Texas Children's Houston Open One and Done Picks
The Texas Children's Houston Open marks the first of five events on the PGA Tour calendar in 2026 that will take place in Texas. The Houston Open has bounced around the area over its history, but it seems like it has found a strong home at a municipal course in Memorial Park. The PGA Tour has been there since 2020, but it was moved back to the spring portion of the schedule for the 2024 season.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was listed in the initial field this week, but withdrew on Tuesday as he is expecting the birth of his second child. That likely means Scheffler will have a full three weeks off from THE PLAYERS to The Masters as he is trying to get his game back on track and win at Augusta for a third time.
His WD means that the field only has three players inside the Top 25 of the OWGR. That list is led by World No. 10 Chris Gotterup who already has two wins on the season. Joining him is Ben Griffin and Harris English, two players coming off career years in 2025 looking to find their groove in 2026.
The title is very much up for grabs at the Houston Open, and with this being a non-Signature Event there are plenty of ways to go for OAD players.
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Course Tidbits
- Course: Memorial Park Golf Course (7,475 yards, par 70)
- Location: Houston, Texas
- Purse: $9.9 million -- $1.782 million to winner
- Defending Champion: Min Woo Lee (-20)
- 2025 Scoring Average: 68.86
- Average Winning Score Last 5 Years: -14.2
While the PGA Tour over the last decade has become a lot about hitting it as far as you can and going to find it, Memorial Park is set up perfectly for players to do just that. The fairways are very spacious, there aren't many fairway bunkers and the rough is very short. The leaderboards over the last few years here have been flooded with guys who among the Tour leaders in driving distance and club head speed. A short hitter would probably need to have a career putting week to win here.
As far as secondary skills to look for, short game really comes to the front of mind. This is a long course with greens that feature a lot of runoffs. We expect it to play very firm this week given the lack of moisture, so the top short-game players will have chances to separate. Perhaps it isn't a big surprise that Stephan Jaeger and Min Woo Lee have both won here since the move to late March. Both players are extremely aggressive off the tee, but also are very strong with wedges around the greens from the short grass.
You can never rule out approach play either. Memorial Park has a fantastic mix of short and long par-4s that should challenge most of the clubs in your bag on approach. This is also the second straight week that a course features five par-3s, which typically also just further emphasis strong iron play. The three par-5s on this par 70 will only be reached in two shots by the longest hitters.
Last year saw Min Woo Lee set the tournament aggregate 72-hole scoring record of 260 (20-under-par). There was a lot of rain early in the week, however, that really softened the greens up and made it play quite differently than Memorial Park had in the past. With no rain in the forecast and steady 10-15 mph winds, expect a very solid test for these players.
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RotoWire One and Done Tools
Texas Children's Houston Open: One and Done Picks
A back injury caused Knapp to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and he then missed the cut by a shot at TPC Sawgrass the following week. That's probably enough to keep most people off him this week, but with an extra week to regain his form, I expect a big showing at a course that fits him very well. He finished T27 last year after missing the cut in his debut, and he profiles similarly to last year's winner Min Woo Lee as a long hitter and excellent putter. Prior to the Florida Swing, Knapp finished no worse than T11 across five starts. --Ryan Pohle
Knapp finally stumbled for the first time in 2026 last time out at THE PLAYERS. He missed the cut. But he is ranked second on Tour in SG: Putting, and great putting has correlated to success here the past two years. Of course, you need to do other things well, such as hit the ball far. Oh, Knapp conveniently is also ranked eighth in driving distance. He's ranked in the top-65 in every strokes-gained category and, even though I didn't check every player, I'm fairly certain no one else can say that. --Len Hochberg
Knapp isn't a name that I'm looking to save for a major championship or Signature Event this season, while Memorial Park provides a layout that can properly reward his length off the tee and hot putter, just as it did for Min Woo Lee en route to victory here last year. Knapp is No. 1 among this field in both SG: Putting and eagle rate, while also ranking third in Prox: 50-100, fourth in Prox: 200-plus and eighth in percentage of 320-plus yard drives in 2026. Although he's been steamed in the outright betting market this week, perhaps his OAD ownership remains somewhat less inflated after a missed cut at THE PLAYERS along with some underwhelming course history here. --Bryce Danielson
Thorbjornsen is bound to win on the PGA Tour, and he has already put himself in contention several times this season -- including last week and in another event where driving was key, the WM Phoenix Open. Thorbjornsen checks in second in total driving, and although he is not great on approach, he does fare better closer to the greens. There aren't as many obstacles in the field as usual this week, and Thorbjornsen needs a big weekend to snag a Masters spot. With the money on the line I like him to deliver. --Kevin O'Brien
I think he's going to be a popular play this week, but there's good reason for that. Not only is he a good play this week because of the numbers, but he's also a good strategical play. Koepka is not currently in the signature events and I don't think I'll be using him at a major this season, so this looks like the perfect spot. He has played well here before (T5 in 2020) and his form is really coming around. He just needs to find that extra gear to finish strong and he could find himself in the winner's circle again. --Greg Vara
Lee is nothing but a green flag this week. He won at Memorial Park a year ago while gaining 2.18 strokes putting per round. That form remains in 2026, ranking him third among this field in SG: Total, and Memorial Park is exactly the place to keep it rolling. The wide fairways take some pressure off the driver, and the shaved green complexes reward the touch and creativity Lee brings around the greens. Add in the fact that he already stared down Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland here and got it done, and the case is easy to make. --Lauren Jump
Theegala is being undervalued this week. Perhaps it comes because of his MC at the Valspar last week, but Innisbrook is not a place that really fits his game. Memorial Park on the other hand, is about as perfect a spot as you are going to find for the style of golf Theegala likes to play. The 28-year-old will be able to spray it all over the place and then use his elite short game and putting to separate. Theegala is like a wizard at times and Memorial Park is an open canvas for him to make art. He's having a great season with three top-10s and five top-25s already. Theegala is also trending on approach and has never missed a cut in four starts around this place. --Ryan Andrade
Texas Children's Houston Open: One and Done Fades
Following a hot start to the year in which he won two of his first three events, Gotterup has cooled off since with a best finish of T18 in a limited field event across four tournaments. He's been spraying the ball wildly with driver and has putted it poorly since winning the Sony Open. I'd like to see some better form before using him in a tournament with a larger purse. --Ryan Pohle
Koepka has played better than many people expected in his return from LIV. Heck, he leads the Tour in SG: Approach. But at a tournament so reliant on good putting the past two years, it's hard to back a bad putter, especially as one of the 3-4 favorites this week. Koepka has gotten a bit better, but he's still ranked outside the top-125 on Tour in SG: Putting. --Len Hochberg
Burns is drawing attention as one of the bomber/putter archetypes that have historically done well in Houston, but he's missed three cuts in his last five starts, and I'm growing more concerned about his win equity as he remains without a single stroke-play victory since his 2022 triumph at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Burns has sniffed contention just once this season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, infamously hitting a conservative iron off the tee on the 72nd hole to ultimately finish T6. I need to see a little more roar out of this LSU Tiger. --Bryce Danielson
Burns has been effective off the tee and on the putting surfaces, but he is all out of whack in between. As a result he has been boom-or-bust this season, posting a T27, a T6 and last week's T13 but also missing three cuts. This is mimicked in his Houston track record, which includes a pair of T7s but also two missed weekends. --Kevin O'Brien
If defending a title wasn't enough pressure, with Scottie Scheffler pulling out, Lee is now the odds-on favorite. Lee is off to a strong start this season, but the added pressure of expectations and the added attention that comes with defending a title might be a bit too much this week. Add to that, Lee doesn't have a long track record of success here, he's only played this event once, so we can't be sure he's got a great feel for this course, he may have just caught lightning in a bottle this past year. I'm sure he'll do okay this week, but I don't think he'll be in contention on Sunday and you don't use a guy like Lee unless you think he can win. --Greg Vara
Knapp has been excellent when he's been on the course, with five finishes of T11 or better in his first six starts and top-tier SG: Total numbers before his recent break. But for OAD, this feels like the wrong week to take the chance. The back issue that led to his withdrawal from the Arnold Palmer is hard to ignore, especially at a place like Memorial Park, which is long and can easily expose physical limitations. He made it back for a MC at The PLAYERS and it's been relatively quiet since. I'm holding. --Lauren Jump
There's been a ton of talk surrounding Penge in the DFS and betting world coming off a T4 finish at the Valspar heading to a course that favors distance more than just about any on the PGA Tour. The problem is that Penge has been terrible in the short-game department this season. He ranks 138th in SG: Around-the-Green and 144th in scrambling. There are so many collection areas players are going to find themselves in, especially if it gets firm. While first in SG: Off-the-Tee is great, the bombers that have done well at Memorial Park are also great around the greens. There will be better places to use Penge down the line. --Ryan Andrade
Don't get burned by late withdrawals. Visit RotoWire's PGA tournament field page for a live-updated summary of the field for the current week and list of players who have dropped out.
