Tag: Vivint Houston Open

Vivint Houston Open Thursday tee times, TV and streaming info

From tee times to TV info, here’s everything you need to know for the first round of the PGA Tour’s Vivint Houston Open.

Golf fans’ eyes might be wandering to next week’s Masters at Augusta National, but this week’s event in Texas isn’t one to look over.

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson makes his return to the PGA Tour after his stint with COVID-19 and highlights a strong field for the 2020 Vivint Houston Open at Memorial Park. The municipal course in Houston hasn’t hosted the event since 1963.

This week’s featured groups are nothing to snooze at, either: Johnson, Tyrrell Hatton and Adam Scott; Phil Mickelson, Jason Day and Viktor Hovland; Lanto Griffin, Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth; Brian Gay, Sergio Garcia and Tony Finau.

Check out first-round groupings and tee times below, as well as this week’s TV and streaming schedule.

All times are listed in Eastern.

Houston Open: Fantasy rankings | Betting odds

Tee times

1st tee

Tee time Players
7:45 a.m. Matt Jones, Rory Sabbatini, Henrik Norlander
7:55 a.m. Charley Hoffman, David Hearn, Beau Hossler
8:05 a.m. Hunter Mahan, Denny McCarthy, Ollie Schniederjans
8:15 a.m. Dylan Frittelli, Andrew Putnam, Michael Kim
8:25 a.m. Lanto Griffin, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth
8:35 a.m. Brian Gay, Sergio Garcia, Tony Finau
8:45 a.m. Hudson Swafford, Nate Lashley, Austin Cook
8:55 a.m. Stewart Cink, Patton Kizzire, Luke Donald
9:05 a.m. Martin Laird, Keith Mitchell, Pat Perez
9:15 a.m. Charl Schwartzel, Tom Hoge, Scottie Scheffler
9:25 a.m. John Huh, Lee Westwood, Maverick McNealy
12:25 p.m. Scott Stallings, Bronson Burgoon, Robby Shelton
12:35 p.m. Jamie Lovemark, Talor Gooch, Wyndham Clark
12:45 p.m. Brian Harman, Brian Stuard, Erik van Rooyen
12:55 p.m. Max Homa, Scott Piercy, Zach Johnson
1:05 p.m. Sungjae Im, Keegan Bradley, Brice Garnett
1:15 p.m. Brandt Snedeker, Jimmy Walker, Greg Chalmers
1:25 p.m. Graeme McDowell, Mackenzie Hughes, Kevin Stadler
1:35 p.m. Troy Merritt, Ryan Armour, Kevin Chappell
1:45 p.m. Cameron Tringale, Adam Schenk, Matthew NeSmith
1:55 p.m. Patrick Rodgers, Will Gordon, Kristoffer Ventura
2:05 p.m. Ben Willman, Justin Harding, Sam Fidone

10th tee

Tee time Players
7:45 a.m. Russell Henley, Danny Lee, Cameron Davis
7:55 a.m. Jhonattan Vegas, Sam Ryder, Harry Higgs
8:05 a.m. Lucas Glover, Xinjun Zhang, Bo Hoag
8:15 a.m. Shane Lowry, Ted Potter, Jr., Henrik Stenson
8:25 a.m. Michael Thompson, Hideki Matsuyama, Grayson Murray
8:35 a.m. J.T. Poston, Corey Conners, Si Woo Kim
8:45 a.m. Martin Trainer, Adam Long, Satoshi Kodaira
8:55 a.m. Aaron Wise, Jason Dufner, Kevin Streelman
9:05 a.m. Padraig Harrington, Sean O’Hair, Alex Noren
9:15 a.m. James Hahn, Vaughn Taylor, Mark Hubbard
9:25 a.m. Harold Varner III, Carlos Ortiz, Erik Barnes
12:25 p.m. Camilo Villegas, Doc Redman, Sam Burns
12:35 p.m. Chris Kirk, Kelly Kraft, Sepp Straka
12:45 p.m. Luke List, Tom Lewis, Scott Harrington
12:55 p.m. Sung Kang, Kevin Tway, D.A. Points
1:05 p.m. Dustin Johnson, Tyrrell Hatton, Adam Scott
1:15 p.m. Viktor Hovland, Phil Mickelson, Jason Day
1:25 p.m. C.T. Pan, Francesco Molinari, Danny Willett
1:35 p.m. Andrew Landry, Tyler Duncan, Russell Knox
1:45 p.m. Emiliano Grillo, Bo Van Pelt, Kyoung-Hoon Lee
1:55 p.m. Branden Grace, Scott Brown, Graham DeLaet
2:05 p.m. Dawie van der Walt, Isaiah Salinda, Kyle Hogan

TV, streaming information

Thursday Nov. 5

TV

PGA Tour Live on NBC Sports Gold: 7 a.m.-6 p.m. (featured groups, featured holes)

Golf Channel on fuboTV (watch for free): 1-4 p.m.

RADIO

PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 6

TV

PGA Tour Live on NBC Sports Gold: 7 a.m.-6 p.m. (featured groups, featured holes)

Golf Channel on fuboTV (watch for free): 1-4 p.m.

RADIO

PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 7

TV

PGA Tour Live on NBC Sports Gold: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (featured groups, featured holes)

Golf Channel on fuboTV (watch for free): 1-4 p.m.

RADIO

PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 8

TV

PGA Tour Live on NBC Sports Gold: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (featured groups, featured holes)

Golf Channel on fuboTV (watch for free): 1-4 p.m.

RADIO

PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

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‘Just win, baby!’ Scottie Scheffler’s rapid rise includes everything but a W

The 24-year-old Texan is the highest-ranked American without a PGA Tour victory. Can he find the winner’s circle in the Lone Star state?

A year ago, Scottie Scheffler accepted the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year award in Houston four events into his rookie season on the PGA Tour. He returns this week having recorded two third-place finishes, shooting 59 at The Barclays and ranking fifth in the FedEx Cup en route to being named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

“I got comfortable pretty quick,” he said matter-of-factly.

Indeed, he did. Success has come rapidly, but it also presents new challenges. A recurring question to Scheffler phrased in various forms – some clever, some more subtle, some more overt – can best be summarized as such: When are you going to win?

In his brief Tour career, Scheffler seems to have accomplished everything but collecting something shiny for his trophy case. Counting his FedEx Cup bonus money, the 24-year-old Texan banked more than $5 million last season with nary a victory. Not bad work if you can find it.

Scheffler has risen to No. 30 in the world and now ranks as the top American without a PGA Tour victory. (England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick, who both split time on the European Tour, and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer are the only players ranked higher than Scheffler without a PGA Tour title to their credit.) So, how does Scheffler plan to remedy the only blemish on his resume at this time, perhaps as early as this week’s Vivint Houston Open?

“I want to put myself in the final group more often, just get a little bit closer to the lead,” he said. “I think I just made a lot of kind of silly mistakes last year and I need to clean up a few areas of my game so I can save a couple shots here or there in the tournament to put myself in a better position to win on the weekend versus last year I kind of was on the outside looking in it those final groups.”

Scheffler was riding a high heading into the U.S. Open in September when he tested positive for COVID-19 and had to withdraw from the championship. Since returning to action, he’s recorded three middling finishes and a missed cut, and conceded that while he was asymptomatic, the unexpected two-week layoff did drain his momentum.

“I was playing great leading up to that,” Scheffler said, “and then Saturday night I got my positive test and I had to wait another 10 days before I could start practicing again. Taking those basically two weeks off kind of took me out of my rhythm. I would have definitely not have liked to have taken that much time off, especially when you’re playing well.”

But Scheffler is confident he’s turned a corner after a T-17 finish at the Zozo Championship at Sherwood two weeks ago. The breakthrough? While examining video of Scheffler’s swing, his longtime instructor Randy Smith pinpointed what was sending shots offline.

“I showed Randy a swing from six months ago and it clicked with him one night and I think it was the day before the final round of the CJ Cup and just a little thing in my takeaway, I was getting my club into a weird position, it was messing up everything else,” Scheffler said. “Figured it out and swing’s starting to feel good again.”

Just in time for his first trip down Magnolia Lane as a contestant in the Masters, though not his first trip around Augusta National.

“We played there when I was in college,” Scheffler said. “My college team went out there. It was amazing. The golf course is awesome. Being able to play for the first time was really cool. I’ve never been that nervous just stepping on the tee to play a round for fun.”

Scheffler, who finished T-4 at the PGA Championship in May, will be attempting to be the first rookie to win the Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, but thinks he may have one advantage over his peers.

“I feel like I’m in a good position because I don’t know what it always plays like during tournaments and people are talking about how it could play a lot different in the fall, so that might be a little bit of an advantage, me being a rookie at that tournament,” he said.

A daunting task it still will be, but as Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders used to famously say, “Just win, baby!” That’s up next on Scheffler’s hit list.

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Vivint Houston Open: Fantasy golf power rankings

Check out the top 30 players to bet on in this week’s field for the Vivint Houston Open.

The 2020 Masters Tournament is just one week away.

This week, however, the PGA Tour and many of the world’s best golfers make one more stop at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, Texas, for the Vivint Houston Open. Below, we look at the fantasy golf power rankings for the top 30 golfers.

Fantasy golf power rankings

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Odds last updated Monday at 11:44 p.m. ET.

30. Shane Lowry (+5500)

The 2019 Champion Golfer of the Year has just two top-10 finishes but seven missed cuts in 20 international events in 2020. He has a poor history at the Masters, including missed cuts in 2019 and 2017, and may be more focused on this event than the ‘big-name’ golfers usually are.

29. Cameron Davis (+7000)

Enters the week 37th in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings following a T-6 at the Sanderson Farms Championship and T-52 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Averaging 0.55 Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and 0.46 SG: Putting through 12 measured rounds on the 2020-21 season, according to Data Golf.

28. Si Woo Kim (+5000)

Followed up a T-8 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open with a T-17 finish in a strong field at the CJ Cup. Is averaging 0.89 SG: Tee-to-Green over his last 18 rounds.

27. Stewart Cink (+6600)

The 47-year-old has made four straight cuts with a win at the Safeway Open and a T-4 at the Bermuda Championship last week. He’s in great form after getting his first win in 11 years.

26. Alex Noren (+9000)

Likewise, Noren has been playing his best PGA Tour golf in some time with three top 10s in 18 events this year. He won’t participate in the 2020 Masters but can book his ticket to the 2021 tournament with a win this week.

25. Kevin Streelman (+8000)

Steelman was playing his best golf early in the PGA Tour’s mid-summer restart but cooled off with back-to-back missed cuts at the U.S. Open and Shriners.

24. Wyndham Clark (+8000)

Comes off a disappointing playoff loss to Brian Gay at the Bermuda Championship last week after charging up the leaderboard with a Sunday 65. It may be difficult to bounce back one week later.

23. Brandt Snedeker (+9000)

The nine-time PGA Tour champ will be heading to Augusta National next week and will be looking to do so on a positive note with just one top-10 result on the year.

22. Lee Westwood (+8000)

Heads back to the Masters for the first time since 2017 after re-entering the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking much earlier this year. He tied for 13th at the U.S. Open in his only PGA Tour event since the restart.

21. MacKenzie Hughes (+10000)

Hughes, 55th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, is one of the top players in this week’s field by that measure who won’t be in the Masters next week. He has six top 10s in 20 events this year for one of his most successful years on Tour.

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20. Brian Harman (+5000)

The 22nd-ranked golfer in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings doesn’t have a win since 2017 but will look to join the trend of players snapping those long slumps early in the 2020-21 season.

19. Keegan Bradley (+8000)

The 2011 PGA Championship winner won’t attend the Masters for the third time in the last four years. He should be motivated to secure another invitation with a win after dropping to 122nd in the OWGR.

18. Emiliano Grillo (+8000)

Has made nine straight cuts dating back to late July with two top 10s and a best finish of T-3 at the 3M Open in that span. His short game and putter have been weaknesses.

17. Sergio Garcia (+3500)

Followed up victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship with a T-43 at the Shriners and a T-21 at the CJ Cup. Continues to struggle with the flat stick but has been great off-the-tee and from tee-to-green.

16. Lanto Griffin (+4500)

Got his first PGA Tour win in this event last year but that was at Golf Club of Houston. He comes off a T-7 at the CJ Cup and a T-11 at the Zozo Championship to show he could defend his title against stiffer competition.

15. Zach Johnson (+4500)

Tied for eighth at the US Open as part of a five-event streak of making the cut. Averaging 0.98 SG: Tee-to-Green with 0.97 SG: Putting through 12 rounds early this season.

14. Jason Day (+3500)

Likely one of those looking ahead to next week but found his top form this summer and could get his first win since 2018 against a more moderate field.

13. Russell Henley (+2200)

Ranks 27th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings following a T-3 at the CJ Cup and T-4 at the Zozo Championship, both against elite fields. Won’t be going to the Masters but can take advantage of his top current form and book his ticket for 2021 with a win.

12. Denny McCarthy (+6600)

Tied for fourth in a considerably weaker field last week and is putting the ball extremely well to compensate for other weaknesses in his current form.

11. Corey Conners (+5000)

Will be going to Augusta next week and is coming off a T-8 at the Zozo Championship. He’s now playing his best golf of the year after a largely disappointing 2020.

10. Adam Scott (+3300)

Has played just six PGA Tour events since winning in back-to-back starts at the Australian PGA Championship and The Genesis Invitational to bridge his 2019 and 2020 calendars. Should be motivated to play a full four rounds.

9. Hideki Matsuyama (+1800)

Averaging 1.75 SG: Tee-to-Green over his last 14 rounds but with 0.35 strokes lost putting per round. That’s a part of his game he’ll need to get right before another run at Augusta.

8. Doc Redman (+5000)

Entered Sunday with the 54-hole lead in Bermuda before finishing T-4. He has been steadily climbing the OWGR with three top-5 finishes since the PGA Championship.

7. Tony Finau (+1600)

Finished in a tie for 11th at the Zozo Championship in his first event since a T-8 at the US Open. He’s the third-best player in the field by the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

6. Sungjae Im (+2800)

Few were in as good of form before the midseason suspension of play as Im. He’s struggling around-the-green and with the putter through 20 rounds on the new season.

5. Dustin Johnson (+700)

A co-runner-up at last year’s Masters, Johnson will be looking to get right and loosened up after sitting out of competitive play since the U.S. Open due to a positive COVID-19 result. He’s looking for his third win since the restart.

4. Brooks Koepka (+2000)

Koepka tied for 28th at the CJ Cup after some time off to rest a nagging knee injury. He’s always a major risk in these sorts of events, but he had a hand in the Memorial Park redesign and has a sizable advantage.

3. Scottie Scheffler (+2000)

The PGA Tour’s 2020 Rookie of the Year will make his first appearance at the Masters next week. Is looking to recapture his top form after missing the U.S. Open due to a positive COVID-19 test.

2. Tyrrell Hatton (+1200)

Hatton’s a surprise participant this week after earning his second win of 2020 at the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship last month. He returned to North America with a T-3 at The CJ Cup before a T-28 at the Zozo Championship.

1. Viktor Hovland (+2200)

The best player in this week’s field won’t be playing at Augusta National despite winning the Puerto Rico Open and finishing as the low amateur at last year’s Masters and U.S. Open. He will be there next year after moving into the top 50 of the OWGR but will still be motivated for his first full-point win.

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Phil Mickelson picks Houston over Phoenix as final Masters prep site

Phil Mickelson has committed to the Vivint Houston Open next week, the final PGA Tour event before the November Masters.

Phil Mickelson has committed to the next week’s Vivint Houston Open, the final PGA Tour event before the November Masters.

Mickelson was openly debating whether to play in Houston or head to Phoenix Country Club, where the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on the PGA Tour Champions schedule will be played.

After finishing 76th in the 77-man field at last week’s Zozo Championship, Mickelson expressed some concern, despite the PGA Tour’s highly successful protocols to deal with COVID-19, about the Houston Open’s decision to allow 2,000 fans per day on site.

“I’ll see what course is best to get ready and I’ll do that,” he said on Sunday. “But this week I’ll take to work on a couple of things and, you know, see if I can get my game sharper. I need to be much more disciplined out here. Obviously, I’m making way too many mistakes and big numbers and penalty strokes and so forth, and the Champions Tour is a little bit more forgiving, you can recover a little bit easier, pins aren’t as penalizing.

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“So I certainly enjoy that style of play because I can play aggressive and it’s more comparable to the way Augusta is because Augusta allows you to recover a number of times if you hit less‑than‑perfect shots.”

But Mickelson ultimately decided on Houston, where the PGA Tour is returning to Memorial Park Golf Course for the first time since 1963.

Jordan Spieth, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland and Keegan Bradley are also among those committing to the event in Houston.

Meanwhile, John Daly, Fred Couples, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Tom Lehman and Mike Weir are in the field for the Schwab.

The Schwab tournament is closed to fans, although tournament officials are making about 350 daily tickets available to Phoenix Country Club members and sponsors.

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