RADIO
Hello PGA DFS family and welcome back to Horse For The Course! Consistently one of the better events of the fall, the Mayakoba Championship turned into something of a snoozefest, as Russell Henley ran away with things in Mexico for the fourth PGA Tour win of his career.
As the 2022 golf calendar winds down, we head to Houston for the freshly-titled Cadence Bank Houston Open, which will be held at Memorial Park Golf Course for the third consecutive year.
Horse For The Course is an article that highlights players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For my favorite DFS plays of the week check out my Core Four article here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our amazing PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using Promo Code: NICE for an extra discount at checkout!
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2022-23 Cadence Bank Houston Open
As the time ticks down on the 2022 golfing calendar, the PGA Tour heads to Texas for the Cadence Bank Houston Open. While the event has picked up a new title sponsor, it will be held at Memorial Park Golf Course for the third consecutive year. Although this is a small sample size from a course-history perspective, we'll do our best to dig into some solid DFS options for this week's event.
Though Houston is a long-standing Tour stop, this event has experienced some significant changes in recent years, both through the shuffling of its place on the schedule, its title sponsors, and the golf course it's played on. Houston's public Memorial Park has served as the host course for the last two years and proved to be a surprising challenge for the world's best players, as scores of just 13 and 10-under par have taken down the title across those editions.
With the two most recent winners of this event - Carlos Ortiz & Jason Kokrak - now playing in the golf equivalent of The Upside Down, we will crown a new champion in Houston this week. Among those vying for the crown are native Texan Scottie Scheffler - who comes in off a T3 in Mexico - as well as notables such as Hideki Matsuyama and Sam Burns.
You can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week. And be sure to read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS articles to help you win big!
The Course: Memorial Park GC
Par 70 - 7,412 Yards, Greens: Bermuda, Architect: John Bredemus (1936), Renovation: Tom Doak (2019)
Originally a nine-hole course that was converted into an 18-hole layout in 1936, Memorial Park underwent a massive Tom Doak-led renovation in 2019 (with input from player-consultant Brooks Koepka) that stretches the track to a very-modern 7,432 yards. The course is open to the public and is built over 250 acres on a municipal park owned by the city of Houston.
This layout has proved to be a rather formidable challenge for PGA Tour pros, as it played nearly a shot over par last year, with the two winning scores by Carlos Ortiz & Jason Kokrak since the event moved to Memorial Park being rather moderate at just 10 and 13-under par. We've seen both iron play and putting be crucial keys to success on this layout, as both previous winners gained over 3.5 strokes on Approach and over six strokes putting en route to their respective wins.
Check out RotoBaller's PGA Premium Course Breakdown by Josh Bennett for an in-depth breakdown of this week's golf course!
Recent Houston Open Winners at Memorial Park
- Jason Kokrak (-10)
- Carlos Ortiz (-13)
The Horse
Scottie Scheffler
- Event Scoring Average: 69.50
- Notable Course History: T2 (2022 Season), T32 ('21)
- DraftKings Price: $11,500 FanDuel Price: $12,000
There are no big surprises here, as Scottie Scheffler stands out as the best player in this week's Houston field and recorded a T2 in last year's edition at Memorial Park. The native Texan has yet to find the winner's circle since slipping on the green jacket at Augusta National earlier this year, but he has been extremely close on multiple occasions, including a T3 last week at the Mayakoba Championship.
Despite the lack of recent wins, the ball-striking has remained consistently elite for Scheffler. In nine measured starts since winning the Masters, he's gained strokes T2G in every one. Unfortunately, he's had no such success on the greens, as he's now lost an average of 1.3 strokes putting over his last 10 events.
Predicting winners is never easy, but it appears to be a pretty simple formula with Scheffler at the moment: when he makes a few putts, he's going to win a golf tournament. I like his chances in his home state this week on a Memorial Park course where he's comfortable and has combined to gain 3.2 strokes putting across his two previous appearances.
The Ponies
Sam Burns
- Event Scoring Average: 69.90
- Notable Course History: T7 (2022 Season), T7 ('21)
- DraftKings Price: $10,700 FanDuel Price: $11,800
Another fairly straightforward option, Sam Burns is one of the few players in this field that rivals the aforementioned Scheffler in both talent and course history. The Louisiana native has made teeing it up in this event a habit in recent years and has found notable success at Memorial Park with T7 finishes in each of his two starts on this layout.
The big-hitting 26-year-old hasn't been especially active during the Swing Season, as he's made just two starts outside of his appearance at the President's Cup. Burns did secure a rock-solid T7 at the CJ Cup on the strength of a hot putter. That's especially notable ahead of this week, as "Bermuda Burns" will be rolling it on his favorite surface at Memorial Park. His reputation on Bermuda is both well-known and well-deserved...Burns grades out fourth in SG: Putting on Bermuda over long-term 50-round measurements.
As he continues to grow as a player, Burns is still lagging a bit behind other elite players when it comes to consistency. This hurts his DFS floor to an extent. That said, his upside is top-tier. Burns won three times over the 2021-22 season and recorded eight top-10s in 24 starts.
Maverick McNealy
- Event Scoring Average: 69.50
- Notable Course History: T19 (2022 Season), T20 ('21)
- DraftKings Price: $9,400 FanDuel Price: $11,100
The Stanford alum continued a stellar Swing Season with a T10 last week at Mayakoba. McNealy has now gained an average of 5.3 strokes total over his last five tournaments and has finished T18 or better in his last four starts.
He brings that sharp form to a Memorial Park course on which he's thrived in the past. The Californian has been right at home in Houston, as he's posted top-20 results on this golf course in each of the last two years.
McNealy is sort of a DFS outlier from a statistical standpoint, as he bucks the trend we normally follow of targeting fantastically-consistent ball strikers. Mav does his damage on the greens. His putting has been exceptional both as of late and throughout last season. He grades out fifth in long-term SG: Putting (L50) and fourth over his last 24 rounds.
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Mackenzie Hughes
- Event Scoring Average: 70.50
- Notable Course History: T29 (2022 Season), T7 ('21)
- DraftKings Price: $7,700 FanDuel Price: $9,800
The fall months have been very good for the Canadian. After what had been a middling season overall, Mackenzie Hughes has found some serious form in recent months. After opening the new season with a respectable T25 finish at the Fortinet Championship, he grabbed a shocking victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship on the strength of gaining over five strokes on Approach. Hughes followed the win with another top-25 at the ZOZO in Japan.
The "Canadian Spieth" will look to continue his hot Swing Season this week in Houston and his track record at Memorial Park has me bullish on his prospects. Hughes has gone T7-T29 in two trips to this layout. It follows the trend of good putters finding success on this layout. He ranks 24th among this week's entrants in SG: Putting (L50). On a course where par is often a good score, Hughes' elite scrambling ability shouldn't be overlooked. He stands first in this field in Scrambling Gained over his last 24 measured rounds.
Adam Long
- Event Scoring Average: 68.75
- Notable Course History: T11 (2022 Season), T11 ('21)
- DraftKings Price: $7,400 FanDuel Price: $8,900
As we work our way down the DK salary scale, consistent course history gets harder to find. Adam Long does pop as a nice pure course history play, though, as he's gone T11-T11 across two starts at Memorial Park and amassed a 68.75 scoring average on the tough Houston track.
Long's recent form leaves a lot to be desired, as he comes into this year's edition on the heels of a missed cut last week in Mayakoba. However, it was the journeyman's first missed cut in his last four starts. He's gained strokes both on Approach (+1.5) and on the greens (+1.8) over his last five tournaments.
This Houston salary scale is fairly top-heavy, so a player like Long does offer some much-needed salary relief. He should be considered a boom-or-bust value play in GPP formats.
Scott Piercy
- Event Scoring Average: 70.69
- Notable Course History: T19 (2021 Season), T32 ('21)
- DraftKings Price: $6,700 FanDuel Price: $8,500
Speaking of salary savers...Scott Piercy is an option for those brave souls willing to venture into the $6k price point on DraftKings this week. The veteran has shown some fight at Memorial Park by going T19-T32 on the public track over the last two years.
With a $6.7k price tag we're obviously taking on some volatility here and Piercy's recent results reflect just that, as he's missed the cut in three of his five Swing Season outings. That said, he's coming in on the heels of a solid T32 performance in Mexico last week and did demonstrate a bit of upside with a T19 outing at the Sanderson last month. Piercy grades out first in this week's field in SG: Around The Green over the last 24 rounds and that ability to save par should be of importance this week in Houston.
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