While the Florida stretch was fun, I'm ready for the next stage of the PGA TOUR season. We have two events in Texas before heading to Augusta National for the Masters.
One of the big storylines over the next two weeks is the golfers who are trying to play their way into the Masters field. The top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings (as of March 29th) will get an invite, as will the winners of the next two events.
Some of the big names in this week's field who have yet to qualify for the Masters include Rickie Fowler, Sahith Theegala, Billy Horschel, and Tony Finau.
Where is the Houston Open?
Houston Open Course Preview: Memorial Park Golf Course
Memorial Park Golf Course has held the Houston Open five times (2025, 2024, 2022, 2021, & 2020). This is a public golf course that sees around 60,000 rounds played on it each year. This is one of the only courses on TOUR that doesn't have many bunkers. The designer wanted the course to be tougher for the pros and easier for the amateurs, so he only put 21 bunkers on the entire property.
The course is a Par 70 that measures 7,475 yards. On a par-adjusted basis, this is one of the longest courses on TOUR. It has a unique layout for a Par 70 in that it features 5 Par 3s and 3 Par 5s. The difficulty of the course largely hinges on the wind, as we've seen the winning score range from -10 to -20 here in the last five years.
This is one of the most bomber-friendly courses that we are going to see all year. Golfers hit driver on 83% of non-Par 3 tee shots last year, which is extremely high compared to the TOUR average. The fairways are generous (34 yards wide), and the rough is very playable. We typically see a big difference in greens in regulation rate from the fairway and the rough, but that's hasn't been the case at this event over the years. Bombs away!
The greens at Memorial Park are large (7,000 square feet) and feature poa trivialis overseed. This course has been very demanding tee-to-green over the years, so I wouldn't focus too much attention on golfers who gain most of their strokes with their short game. Essentially, I'm looking for strong tee-to-green golfers who are long off the tee.
Houston Open Picks
We got a little unlucky with the timing of this article. I write my betting preview every Tuesday morning, which is usually when most of the odds have settled for the week. Unfortunately, Scottie Scheffler was a late withdrawal. If we had made these bets on Monday, the odds would have been significantly better for each golfer. Anyone who made a non-Scheffler bet on Monday has some sweet closing line value.
While the odds could have been better, I still love the numbers for my picks this week. Something tells me that we are going to see a long-shot winner. It would be nice to get our first win of the year.
Nicolai Hojgaard +2800
Hojgaard didn't play great last weekend at the Valspar Championship, but he has yet to miss a cut in his first full season on the PGA TOUR. He's made 8 starts this year and already has 3 top 6 finishes. This is one of the weakest fields that he's played in so far, and this is arguably the best course fit for his skill set. He's a bomber off the tee, he's excellent with his long irons, and he's underrated around the green (especially if you look at his stats from the DP World Tour). He's also an excellent Par 3 scorer, which bodes well for this week since there are 5 of them at Memorial Park. I believe it's only a matter of time before he picks up his first PGA TOUR win, as he's already won 3 times on the DP World Tour.
Pierceson Coody +5500
If Coody decided to skip all of the Florida events, he would be +2500 to win this week. While it's hard to ignore the fact that he went MC, MC, T55 over his last 3 events, there are some golfers who can't seem to figure out Florida golf. In fact, he's never played well in Florida, so I'm willing to give him a pass. Earlier in the year, he had 5 top 20 finishes in a span of 6 events. He should enjoy some home cooking this week in Texas, and he should feel right at home on this driver-heavy course. He's one of the best drivers of the ball in the world, and this course allows you to hit driver on most of the non Par 3s. He's played this event twice and made the cut in both of those appearances.
Rasmus Hojgaard +6000
I can't imagine a more painful thing in golf betting than having one Hojgaard on the outright ticket and watching the other win an event. I'm not letting that happen this week, as I'm betting both of the Hojgaard twins. Nicolai is certainly in better form than Rasmus, but that's why the latter is priced at +6000. When it comes to winning events, Rasmus actually has the edge on his brother, as he's won 5 times on the DP World Tour. My theory is that because he's the better putter of the two, he has a slightly higher ceiling. In his debut here last year, he finished T32.
Jordan L. Smith +7000
This course sets up well for bombers. While Smith's driving distance numbers on the PGA TOUR don't jump off the page, he averaged 303 yards off the tee on the DP World Tour in 2025. He's always been an excellent ball striker, and he tends to play his best on courses that are demanding tee-to-green. Memorial Park certainly fits that mold. Smith is coming off a great week at the Valspar Championship where he finished T3 and gained nearly 10 strokes tee-to-green. He's never played this event, but course history hasn't been predictive here. This is a very fair price for one of the best ball strikers in the field.
Isaiah Salinda +25000
I've been trying to find a way to incorporate more upside into my PGA DFS model. My AI helped me come up with a new metric. It takes my existing rating for each golfer and applies a volatility metric based on every round each golfer has played. The more volatile round-to-round, the more theoretical upside a golfer has. There is no golfer in the field more volatile than Salinda, who finished T11 at this event last year. This is a super long-shot, but it would be sweet to have the new metric pay dividends the very first week. Salinda made the cut last week and gained 4.5 strokes on approach.
When is the Houston Open?
The 2026 Houston Open tees off on Thursday, March 26, 2026.
- What: 2026 Houston Open
- When: March 26-29, 2026
- Where: Memorial Park Golf Course, Houston, Texas.
- Par: 70
- Length: 7,475
- Purse: $9.9 million
Where to Watch the Houston Open?
2026 Houston Open TV Schedule
Round 1: Thursday, March 26
- Live stream: ESPN+ (8:15 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET)
- TV coverage: Golf Channel (3 to 7 p.m. ET)
Round 2: Friday, March 27
- Live stream: ESPN+ (8:15 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET)
- TV coverage: Golf Channel (3 to 7 p.m. ET)
Round 3: Saturday, March 28
- Live stream: ESPN+ (7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
- TV coverage: Golf Channel (1 to 3 p.m. ET); NBC (3 to 6 p.m. ET)
Round 4: Sunday, March 29
- Live stream: ESPN+ (7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
- TV coverage: Golf Channel (1 to 3 p.m. ET); NBC (3 to 6 p.m. ET)
