Welcome to the BettingPros PGA Podcast. I’m Pat Fitzmaurice, along with my partner in crime, Bo McBrayer. Today, we’re giving you a betting preview for the Texas Children’s Houston Open – the first leg of a Texas Two-Step as we head toward The Masters.
Texas Children’s Houston Open Preview
The PGA Tour heads to Houston this week for the Texas Children’s Houston Open. It’s not a sterling field overall, but it’s not completely terrible either.
The venue is Memorial Park, a par 71 measuring 7,475 yards. It’s actually a public course operated by the Houston Parks and Recreation Department – a 90-year-old track that was renovated by Tom Doak and Brooks Koepka in 2019.
Memorial Park in a nutshell: it’s a bomber’s paradise. This is a long course with wide fairways and manageable rough. They have to keep the rough reasonable with it being a public course, so the big hitters are going to have a major advantage this week.
But it’s not all about distance. Memorial Park features big Bermuda greens that are firm and fast. Approach shots that aren’t precise are in danger of running off the greens, and a lot of these greens have runoff areas that force players to chip from tight lies. It’s actually good practice for Augusta National in that regard.
This course is really going to test putting and chipping. Memorial Park has three par 5s and five par 3s – another course with five par 3s, just like last week. Two of the par 5s are over 600 yards. Five of the par 4s are 490 yards or longer, and three stretch beyond 500 yards, including the 522-yard opening hole and the 503-yard finishing hole.
We’ve seen a lot of water hazards on Florida courses in recent weeks, but not so much here. There are hazards on the 16th and 17th holes, plus a couple of small creeks in front of some par 3s. There also aren’t many bunkers at Memorial Park.
Recent Winning Scores Vary
Min Woo Lee is the defending champion. He finished at 20-under last year and barely held off Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland, who were one shot back. Stephan Jaeger won in 2024 at 12-under, again with Scheffler finishing one shot behind. Tony Finau won in 2023 at 16-under, and Jason Kokrak took it in 2022 at 10-under.
Winning scores here really oscillate depending on the wind. As for the forecast, we’re expecting warm, dry weather this week, so the course should play firm. There hasn’t been much rain in Texas recently. Winds are expected to be in the 10-15 mph range most of the week, but as we get closer to Thursday, it’s worth checking the hourly forecast to see if there’s an edge with tee-time waves.
Bo McBrayer on Memorial Park
This course is really straightforward. Tour players don’t like this course as much as fans do. Fans love it because it’s a public course – anyone can go play it if you’re in Houston.
For the pros, it’s more of a warm-up for Augusta in certain ways. The wide fairways and short rough are about where the similarities end, though, because Augusta is a completely different challenge around the greens – even if conditions here are somewhat tailored to mimic that.
This course is wide open and long. Like Pat said, the bombers are going to love it because there’s really nothing discouraging aggressive tee shots. Big hitters who can also dial in their approach play are going to thrive.
Approach is huge here. This is a first-and second-shot golf course, and if you have extra distance off the tee, you’re setting yourself up with shorter approach shots – which is a massive advantage given the runoff areas and the pressure on the short game when you miss greens.
So yes, approach is still the most important factor, but driving distance provides a clear edge. After that, you’re looking at strokes gained around the green, scrambling percentage, and bogey avoidance.
It’s not necessarily an easy course. It can play easier if the wind is down, but if the wind picks up, you’re probably looking at a winning score somewhere between 10-and 15-under.
Hard Rock Best Bets of the Week
It’s time to give out our Hard Rock Best Bets of the Week for the Houston Open.
Pat Fitzmaurice’s Hard Rock Best Bet of the Week
My Hard Rock Bet of the week is Wyndham Clark. I grabbed him at 60-1 this morning on Hard Rock Bet Illinois.
Pat Fitzmaurice’s Houston Open Picks:
- Hard Rock Best Bet of the Week: Wyndham Clark (+6000)
- Brooks Koepka (+2900)
- Nicolai Hojgaard (+3300)
- Stephan Jaeger (+6600)
- Sudarshan Yellamaraju (+11500)
- Alejandro Tosti (+36000)
- Alejandro Tosti Top 10 (+1750)
- Alejandro Tosti Top 20 (+740)
- Pontus Nyholm (+55000)
- Pontus Nyholm Top 20 (+890)
Bo McBrayer’s Hard Rock Best Bet of the Week
I’m going head-to-head with Pat: I’ll take Sahith Theegala at 59-1 as my Hard Rock Bet of the Week. Let’s do it. A little mid-tier showdown, dueling banjos.
Bo McBrayer’s Houston Open Picks:
- Hard Rock Best Bet of the Week: Sahith Theegala (+5900)
- Chris Gotterup (+2500)
- Nicolai Højgaard (+3300)
- Michael Thorbjornsen (+3700)
- Will Zalatoris (+8400)
- Sudarshan Yellamaraju (+11500)
And that’s all for this week’s BettingPros PGA Podcast. We hope you’ll be back next week when Bo and I preview the Valero Texas Open. Until then, so long everyone.
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