2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open Tournament Preview: Everything You Need To Know About Memorial Park Golf Course
Another week of PGA TOUR action brings us to Memorial Park Golf Course with the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open. Compare Houston Open odds at the best sports betting sites to increase your potential PGA TOUR golf betting payouts. Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, and Tony Finau project as the top favorites for this upcoming tournament.
Cast your brackets aside! While this week has long been known to kick off the Texas Swing in Austin, there’s a new sheriff in town after the PGA TOUR’s decision to sunset the fan-favorite WGC Dell Match Play. Instead, the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course is set to fill the void in this new slot on the schedule.
Change has been the only constant when it comes to this event. Texas Children’s is a new sponsor, replacing Cadence Bank’s one year run last season. It was preceded by Hewlett Packard Enterprises and Vivint in 2021 & 2020, went unsponsored in 2018 & 2019, and endured a longer tenured sponsorship with Shell prior to that.
Despite the change in the name, Houston remains a mainstay for this event, and Memorial Park will host now for the fourth consecutive year. Of the other venues we see each year across the Texas Swing, Memorial Park is unquestionably the most challenging. In the last three years of hosting, Even Par, through four rounds, has been good enough for a T40 finish, so Bogey Avoidance and Scrambling will be at a premium. Overall, players who have a proven track record in difficult or Major-like conditions should be best equipped to navigate Memorial Park.
Now let’s get into the key facts and info about Memorial Park Golf Course before betting Texas Children’s Houston Open odds.
2024 TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOUSTON OPEN ODDS: THE FAVORITES
To compare PGA TOUR odds in legal sports betting states, as well as other Texas Children’s Houston Open offerings, scroll to the bottom of this post. Find Houston Open odds on favorites 20-1 or shorter below.
Texas Children’s HOUSTON OPEN ODDS: FIELD AT A GLANCE
The Houston Open has attracted some solid fields over the last three years since relocating to Memorial Park, but this field of 144 leaves a bit to be desired. The field is headlined by six OWGR top-30 players: Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Sahith Theegala, Tony Finau, Jason Day, and Will Zalatoris. Scheffler and Clark have notably finished 1-2 in each of the last two Signature Events.
Scottie Scheffler
What do we do about the Tiger-esque juggernaut Scottie Scheffler in the mallet putter era? He’s looked the part of a perfect golfer in each of his first two starts since the equipment change, winning both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS Championship. And if you thought a trip to the Houston Open might be a reprieve to tune up once more before The Masters, think again. As a Texas native, Scheffler has been outspoken about how much he loves coming back to Texas to put on a show in front of the local, supportive crowds. He is the course record owner at Memorial Park, firing a 62 in the 2021 Houston Open, and has finished top 10 in the last two years.
His 3-1 betting odds are the shortest we’ve seen in a full-field event in years, and the threat of him winning is legitimate enough for me to consider betting in the “Without Scheffler” markets or attaching Each Way as insurance for all of my outright bets.
As Stephen A. Smith would say, “This is bad. This is very, very bad!“
Tony Finau returns to defend his Houston Open win last season. He blitzed the field with a comfortable four-stroke victory, carding a final score of -16. Noticeably absent this week will be each of the first two Houston Open winners at Memorial Park, as Jason Kokrak and Carlos Ortiz have since fled to LIV. Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Cameron Tringale are also among the top 10 of total strokes gained at Memorial Park, but will be absent this week for the same reasons.
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INTRODUCTION TO MEMORIAL PARK GOLF COURSE
This will mark the fourth consecutive year of play at Memorial Park for the Houston Open after a sustained 16-year stretch from 2003-2019 at the Golf Club of Houston. In 2019, Tom Doak completed a significant overhaul of Memorial Park, which was funded with $34M from the Houston Astros Foundation with input from none other than Brooks Koepka. Prior to Doak’s renovation, Memorial Park had hosted the PGA Tour’s Houston Open 14 times between 1947 and 1963, with Arnold Palmer notably winning here in ’57.
Whenever a player is brought on in an advisory role, it’s usually more cosmetic for marketing purposes, with the architect’s vision prevailing. In the case of Brooks Koepka at Memorial Park, however, you can’t help but feel his influence. This renovated golf course does not possess the historical significance or stakes of a Major, but it’s been constructed in a way that closely emulates Major conditions with a combination of length and difficult green-side runoffs that reward all-around skillsets of distance, ball-striking, and short game.
How It Breaks Down
Memorial Park is a long par-71, playing to 7,412 yards on the scorecard with three par-5s, five par-3s, and 10 par-4s. Of the par-4s, half will play over 490 yards, which will impose a stern ball-striking test on the field.
There are only five holes with a scoring average under par, which is a stark contrast from the birdie fest conditions we’ve become used to over the last month. Unsurprisingly, the five 490+ yard par-4s and 237-yard par-3 are the most difficult scoring holes on the course.
What I found most interesting about Memorial Park is that through the first two years of play post-renovation, the shortest par-3 (155 yards), par-4 (382 yards), and par-5 (576 yards) each have a scoring average over par. This shows that the firm conditions, tight runouts around the green, and susceptibility to gusting Texas winds all make this golf course play even more difficult than the stock scorecard yardage would suggest.
Traits And Recent Notable Facts
Fast, oversized Bermuda greens with tight surrounding runoff areas highlight the identity of Memorial Park. Not unlike Southern Hills or other recent links-style courses, Memorial Park will call for creative shot-making around the greens, with a myriad of options to scramble when approaches inevitably miss their target.
The wind has been fairly calm in the first two iterations of this event, but we should always anticipate gusting winds whenever golfing in Texas, which will further emphasize short game. Over its first two years, Memorial Park has ranked inside the top 10 of most difficult courses to score from around the greens, both from the rough and tight fairway runoff areas.
Despite its length, standing over 7,400 yards, the par-3s offer somewhat of a respite at this course, ranking bottom-5 in average Par-3 length in each of the last two years. The par-3s are still not birdie opportunities by any means, so players will be content to finish the week at Even par across them.
In short, the course has been designed to reward skilled all-around players with distance, strong ball striking, and reliable short games in their arsenal.
For Memorial Park course specs, hole-by-hole breakdown with yardages, and past Houston Open winners with their pre-tournament odds, visit our Houston Open odds page.
Editor’s Note
COURSE HISTORY AND COURSE COMPS
Over the first three years of play at Memorial Park, it’s Tony Finau who stands out at the top of the field in terms of Course History. Finau has played in each of the first three iterations of the Houston Open at Memorial Park, posting a T24 and MC prior to winning this event last season.
After Finau, the rest of the top 10 in Course History at Memorial Park include Joel Dahmen, Alex Smalley, Scottie Scheffler, Aaron Rai, Mackenzie Hughes, Maverick McNealy, Stephan Jaeger, and Jason Day. It’s difficult to draw overarching conclusions after just three years, but considering the additional top results from players like Jason Kokrak, Carlos Ortiz, Dustin Johnson, and Brooks Koepka, who are all absent this week, a trend of Driving Distance, top-tier ball striking, and Bermuda putting begins to prevail.
The list of players who’ve successfully made it through the cut in each of the first three years at Memorial Park includes Scottie Scheffler, Mackenzie Hughes, Maverick McNealy, and Jason Day. The former three have finished top-35 in all three prior appearances.
In addition, Tony Finau, Joel Dahmen, Alex Noren, Ben Taylor, Tyson Alexander, and Scheffler have each posted a T5 finish in one of the first three years at Memorial Park.
Course Comps
As a baseline for course comps this week, I’m looking at recent courses that have produced similar median scoring averages around Even Par to closely simulate the importance of Bogey Avoidance in difficult conditions, particularly with tight runoff areas around the green. Bay Hill, The Renaissance Club, Los Angeles Country Club, and Southern Hills are at the top of the list for those reasons, with a special nod to The Renaissance Club for sharing the Tom Doak connection.
St. George’s Golf & Country Club, the host of the 2022 RBC Canadian Open, is another Tom Doak design that featured challenging scoring conditions and produced an extremely top-heavy leaderboard of complete all-around players like we’ve seen in Memorial Park’s first three years.
PGA National and Quail Hollow have rewarded a similar skillset of strong long-iron players on firm Bermuda greens and difficult scoring conditions. For the regional element, Colonial CC and GC of Houston have proven to simulate these intermittent Texas winds. Colonial CC in particular has produced wins from Jason Kokrak and Sam Burns over the last two years, who each have a pristine track record at Memorial Park.
Combine performance across this list, and the top-10 players in Comp Course History here are Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Wyndham Clark, Gary Woodland, Kevin Chappell, Will Zalatoris, Ben Griffin, Bud Cauley, Keith Mitchell, and Ryan Fox.
KEY STATS TO CONSIDER BEFORE BETTING PGA TOUR ODDS
- SG: APP / SG: Ball Striking
- Driving Distance
- Bogey Avoidance
- Par-5 Scoring
- Prox: 200+
- SG: ARG / Scrambling Gained
- SG: P (Bermuda) / SG: P (L36)
- SG: TOT (Difficult Scoring Conditions)
- Course + Comp Course History
Looking at the best approach players heading into this week, the top 10 in terms of SG: APP include Tom Hoge, Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Keith Mitchell, Victor Perez, Rico Hoey, Will Zalatoris, Davis Thompson, Wyndham Clark, and Sam Ryder. Over one-third of the approach shots are expected to come from over 200 yards between the three par-5s, two long par-3s, and five par-4s over 490 yards. The top 10 long iron players in this week’s field are Keith Mitchell, Tom Hoge, Thorbjorn Olesen, Chez Reavie, Robert MacIntyre, Tony Finau, Kevin Dougherty, Luke List, Joe Highsmith, and Matt Wallace.
Birdie opportunities are few and far between at Memorial Park, so it’s crucial to take advantage of those elusive chances. The par-5s ranked inside the top-3 most difficult in scoring average each of the last two years, but even so, this is still where players can gain separation. The top-10 players in Par-5 Scoring are Max Greyserman, Wyndham Clark, Doug Ghim, Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Beau Hossler, Mackenzie Hughes, Davis Thompson, Matt Schmid, and Mark Hubbard.
With scoring conditions continuing to remain challenging in this stretch of the schedule, it’s a crucial week to reference a combination of both Bogey Avoidance and SG: TOT (Difficult Scoring Conditions). There are just 10 players who rank top-25 in both categories: Scottie Scheffler, Joel Dahmen, Wyndham Clark, Si Woo Kim, Doug Ghim, Maverick McNealy, Bud Cauley, Alex Noren, Davis Thompson, and Greyson Sigg.
The ideal player for this week should rank above-average in Driving Distance, Recent T2G Form, SG: ARG + Scrambling, Comp Course History, and SG: TOT (Difficult Scoring Conditions) + Bogey Avoidance). There are just nine players who fit that criteria: Tony Finau, Wyndham Clark, Robert MacIntyre, Stephan Jaeger, Andrew Novak, Davis Thompson, Patrick Rodgers, Jason Day, and Matt Wallace.
Correlations
This week, although with only 12 rounds of sample size, it’s still worth a look at how players have gone about gaining their strokes at Memorial Park compared to the TOUR average.
So far, the data shows a significant advantage for players who have been able to capitalize on Par-5 Scoring, particularly from longer ranges, Conversely, Par-4: 400-450 and Par-4: 450-500 are severely deprioritized at Memorial Park, with sparse birdie opportunities available to separate from the field.
Only eight players in the field rank above average in each of the above 10 key stat categories: Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Wyndham Clark, Si Woo Kim, Robert MacIntyre, and Beau Hossler.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: SAHITH THEEGALA
Scoring in difficult conditions. Creative shot-making to navigate Houston’s intermittently gusting winds. An arsenal of touch shots around the green to scramble from tight, undulated run-offs. Above-average driving distance. Trending all-around form leading in. Proven results in comparable difficult major-like conditions. And above all else, a local Texan’s familiarity with the unique Houston terrain.
These are the characteristics necessary to find success at Memorial Park Golf Course, and there’s only one man who checks each and every box:
Scottie Scheffler.
Granted, you could put Scottie Scheffler on any golf course on the planet right now and it would suit him better than anyone else in the field. But with wins in each of his last two starts and new life on the greens post-mallet putter change, it bears repeating that the cards are stacked against any of his 143 other competitors to outplay him.
If you, like me, are trying to talk yourself into any non-Scheffler player winning the Houston Open this week, it’s Sahith Theegala who comes the closest as far as an ideal profile fit to attack Memorial Park.
It’s a new homecoming for Theegala, who took up full-time residency in Houston last year. He’ll have fond memories in his return here, as he posted a Sunday-low round of 64 to close the 2023 Houston Open en route to a T22 finish. His form continues to trend upward as 2024 rolls on, with three top-10s over his last four starts. Newfound consistency has been the key to Theegala’s 2024 breakthrough, as he’s flipped his volatile driver into a reliable weapon. He joins Wyndham Clark and Doug Ghim as the only three players to rank in the top 30 in SG: OTT, SG: APP, and SG: Putting over the last 36 rounds.
A top-10 finisher in his Masters debut, this week will be a great litmus test for Theegala’s ability to go toe-to-toe with the World No. 1 on this difficult, firm, fast, and undulated layout.
2024 TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOUSTON OPEN ODDS: DFS PLAYER POOL
With all the course-fit profiles in mind, I’m leaning early toward the below player pool. Naturally, I’m looking their way in the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open odds, as well. I’ve broken the list down by actualized pricing/odds tier for DraftKings and rankings projections for Underdog Fantasy, with odds and pricing released earlier this week.
UNDERDOG GOLF DRAFT RANKINGS TIERS
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Tier 1
Scottie Scheffler
Wyndham Clark
Tony Finau
Will Zalatoris
Tier 2
Keith Mitchell
Jason Day
Sahith Theegala
Si Woo Kim
Tier 3
Jake Knapp
Doug Ghim
Maverick McNealy
Stephan Jaeger
Mackenzie Hughes
Tier 4
Ryan Fox
Alex Noren
Beau Hossler
Joel Dahmen
KH Lee
Ben Griffin
Tier 5
Robert MacIntyre
Joseph Bramlett
Sam Bennett
Dylan Wu
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TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOUSTON OPEN MODEL RESULTS & BREAKDOWN
For my BTN model this week, I’m emphasizing SG: APP, Comp Course History, Bogey Avoidance, and SG: TOT (Difficult Scoring Conditions), followed by a more balanced mix of Scrambling Gained + SG: ARG, Prox: 200+, Par-5 Scoring, Driving Distance, and SG: P (L36 + Bermuda).
Model Favorites
To no surprise, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler sits atop my model for the third week in a row as he looks to win for the third time in a row. He is the prototypical player to attack a layout like Memorial Park and will open at the shortest odds we have seen from a favorite in a full-field event so far this season.
After Scheffler, the rest of my model’s top 10 features Wyndham Clark, Tony Finau, Keith Mitchell, Alex Noren, Si Woo Kim, Doug Ghim, Maverick McNealy, Joel Dahmen, and Will Zalatoris.
When Houston Open Odds odds release on Monday, I see myself gravitating towards a tight card with exposure to Will Zalatoris and Sahith Theegala among the favorites. I have a tough time picturing any longshots out-dueling Scottie Scheffler in his current form this week but may consider Each Way betting if I find myself attached to any players further down the board like Robert MacIntyre, KH Lee, or Joseph Bramlett. Check back in later this week for more updates.
Thanks for reading, and good luck with your 2024 Houston Open bets!
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