The PGA Tour is at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, Texas this week for the Vivint Houston Open. The final event before next week’s Masters features a surprisingly strong field, fronted by tournament betting favorite Dustin Johnson (+700). Below, we look at the 2020 Houston Open betting odds, and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions to win.
Memorial Park underwent a full redesign this year and hosts the PGA Tour for the first time since 1963. It measures 7,021 yards and plays to a par of 71. The event will be the first tournament played in North America to welcome spectators since The Players Championship in March. There’ll be no fans present at Augusta National for the Masters.
2020 Houston Open betting picks – Favorite
Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday at 12:35 p.m. ET.
Brooks Koepka (+2000)
Koepka will play for just the second time in the early portion of the 2020-21 season following a T-28 finish at The CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek. It’s just his second event since mid-August after taking time off to recover from a lingering knee injury.
He’d typically draw a red flag while playing a standard event just one week ahead of a major, but last year’s co-runner-up at the Masters had a hand in re-designing Memorial Park GC. He’s a strong value while ranking fifth by the odds to win as he finishes preparations for Augusta National at a course where he has a sizable edge.
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2020 Houston Open betting picks – Contender
Denny McCarthy (+6600)
McCarthy tied for fourth at last week’s Bermuda Championship for his second top-10 finish in his last three events. He also tied for sixth at the Sanderson Farms Championship to sandwich a more lackluster 57th-place showing at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He has three top-10 finishes since mid-August and has just five missed cuts in 21 events in 2020.
Though played at a different course (Golf Club of Houston) and against a weaker field, McCarthy finished T-9 in this event last year. It was one of three top 10s last fall, as he clearly enjoys play at this time of the year. He’s routinely one of the best putters in any field and is averaging 0.91 Strokes Gained: Putting through 10 measured rounds this season, according to Data Golf.
2020 Houston Open betting picks – Long shot
MacKenzie Hughes (+10000)
As touched on above, the tops of these fields are always tough to trust in these events as the world’s best are often looking ahead to the ensuing major. Hughes is one of the top-ranked golfers in attendance this week who won’t be making his way to Augusta next week, and he’ll be looking to book his ticket to the 2021 Masters next spring with a win.
Hughes is 53rd in both the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings and the Official World Golf Ranking. He has six top 10s in 20 events played this year but is looking for his first victory since the fall of 2016.
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Golfweek:
- Brian Gay defeats Wyndham Clark in playoff for Bermuda Championship title
- Exclusive: Bryson DeChambeau says he’s ‘pushing the limts’ heading into the Masters
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