The PGA Tour travels to the Lone Star State for a quick two-week stint before the first major championship of the season. The 2024 Houston Open is reintroduced back into the PGA Tour schedule this week after missing out on the fun in 2023, and the event will welcome a strong cast of characters to Memorial Park Golf Course.
Headlining the action is the man at the forefront of the golf world: Scottie Scheffler. The native Texan looks to become the first player since Dustin Johnson to win three straight PGA Tour events after victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship.
Scheffler faced a similar opportunity in 2022 after winning the WGC-Match Play and the Masters but ultimately came up short in his first attempt. Fast forward two years later, and the world No. 1 is not only the best player in the game but is widening the gap between him and the rest of the world.
A player who has proved to be Scheffler's stiffest competition in recent weeks is Wyndham Clark. The reigning U.S. Open winner finished runner-up to Scheffler at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship, and Clark has eyes on returning to the winner's circle for the second time this season.
The two Americans are joined in Houston this week by their fellow countrymen in Sahith Theegala, Will Zalatoris, Tony Finau and Keith Mitchell as final preparations are starting to be made with the Masters approaching in just two weeks' time.
2024 Houston Open schedule
Dates: Mar. 28-31 | Location: Memorial Park Golf Course — Houston, Texas
Par: 70 | Yardage: 7,435 | Purse: $9,100,000
2024 Houston Open field, odds
- Scottie Scheffler (3-1)
- Wyndham Clark (12-1): In seven starts this season, Clark has a win, a pair of runner-up finishes and no other results inside the top 20. Evolving into a boom-or-bust player, the three-time PGA Tour winner arrives in Houston with plenty of upside potential in his corner. It will be his fourth trip to Memorial Park where he has improved in each start with his last resulting in a T16. Clark checks in only behind Scheffler in this field in terms of total strokes gained and strokes gained tee to green this season.
- Will Zalatoris (20-1): The wiry right hander was a surprise omission from the weekend at the Players Championship, but he should get back on track this week. Zalatoris entered the PGA Tour's flagship event fresh off a runner-up at the Genesis Invitational and top five at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. His short game let him down at TPC Sawgrass, but it has been rather solid this year outside a couple days in Ponte Vedra. What Zalatoris does this week will draw the interest of many as the 27-year-old has finishes of solo second and T6 in his two Masters appearances.
- Sahith Theegala (20-1)
- Tony Finau (22-1): The winner of this tournament the last time it was played, Finau looks to match his ball striking and short game once again in Houston. Finau ran away from the field in 2022 thanks to a conservative approach off the tee and timely putting, and it will be that club which will tells the tale of his week. The putter has returned to the 34-year-old's repertoire in recent weeks, but it has yet to result in anything memorable. He ranks sixth in strokes gained tee to green and sixth in strokes gained approach among those in this field in 2024.
- Jason Day (25-1)
- Si Woo Kim (30-1): The South Korean is bubbling at the surface. A final-round 64 at the Players Championship propelled Kim's name onto the first page of the leaderboard for yet another quality outing at TPC Sawgrass. His T6 marked his fifth top-25 effort of the season and best putting performance of the year as he gained more than four strokes with the flat stick. Inside the top 25 in each tee-to-green metric, Kim will need to channel the same type of putting prowess if he expects to return to the winner's circle.
- Alex Noren (40-1)
- Keith Mitchell (40-1): Mitchell entered the final round at the Valspar Championship with the solo lead only to fire a Sunday 77 to plummet down the leaderboard. The sting of this performance may still be rattling the 32-year-old, but Houston is as good a bounce-back spot as any for Mitchell. Finishing inside the top 10 in 2022, Mitchell arrives at this year's tournament as one of the best ball strikers in the field ranking inside the top five in both strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained approach this season.
- Stephan Jaeger (45-1)
2024 Houston Open expert picks
| Winner (3-1): Don't overthink it. Scheffler is more than one stroke better per round than the second-best player in this field so far this calendar year and appears to only be improving. The world No. 1 ranks first in total strokes gained, first in strokes gained tee to green, first in strokes gained off the tee, first in strokes gained approach and a shocking third in strokes gained around the green during this frame. He's had his chances at Memorial Park throughout the years, and this should finally be the time he gets the job done. | |
| Contender (20-1): Theegala has been fantastic this year with five top 20s including a runner-up result at The Sentry and top 10s his last two times out at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship. The putter has been en fuego, but it is his improved ball striking that catches the eye. A significant uptick in terms of accuracy off the tee combined with his length has allowed for his iron play to shine. A win seems imminent. | |
| Sleeper (80-1): A final-round 66 at the Valspar Championship en route to a T12 finish showcased Moore's upside that has been missing in 2024. The one-time PGA Tour winner has collected eight paychecks in eight starts but had yet to finish on the first or second page of the leaderboard before his title defense last week. He's steady throughout his bag ranking 15th in strokes gained tee to green over the last three months and looks to be trending towards something special. | |
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