Texas Children’s Houston Open
Memorial Park Golf Course
Houston, Texas
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Top of the Board (odds via Bet365)
The top two players in the OWGR are in the field this week.
Scottie Scheffler (+400) has the course form (T2-T9-T2), but Rory McIlroy (+600) has won twice in four starts, including last time out at THE PLAYERS Championship.
There is no recourse for McIlroy to bomb and gouge this week. With barely any rough, only 1.25 inches of overseeded ryegrass, and barely any bunkers, just 21 on the property, he can wield his best weapon.
The greens, large and overseeded with Poa Trivialis, don’t allow many putts to drop. Only 17 players across four events reached double digits under par after 72 holes, including 10 last year.
Scheffler has not found top gear yet, but his familiarity with Memorial Park will be to his advantage.
Aaron Rai (+2800) posted T7-T7-T19 in three visits and should be in every lineup.
Tony Finau (+2800), off to a cool start in 2025, will break out this week. His last two victories on TOUR have been on two tracks, VidantaWorld and Memorial Park, where there is minimal trouble off the tee and into the greens. Finau finished 2nd-1st at VidantaWorld and T2-1st at Memorial Park in his last two attempts.
Min Woo Lee and Davis Thompson, both at (+3000) make sense this week. Another duo of power players who can get hot with the putter, those with less loft into the greens this week will benefit.
Jason Day (+3300) owns T7 and T16 here.
JJ Spaun (+3500) picked up his only win on TOUR at next week’s stop in San Antonio. I’d let him ease back in after his playoff loss to McIlroy two weeks ago.
Wyndham Clark (+3500) won’t be outdriven by many but does not have a top-10 payday this season or in three previous starts here.
Sungjae Im (+3500) will enjoy the massive greens to catch his irons. The putter is the saving grace.
Stephan Jaeger (+4000), like Finau, loves VidantaWorld and Memorial Park. I’ll remind you it is his first time as a defending champion on TOUR. Not many handle that situation well. Caution.
5 Players to consider for Top 10, Top 20, or Top 40 action:
Jacob Bridgeman – A pair of podiums on the Florida Swing has cut his weekly odds in half.
Sahith Theegala – Home game for The Woodlands resident. Time to get 2025 on track.
Sam Stevens – T14 and solo second in two previous visits, the Oklahoma native has plenty of ammo and confidence.
Mackenzie Hughes – Only the biggest names in the field have a better scoring average here.
Victor Perez – T18-back injury-T22 in his last three.
Bonus Ball: Gary Woodland owns back-to-back T8 or better but has not played since 2022.
NOW PLAYING:
| Host Course | Memorial Park |
| Yards (per official scorecard): | 7,475 |
| Par: | 70 (35-35). |
| Greens: | Overseeded Poa Trivialis; 7,000 square feet on average. |
| Stimpmeter: | 11-plus feet. |
| Rough: | Overseeded ryegrass at 1.25” |
| Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play | 21/2/4 |
| Architect(s): | John Bredemus (1936); Tom Doak (2019). |
| Defending Champion (event): | Stephan Jaeger (-12). |
| Multiple Champion(s) Entered: | None. |
| Course Record: | 62; Tony Finau (2024, 2022); Scottie Scheffler (2021). |
| 72 Hole Tournament Record: | 264; Tony Finau (2022). |
| Fact of the Week: | The event moved back to March for the 2024 event. |
| Fact of the Week II: | The course ranked 12th or harder in all four previous editions. |
SG: Putting
All four winners ranked in the top five on the Poa Trivialis overseeded greens. Simply, putts do not go in here. The last three seasons the course ranked in the top 10 in Putting Average, and that includes the major championships. Those who find a way to will them in with the flat stick. Here’s how the top of the leaderboard looked in 2024 in SG: Putting:
Players listed below are competing this week.
| SG: Putting Rank | Player | Finish |
| 1 | Tom Hoge | T14 |
| 2 | Erik Barnes | T17 |
| 3 | Stephan Jaeger | WIN |
| 4 | David Skinns | T7 |
| 5 | Chad Ramey | T17 |
| 6 | Chris Gotterup | T57 |
| 7 | Taylor Moore | T2 |
| 8 | Max Greyserman | T7 |
| 9 | Harry Hall | T28 |
| 10 | Nick Dunlap | T11 |
| 11 | Thomas Detry | T2 |
| 12 | Alejandro Tosti | T2 |
| 13 | Joseph Bramlett | T36 |
| 14 | Alex Noren | T11 |
| 15 | Nick Hardy | T57 |
Putting matters this week as 11 players from the top 15 in SG: Putting cashed T17 or better.
Notables
- The host course features five Par-3 holes and overseeded Poa Trivialis putting surfaces, the second week in a row on TOUR featuring both.
- Two of the four champions have led the field in Par-3 Scoring.
- The Par-70 also features three Par-5 holes, one of the toughest trios on TOUR.
- The historic Houston Open, established in 1946, has had many homes, but Memorial Park is the only data used this week.
- The overseeded fairways average 30 to 40 yards in the landing area, accounting for the winds that constantly blow in this part of the world.
- Poa Trivialis overseeded greens, the defense of this Tom Doak restoration, average 7,000 square feet and will not run more than 11.5 feet on the Stimpmeter (wind).
- Hole No. 16 has a new tee box for 2025, and 40 yards have been added to the scorecard.
- This is the second consecutive year with the overseeded rough cut to 1.25 inches.
- The last three champions ranged from 33 to 36 years of age. Debut winner Carlos Ortiz (not eligible) was 29.
- Jaeger joins Ortiz as the two champions to win for the first time on TOUR at the event.
- The Official World Golf Ranking is represented by 20 of the top 50 players, including No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who makes his debut at Memorial Park.
Recent Winners
- 2025 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| The Sentry | Hideki Matsuyama |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Nick Taylor |
| The American Express | Sepp Straka |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Harris English |
| AT&T Pebble Beach | Rory McIlroy |
| WM Phoenix Open | Thomas Detry (first time) |
| The Genesis Invitational | Ludvig Aberg |
| Mexico Open at VidantaWorld | Brian Campbell (first time) |
| Cognizant Classic | Joe Highsmith (first time) |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Russell Henley |
| THE PLAYERS Championship | Rory McIlroy (2) |
| Valspar Championship | Viktor Hovland |
2024 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| The Sentry | Chris Kirk |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Grayson Murray (Rest in Peace) |
| The American Express | Nick Dunlap (a) |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Matthieu Pavon (rookie) |
| AT&T Pebble Beach | Wyndham Clark (54 holes) |
| WM Phoenix Open | Nick Taylor |
| The Genesis Invitational | Hideki Matsuyama |
| Mexico Open at Vidanta | Jake Knapp (rookie) |
| Cognizant Classic | Austin Eckroat (first time) |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Scottie Scheffler |
| THE PLAYERS Championship | Scottie Scheffler (2) |
| Valspar Championship | Peter Malnati |
| Texas Children’s Houston Open | Stephan Jaeger (first time) |
| Valero Texas Open | Akshay Bhatia |
| 88th Masters Tournament | Scottie Scheffler (3) |
| RBC Heritage | Scottie Scheffler (4) |
| Zurich Classic | Rory McIlroy & Shane Lowry |
| THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson | Taylor Pendrith (first time) |
| Wells Fargo Championship | Rory McIlroy (2) |
| 106th PGA Championship | Xander Schauffele |
| Charles Schwab Challenge | Davis Riley |
| RBC Canadian Open | Robert MacIntyre (first time) |
| The 49th Memorial Tournament | Scottie Scheffler (5) |
| 124th United States Open | Bryson DeChambeau |
| Travelers Championship | Scottie Scheffler (6) |
| Rocket Mortgage Classic | Cam Davis |
| John Deere Classic | Davis Thompson (first time) |
| Genesis Scottish Open | Robert MacIntyre (2) |
| 152nd Open Championship | Xander Schauffele (2) |
| 3M Open | Jhonattan Vegas |
| 2024 Paris Olympics | Scottie Scheffler (7) |
| 3M Open | Jhonattan Vegas |
| Wyndham Championship | Aaron Rai (first time) |
| FedEx St. Jude Championship | Hideki Matsuyama (2) |
| BMW Championship | Keegan Bradley |
| The TOUR Championship | Scottie Scheffler (8) |
| FedEx Cup Fall | |
| Procore Championship | Patton Kizzire |
| Sanderson Farms Championship | Kevin Yu (first time) |
| Black Desert Championship | Matt McCarty (first time) |
| Shriners Children’s Open | JT Poston |
| ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP | Nico Echavarria |
| World Wide Technology Champ | Austin Eckroat (2) |
| Butterfield Bermuda Champ | Rafa Campos (first time) |
| The RSM Classic | Maverick McNealy (first time) |
Recent Winners – Texas Children’s Houston Open
Italics – not entered this week;
| Year | Winner | Notes |
| 2024 | Stephan Jaeger (-12) | Held off five players to win by a shot for his first victory on TOUR. |
| 2022 | Tony Finau (-16) | Set the tournament scoring record and won by four shots, also a record. Final November event (2023 season). |
| 2021 | Jason Korkak (-10) | Won by two shots as Scheffler couldn’t close the 54-hole lead. |
| 2020 | Carlos Ortiz (-13) | Held off Hideki Matsuyama (not entered) and Dusitn Johnson (ineligible) to win for the first time on TOUR. |
One and Done – Spotter’s Game
1 player per event (plus a backup pick if your guy get kidnapped on Wednesday night and doesn’t make it to the first tee Thursday).
1 use per year.
| Event | Selection | Place | Earnings |
| The Sentry | Sungjae Im | 3rd | $1,360,000 |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Russell Henley | T10 | 195,025 |
| The American Express | Adam Hadwin | MC | |
| Farmers Insurance | Jason Day | T32 | 52,080 |
| AT&T Pebble Beach | Ludvig Aberg | WD | |
| WM Phoenix Open | Rasmus Hojgaard | T12 | 195,500 |
| Genesis Invitational | Will Zalatoris | T24 | 168,857 |
| Mexico Open | Patrick Rodgers | T25 | 59,350 |
| Cognizant Classic | Daniel Berger | T25 | 73,721 |
| Arnold Palmer | Keegan Bradley | T5 | 800,000 |
| THE PLAYERS | Collin Morikawa | T10 | 656,250 |
| Valspar Championship | Sepp Straka | T28 | 55,844 |
LAST WEEK – Valspar Invitational
MY CHOICE: Sepp Straka
I didn’t have Hovland or Justin Thomas on my radar.
Straka didn’t fire, but am I surprised?
Of course not. 74 on Saturday was the killer.
Whatever.
THIS Week – Texas Children’s Houston Open
With the two heavyweights battling it out. I’m down to two players: Finau and Rai.
Rai gets the benefit of the doubt on current form, and he did run T4 at Vidanta.
THE CHOICE: Aaron Rai
Others to consider:
Tony Finau, Min Woo Lee, Davis Riley, Mackenzie Hughes
Glass Houses 