PGA DFS Core Plays: Texas Children's Houston Open
Top-ranked DFS player, Notorious, breaks down his favorite PGA DFS picks at various salary ranges for this week’s tournament. Who should you be building around? Find out below.
While I ended up having a good week of DFS at the Valspar Championship, it could have been a lot better. I built two main tournament teams and they both needed Sam Burns in order to get all six golfers through the cut. He was hanging on by a thread on his back nine on Friday but managed to scrape out some solid pars. All he needed on his final hole was a par. He managed to get the ball on the green from the trees but proceeded to three-putt and miss the cut on the number. To make it more painful, the PGA TOUR site and DraftKings both changed his bogey to a par for a period of about 10 minutes. It was a sweat on top of a sweat. Other than the Burns miss, I thought we were on the right track with our picks last week.
We now move from the Sunshine State to the Lone Star State. Memorial Park Golf Course has been the host of the Houston Open three times, although this is the first time, it will host the event in the spring. The first three editions (2020-2022) were all held during the swing season. The only major difference between the seasons is the grass type. Rather than having pure bermudagrass greens like we saw in the fall, the course has poa trivialis overseed greens in the spring. In terms of difficulty, this was one of the 11 most difficult courses on tour in each of the first three editions of the event. I expect the course to play difficult once again.
Noto’s PGA Model Download & Video for the Texas Children’s Houston Open
Memorial Park is a Par 70 that measures 7,435 yards. It’s one of the more unique Par 70 layouts, as it features three Par 5s and three Par 3s. Par-adjusted, this is one of the longest courses golfers will see all year. The fairways here are average in size (around 31 yards wide), and the greens are large (around 7,000 square feet). In 2022, the field had an average driving accuracy of 57% and an average greens in regulation rate of 63%. The course is unique in that there are only 21 golfers on the property. This was designed to make the course easier for amateurs and more difficult for professionals. Rather than being surrounded by bunkers, the greens have closely mowed run-off areas that create tricky tight-lie chip shots.
In general, the more difficult the course, the more demanding it is from tee to green. This is a great week to put some faith in golfers that strike the ball well but can’t seem to find their footing on the greens. Past winners here certainly fit the strong tee to green while struggling with the putter narrative — Tony Finau, Jason Kokrak, and Carlos Ortiz. Course history hasn’t been very predictive here, but it’s certainly not a negative if a golfer has played well at this course in the past.
PGA DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Core Plays for the Texas Children’s Houston Open
Field Size:
- 144 golfers
Cut Rule:
- Top 65 and ties
Weather Forecasts
Memorial Park Golf Course
- Location: Houston, Texas
- Par 70 — 7,435 yards
- Difficulty: 2022 (11th), 2021 (9th), 2020 (8th)
- Number of holes with water hazards: 4
- Fairway width in landing areas: 31.8 yards
- Green type: poa trivialis overseed
- Green size: 7,000 square feet
- 2023 tournament averages:
- - Driving distance = 289.4 yards
- - Driving accuracy = 56.7%
- - Greens in regulation = 62.7%
Event and Course Notes
- We’ve seen this course on TOUR three times, but this is the first time in the March (usually November).
- This is a municipal golf course, so this sees a ton of rounds per year (upwards of 60,000).
- Very long (7,435 yards) for a Par 70; it features three par 3s and three par 5s
- Average-sized fairways that are tree-lined, fairly penal rough (2.5”)
- Only 21 bunkers on the course, which makes it easier for amateurs and more difficult for pros
- The greens are difficult to hit on average, and there are many tight lie chip shots.
- The greens aren’t the same grass as when it was played in November (due to poa trivialis overseed)
- Even distribution when it comes to approach shot distances- mix of wedges, short irons, & long irons
- Should be one of the toughest courses that we’ve seen so far this year
- Past winners: Tony Finau (-16), Jason Kokrak (-10), Carlos Ortiz (-13)
What to Look For
- Strokes gained approach
- Strokes gained off the tee
- Strokes gained around the green
- Bogey avoidance
- Experience in Texas
- Strokes gained putting
Core Plays
Scottie Scheffler
DraftKings: $13,000 / pOWN: 43%
FanDuel: $12,800 / pOWN: 50%
Total Driving: 1
Strokes Gained Approach: 1
Strokes Gained Around the Green: 2
Strokes Gained Putting: 86
Birdie or Better %: 1
Bogey Avoidance: 1
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