This article is part of our Yahoo PGA DFS Picks series.
Cadence Bank Houston Open
Houston, Texas
Memorial Park Golf Course - Par 70 - 7,412 yards
Field - 132 entrants
Purse - $8.4M
The Preview
Nearly 50 players finished in double-digit red numbers last week at Mayakoba, but 10-under-par could be close to the winning score this week in Texas as a much tougher Memorial Park Golf Course hosts the Cadence Bank Houston Open for the third time since 2020. Length is emphasized on this 7,412-yard layout that features a trio of difficult par-5s, two of which yield sub-30 percent birdie-or-better rates while just five total holes typically play under par. Last year's champion Jason Kokrak and runner-up Scottie Scheffler were the only two entrants to reach 20 par-breakers, but they also combined for 23 bogeys or worse. Looking ahead, the possibility for a late-early wave advantage exists this week with potential showers and a strengthening breeze arriving Friday afternoon.
Recent Champions
2021 - Jason Kokrak (Memorial Park Golf Course)
2020 - Carlos Ortiz (Memorial Park Golf Course)
2019 – Lanto Griffin (Golf Club of Houston)
2018 – Ian Poulter (Golf Club of Houston)
2017 – Russell Henley (Golf Club of Houston)
2016 - Jim Herman (Golf Club of Houston)
2015 – J.B. Holmes (Golf Club of Houston)
2014 – Matt Jones (Golf Club of Houston)
2013 – D.A. Points (Golf Club of Houston)
2012 – Hunter Mahan (Golf Club of Houston)
Key Stats to Victory
SG: Approach
Driving distance
SG: Putting (bermuda)
Scrambling
Yahoo Value Picks
Based on $200 salary cap
Cream of the Crop
Scottie Scheffler - $50
Scheffler averaged an extremely impressive 1.438 putts per GIR en route to his final-round 62 this past weekend in Mexico, and he now heads home to Texas and Memorial Park's bermuda greens where he ranked T2 in putting average last year. It could be as good of a time as any to buy back in on Scheffler's flat stick, given the putting issues that have plagued him throughout the last few months. Additionally, he's No. 1 in SG: Off-the-Tee over his past 24 measured rounds.
Sam Burns - $44
Burns posted identical T7 finishes in his first two trips to Memorial Park, notably pacing the field in SG: Tee-to-Green here by a full shot in 2020. He was red hot with the putter in his most recent outing at THE CJ CUP, and he's gained a collective 7.5 strokes off the tee over his past two starts. Even at $44, Burns is better than the $6 drop-off from Scheffler indicates.
Glue Guys
Mackenzie Hughes - $33
This is a boring, Denny McCarthy-esque pick albeit with an extra $3 in salary relief on Hughes, who's a month out from his win at the Sanderson Farms Championship where he gained 5.3 strokes on approach, marking the fourth-best iron performance of his career. The Canadian tied for seventh in his Memorial Park debut two years ago before adding another top-30 result here in 2021, despite actually losing strokes with the putter, which isn't normal for Hughes. It was the first time since the 2017 Greenbrier Classic that he placed top-30 with a negative putting performance, as he managed to rank T6 among the field in GIR percentage in Houston last year.
Dean Burmester - $31
The Houston Open debutant gained 6.2 strokes off the tee throughout his first two starts of the 2022-23 campaign, but he also picked up a combined 10.6 strokes on and around the greens during this eight-round sample as well. Tying for 32nd at Mayakoba last week, Burmester ranked T4 among the field in GIR percentage. I think a lot of gamers have reason to flock to Joel Dahmen ($29) in this range at a $2 discount, so the lesser-known Burmester could come in with slightly less rostership than projected in lower stakes and/or single-entry contests.
Bargain Bin
Patrick Rodgers - $25
Rodgers joins the aforementioned Burmester as the only two players to rank top-10 in both SG: Off-the-Tee and SG: Around-the-Green over their past 12 measured rounds. Ascending to 20th in the early FedExCup standings, Rodgers has rattled off four consecutive top-30 finishes from the Shriners Children's Open through the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, where he averaged just one bogey per round.
Lee Hodges - $22
Hodges is up to fifth in SG: Approach over his last 12 measured rounds, and despite finishing T38 or better in four of his last five starts, Hodges' salary has not climbed higher than $22 this season. He's been especially exceptional with his irons from 175-200 yards, gaining an average of 5.8 feet on approach shots from this range over his last 10 measured events. Hodges lost 3.5 strokes on the greens at Memorial Park in 2021, but he still managed to place T46 while ranking T6 in driving accuracy.
