Houston Open Golf Tips
Jason Day 30/1 2pts - 8 Places
Davis Riley 50/1 1pt - 8 Places
Sepp Straka 80/1 1pt - 8 Places
Russell Henley ended a five and a half year drought with a four shot victory over Brian Harman in Mexico at the World Wide Technology Championship with rounds of 63-63-65-70, the pre-event 50/1 shot put himself into a strong position and heavy favourite after being -16 after two rounds to leave the rest of the field chasing from there on in. This week we’re back at Memorial Park Golf Course, a 7,412 yard par 70 for the Houston Open. LIV golfer Jason Kokrak won this event last year and he obviously won’t be in the field this week to defend his title. This week’s field includes four of the world’s top twenty, Scottie Scheffler who finished third in Mexico, Sam Burns, Tony Finau and Hideki Matsuyama. The last two renewals at Memorial Park have seen winning scores of -10 (Kokrak 2021) and -13 (Ortiz 2020) and we can probably expect something similar this week.
Two key stats for this test appear to be SG: Putting and SG: Approach. Kokrak ranked 3rd in putting and Ortiz ranked 5th. While four of the top-five finishers in 2021 were inside the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Putting for the week. Kokrak ranked 2nd in approach and Ortiz ranked 14th. While four of the top-five finishers again in 2021 were inside the top-13 in SG: Approach.
A hot putter and strong iron play is definitely the way to go this week.
Jason Day 30/1
First pick for me this week is Jason Day, again. I have put Day up three times over the last handful of tournaments but there's a good reason why. He’s been hitting the ball to a high standard since the start of the new PGA Tour season and he’s posted some good results. 8-11-21 since a missed cut in the opening event of the season, the Fortinet Championship. Over the last 24 rounds amongst players in this field he ranks 10-13-20-22 for SG: T2G, Ball Striking, OTT and Approach in that order. He also finished 7th here in 2020 where he ranked 8th T2G which is another positive. His price has unfortunately come in a little but rightly so in my opinion with how he has been playing and I can see him going close this week.
Davis Riley 50/1
Davis Riley is next on my list and he’s another player I have backed a little too much this year and I’m eagerly waiting for his first win on the PGA Tour. A solid 29th on debut at Memorial Park last year where he drove the ball well and ranked 7th for GIR is an encouraging first go at a tough course. Riley’s recent form isn’t all that inspiring apart from four consecutive cuts made but he did finish 21st in Mexico last week and hit 70% of greens so there’s definitely something there. If Riley can find some of his mid-year form where he finished 2nd in the Valspar and posted five top-15s in a row including a 13th at the PGA Championship, along with holing a few more putts along the way then he should go well in Houston.
Sepp Straka 80/1
Last up for me this week is the ever improving and Ryder Cup hopeful Sepp Straka. This is a player who has had quite the year, and finds himself ranked inside the world’s top-30. Straka has a win in the Honda Classic, two runner ups, a third and also finished 6th in the season ending TOUR Championship mixing it with the world’s best. He lost a playoff to Mackenzie Hughes in the Sanderson Farms a month ago, in that tournament he ranked inside the top-10 for SG: Putting, T2G and Approach and arguably should’ve made that his second PGA Tour win this year. Another big positive is the fact he finished 5th on debut at Memorial Park in 2020 following a 4th in 2019 in this event albeit at a different course. 80/1 quotes about Straka this week are just far too big.
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