have said, those who putt well always do well on this course, so look for the best putters to shine.

Of any non-major course, Memorial Park scored many honors as the hardest newcomer to the PGA Tour, so look for a special breed of player to win, one who excels in all areas of the game.

The course has been well received in the three years, getting good buzz for players to come to Houston to play a great course.

Let’s take a look at vital stats that are important for those playing at Memorial Park

This is based on the most important stats for Memorial Park, and data from the 2023 Houston Open, and data from all the players in the field with stats from this year. We take their rank for each stat and then add the four categories.
About half of the courses used by the PGA Tour during the year are open to the general public. The famous ones, like Pebble Beach, are resort courses that anyone can play, but the price tag of $575 is costly. The same is true with courses like TPC Sawgrass, home to the Players Championship, which is $400 during peak months in the winter and spring. Even places like the Plantation Course at Kapalua, which held the Sentry Championship, cost $299. There are about 25 courses on the PGA Tour that anyone could play, but only two “municipal” courses on the PGA Tour, Memorial Park and Torrey Pines. What makes them different is that they are run by a local government that is open to all and has two different price marks, one for local residents and a price for non-residents.
Memorial Park is the cheapest course that holds a PGA Tour event. For locals, the course is $30 Monday through Thursday, $38 Friday through Sunday, and holidays. It’s $120 and $140 for non-residents, which is a bargain. With this price range, 60,000 play the course each year.
The course was first opened in 1912 as a nine-holer with sand greens and was built near a hospital for the use of convalescent soldiers. In 1935, the city hired architect John Bredemus to redo the course, and many thought the course was a true gem when it opened in 1936. The course was used in 1947, the second year of the Houston Open, and South African Bobby Locke won. In 1951, it became the regular venue of the Houston Open, and it remained so through 1963. It was won by the likes of Arnold Palmer, Cary Middlecoff, and Jack Burke, Jr. Because of its location in Downtown Houston, the tournament moved away after 1963, and the course fell in disrepair over the coming decades. For years, many knew of the potential of Memorial Park, but the city had no money to renovate it.
However, local Houstonian James Crane, who made it big in freight and then petroleum before buying the Houston Astros in 2011, was a scratch golfer who fell in love with Memorial Park. For decades, Shell Oil sponsored the Houston Open, and when they discounted their sponsorship in 2018, no sponsor was found, and it looked like the tournament would end. But Crane stepped up and took over ownership of the event. At the same time, Crane stepped up to do a significant renovation to Memorial Park. He spent $34 million renovating Memorial Park and upgrading the course to PGA Tour standards. He also built a short course on the property for the First Tee, expanded the driving range into a public version of Topgolf, and built a new clubhouse. In January 2019, they hired architect Tom Doak to do the renovation. In less than a year, he took out a lot of trees to give those playing it views of the Houston skyline and changed how the course played and looked. He redid all 18 greens, giving them unique contours, strategic bunkering, and runoffs, giving them a different and tough new challenge so that players could use the putter more from off the green. Doak did something different as he reduced the number of bunkers on the course from 54 to 20, thus reducing maintenance and making it easier for the average player. But he made the 20 bunkers very challenging and essential. Doak also emphasized the final five holes, making them exciting and difficult, with water coming into play on holes 15, 16, and 17. The players received the changes well when they returned to play the 2021 Houston Open at Memorial.

The course has been played three times in the last three years and has shown some bite. In 2021, it played to a par of 70 and 7,412 yards, with an average score of 71.03, and it ranked 8th hardest on the PGA Tour.
In 2022, it played easier to a 70,80 average and was the 9th most challenging course on the PGA Tour.
Last year, it played a bit easier to a 70,56 average and was the 11th hardest course on the PGA Tour. In looking at the stats, the one item that sticks out is that all its champions proved to be players who are average drivers off the tee, in getting the ball in the fairway, and the ability to hit a lot of greens.

A bit of an oddity: winners Carlos Ortiz and Jason Kokrak are now members of LIV Golf and won’t be around this week. That leaves the only Memorial Park champion, Tony Finau, who won 17 months ago by four shots. Despite all three being average putters in their careers, they shined during the week of the Houston Open, which became why they all won.

So, in looking at who the course favors, the first thing that hits us is how well the top players do in putting. Looking at the three events played at Memorial Park, of the 35 players that finished in the top ten, 14 finished in the top ten in putts per round.
In putting average, Memorial Park ranked 10th last year of all the courses on the PGA Tour, T-10th again in 2022, and T-15th in 2021.
When Tony Finau won last year, he was 2nd in Putting average, T-12th in One-Putt average, T-14th in 3-putt average, and T-23rd in Putting Inside ten feet, making 60 of 66 putts inside ten feet. For the week, Finau ranked 2nd in Strokes Gained Putting as he picked up 7.931 strokes for the four rounds.
When Jason Kokrak won in 2021, he was 1st in Putting average, T-6th in One-Putt average, T-15th in 3-putt average, and T-18th in Putting Inside ten feet, making 61 of 67 putts inside ten feet. For the week, Kokrak ranked 3rd in Strokes Gained Putting as he picked up 8.682 strokes for the four rounds.
In 2021, when Carlos Ortiz won, he was T-36th in Putting average, T-12th in One-Putt average, T-34th in 3-putt average, and 7th in Putting Inside ten feet, making 61 of 65 putts inside ten feet. For the week, Ortiz ranked 5th in Strokes Gained Putting, picking up 6.117 strokes for the four rounds. So, the secret to picking a winner this week is to choose a very good putter.

Our second category is Proximity to the hole. Because Memorial is a public course, the greens are 7,000 square feet, and even though the players averaged 15th last year, T-16th in 2022, and 18th in 2021 in greens in regulation, getting the ball close to the hole is tougher.
Last year, Memorial Park ranked 9th in Proximity to the Hole, while winner Finau was T9th. In 2022, Memorial Park ranked 5th in Proximity to the Hole, while winner Kokrak was T-21st. In 2021, Memorial Park was 10th in Proximity to the Hole, and winner Ortiz was T-22nd.

Our third category looks at how difficult it is to make birdies and eagles and how Par Breakers are integral to Memorial Park’s ruggedness.
Last year, only 1,191 birdies were made at Memorial Park (It ranked 23rd), and 27 eagles were made (ranking T-23rd). The course ranked 8th in Par Breakers, with 17.17% of the holes being played under par. In looking at those ahead of Memorial Park, courses that held three of the four majors were ahead, showing how hard Memorial Park is to break par. Winner Tony Finau made 22 birdies (best in field) and no eagles as he was 1st in Par Breakers, with 30.56% of the holes he played under par.
In 2022, 1,071 birdies were made at Memorial Park (Ranked 15th), and 11 eagles were made (ranked 2nd). As for Par Breaker, the course ranked 4th hardest at 15.26%. This is a remarkable stat when you look at 2022, and the PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and Scottish Open courses had the least offense on the PGA Tour. Winner Kokrak made 24 birdies (best in field) and no eagles; he was 1st in Par Breakers, playing 33.33% of the holes under par.
In 2021, only 1,221 birdies were made at Memorial Park (it ranked 17th), and 13 eagles were made (ranking 4th). The course was 6th in Par Breakers with a 17.27%. Four of the courses that held majors were the ones that played harder. Winner Ortiz made 18 birdies (T-6th) and no eagles. He was T-7th in Par Breakers as he played 25.00% of his holes under par. This shows how hard it is to make birdies and eagles at Memorial Park.
So, we will be looking for players who are highly offensive and make a lot of eagles and birdies.

Our last category is one we rarely use: par 5 scoring averages. Memorial Park has just three par 5s, and they have been ranked the hardest on the PGA Tour to score on. Last year, the scoring average of the par 5s was 4.74, and it was the 10th hardest on tour. Now, last year was the first time the par 5s played easier. In 2022, Memorial Park averaged a 4.86 average on the par 5s, which was the 2nd hardest on the PGA Tour. In 2021, they were T-1st along Torrey Pines in the U.S. Open, again showing how hard they were.
Now, in most events, the winners play the par 5s in double-digit numbers. But that hasn’t happened to those who have won at Memorial Park. Last year, Tony Finau played the par 5s in 6 under, which was T-6th. In 2022 and ’21, winners Kokrak and Ortiz were 8 under on the par 5s for the week, showing how instrumental it was in all of their victories.

*Strokes Gained Putting: So who saves the most strokes on the greens

*Proximity to Hole: The average length of a shot going into the green leaves a player

*Par Breakers: A combination of eagles and birdies made during the week to see who has the most.

*Par 5 leaders: A look at who plays the par 5s the best for the week.

115 of the 144 Players from this year’s field with stats from 2024

Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.

Here is a link for all the stats of the Houston Open

Most DraftKings points earned

We have compiled a database beginning at the start of the 2023 season and going through the 2024 Valspar Championship, a total of 68 events. The database includes how many points a player won during the event and his cost. Out of the database, we can determine the total DraftKing points earned, the players’ average points earned per event, and average points based on the number of rounds played.

Of the players in the field, here are the top 60 playing in at least ten events:

DraftKings Picks

*Here are the guys that cost the most on DraftKings this week:

• Scottie Scheffler – $13,000
• Wyndham Clark – $10,900
• Sahith Theegala – $10,300
• Will Zalatoris – $10,100
• Tony Finau – $9,900
• Si Woo Kim – $9,700
• Jason Day – $9,500
• Alex Noren – $9,400
• Keith Mitchell – $9,200
• Tom Hoge – $9,000

This is a tough tournament to gauge for many different reasons. First, it’s different from those events that players historically attend. But now that the buzz on Memorial Park is so good, more players are making this a regular stop for them; Scottie Scheffler is a perfect example of that since he will be playing in his fifth straight.

Then you have the weather. Historically, winds play havoc with scoring. This week, look for the winds to play havoc. Be careful when picking players who will play late on Thursday and early Friday; they will get the best weather with the winds.

However, the most critical problem with this event is that historical data may not help because the elements change yearly, and players only participate a few times a year. It’s essential to see which players produce a lot of offense every time they play. As you can see in the chart above, our top players give a lot of offense, so it will be an exciting week.

So, let’s look at our top players. First off is Scottie Scheffler at $13,000.  Yes, that price is not a typo; $ 13,000 is a lot for one player, but as we have seen, he makes a lot of points. At the Palmer, he earned 122.5 points; at the Players, he got 138.5. These give you a significant advantage, and many people will pick Scheffler. It’s excellent if Scottie wins again or finishes 2nd or 3rd; you will be able to keep pace with all the others who pick Scottie. But if he plays poorly, which is hard to believe, it will hurt your chances. Scottie’s record at Memorial Park was T-2nd in 2022 and T-9th last year, so the odds are he will play well. Now, I like Wyndham Clark even at the high price of $10,900. I want him because he is doing fantastic now, making a lot of birdies and playing challenging courses well.

(Buyer beware – Updated on Wednesday)

Just found out that Wyndham Clark suffered a back injury during practice this week.  He hopes to play through the issue, but frankly, this makes him damaged goods for this week, and it’s best to avoid him.  This report was from Golfweek.com.

Sahith Theegala is high at $10,300, but he is a great putter and makes a lot of birdies, so he is someone to think about, especially when you see that in his last four starts, he was 5th at Phoenix, T-37th at Genesis, T-6th at the Palmer and T-9th at the Players. Will Zalatoris, at $10,100, was playing well until he missed the cut at the Players. I worry about his putting, and he has never played at Memorial Park. Tony Finau, at $9,900, is a big no, he has yet to play well since the Farmers, and he has putted poorly this year. Si Woo Kim at $9,700 is also a no. Yes, he was T-6th at the Players, but Memorial Park is not suitable for him. Jason Day at $9,500 is a possibility; he has played well in 2024, his putting has been good, and Memorial Park is the type of course he can do well on. Alex Noren at $9,400 is too high for me; he did finish T-4th last year in this event but has yet to show us much in 2024. Keith Mitchell at $9,200 is a thought; he played well for three rounds at the Valspar until he shot a final round 77. But I won’t take him because of his putting, which is terrible. Tom Hoge at $9,000, is the right person at the right time. He played okay in 2024 and has the game for Memorial Park, even if he still needs to play better the two times he has played there. But this could be a perfect week for him.

*Players in that $7,500 to $8,900 price range, which ones are worth the money?:

Aaron Rai at $8,600 is a possibility. He was T-7th last year and T-19th in 2022 at Memorial Park but missed the Valspar cut. Billy Horschel, at $8,300, is also worth a look at; he is a good putter and always plays well on challenging courses; this will be his first venture at Memorial Park. Also, watch Doug Ghim at $8,200. This could be a week for him to shine. He has played well for the last six events but has yet to put four rounds together. This could be the week for him. Also, this could be a good week for Mackenzie Hughes at $7,800. His game has been sharp lately, and he has played well at Memorial Park. Also watch Akshay Bhatia at $7,500 because he is a good putter.

Are there any “Bargains” out there?

I like Joel Dahmen at $7,100 because of his excellent play at Memorial Park, he was T-9th last year and T-5th in 2022. Alex Smalley at $6,800, may have missed his last five cuts but plays well at Memorial Park and finished T-4th last year and T-15th in 2021. Aaron Baddeley at $6,500 is a good choice because of his great putting, and he played well last week at the Valspar. Last, I like Padraig Harrington for two reasons. First, he is only $5,500, and second, he will find a way to make the cut this week.