After a week south of the border, the PGA Tour returns to the states for the Cadence Bank Houston Open in Houston, Texas.
Three of the world’s top 15 players, including No. 2 Scottie Scheffler, are set to tee off Thursday at Memorial Park Golf Course. Scheffler, who finished in a tie for third at Mayakoba last Sunday, is the betting favorite at +550. His good buddy Sam Burns is next in line at +1200 before Tony Finau and Aaron Wise come in at +1500.
Last season, LIV Golf’s Jason Kokrak won by two shots over Kevin Tway and Scheffler.
With a win this week, Scheffler would return to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Houston Open: PGA Tour Live streaming on ESPN+
Golf course
Memorial Park Golf Course | Par 70 | 7,412 yards
Data Golf Information
Course Fit (compares golf courses based on the degree to which different golfer attributes — such as driving distance — to predict who performs well at each course – DataGolf): 1. Southern Hills Country Club, 2. Silverado Resort and Spa, 3. TPC Scottsdale
Trending (the players’ last three starts): 1. Taylor Montgomery (T-15, T-13, T-10), 2. Aaron Wise (T-64, 6, T-15), 3. Maverick McNealy (T-12, T-18, T-10)
Percent chance to win (based on course history, fit, trending, etc.): 1. Scottie Scheffler (13.3 percent), 2. Tony Finau (6 percent), 3. Aaron Wise (4.4 percent)
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Betting preview
Last week (World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba)
I didn’t have Russell Henley on the card last week, but five of my six plays finished T-21 or better (three inside the top 10).
Down five units for the week (.5 unit plays on Joel Dahmen and Aaron Wise), but still up 30.5 units on the season.
If you’re interested in my full card every week, it’s posted on my Twitter sometime Wednesday afternoon. Follow me here.
Odds
| Player | Odds | Player | Odds |
| Scottie Scheffler | (+550) | Matthew NeSmith | (+4000) |
| Sam Burns | (+1200) | Joel Dahmen | (+4000) |
| Tony Finau | (+1500) | Taylor Pendrith | (+4000) |
| Aaron Wise | (+1500) | Davis Riley | (+4000) |
| Jason Day | (+2000) | Sahith Theegala | (+4000) |
| Hideki Matsuyama | (+2000) | Alex Noren | (+5000) |
| Russell Henley | (+2000) | Emiliano Grillo | (+5000) |
| Maverick McNealy | (+2000) | Andrew Putnam | (+5000) |
| Taylor Montgomery | (+2000) | Keith Mitchell | (+5000) |
| Denny McCarthy | (+3000) | Will Gordon | (+5000) |
Joel Dahmen
Fair warning — this week’s card is going to look strikingly similar to last week’s.
So, let’s start with our highest finisher from Mayakoba.
Joel Dahmen is off to a great start this season with three top 20s in his last four starts (T-3 in Mexico). At last year’s Houston Open, Dahmen tied for fifth.
Bets to consider: Outright (+4000), Top 20 (+175)
Maverick McNealy
Again, a familiar name.
McNealy has finished inside the top 20 in his last four starts, two of which were top 10s (T-10 at Mayakoba). In two trips to Memorial Park, Mav has finished T-19 and T-20.
At a track with five par 5s around 500 yards, his length off the tee should come in handy.
Bets to consider: Outright (+2000), Top 20 (+135)
Sam Burns
Sam Burns is always good a good bet to contend this time of year. In the fall of 2021, Burns had four top 20s in four starts including a win and two T-7s or better.
This season, Burns finished T-30 at the Sanderson Farms and T-7 a few weeks ago at the CJ Cup. The last two years at Memorial Park, Burns has collected two T-7 finishes.
Bets to consider: Outright (+1200), Top 10 (+155)
