1 month agoTaylor Montgomery missed the cut at the Valspar Championship last week, marking his second missed cut in his previous four appearances. Although he has played some great golf this year, particularly with his putter, he has struggled with his approach shots in three of his last four appearances. Montgomery must improve his approach play to be competitive this week, but it may be challenging for him at Memorial Park. Last year's tournament saw over 33% of approach shots coming from more than 200 yards, and Montgomery ranks in the 29th percentile in proximity to the hole on approach shots from over 200 yards in the fairway over the past year. However, despite his struggles with approach play, Montgomery has been performing well with his putter, which could make him worth consideration for DFS lineups this week.Source: Data Golf
1 month agoJake Knapp is set to play at the Texas Children's Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course after finishing T45 at THE PLAYERS Championship two weeks ago. Knapp has been in fantastic form lately, missing only one cut and securing two top-five finishes and one win in his last six appearances. His skills could come in handy at Memorial Park, where he ranks in the 83rd percentile for greens in regulation on approach shots over 200 yards in the fairway in the past 12 months. This is important since over 33% of approach shots were taken from this distance in last year's tournament. With his recent form and strong approach play, Knapp could be a valuable addition to DFS lineups this week.Source: Data Golf
1 month agoAaron Rai had a disappointing performance at the Valspar Championship last week, failing to make the cut after three consecutive top-35 finishes. However, he is set to tee it up in the Texas Children's Houston Open at the Memorial Park Golf Course this week. Rai has a good Memorial Park Golf Course record and hopes to bounce back strongly after his recent setback. In the past 12 months, Rai has ranked in the 53rd percentile in proximity to the hole on approach shots from over 200 yards in the fairway. This is important to note, as over 33% of approach shots came from this distance in last year's tournament. Despite not making the cut last week, Rai could still be a valuable addition to DFS lineups for this week's event.Source: Data Golf
1 month agoFrom a statistical perspective, Alex Smalley is as gross as they come. He has only played one meaningful tournament in 2024 (T21 at the American Express), which was an event that featured the most improbable of outcomes. Things have been on a bad run mostly thanks to irons and putter performances that seem to fluctuate week to week from fairly mundane, to downright horrible. A rank of 177th in strokes gained putting (-1.091) is enough reason to look elsewhere. However, if there is a shining light to be found, it would be the impeccable course history at this event (T4 in 2023 and T15 in 2022) and other comparable courses that have resulted in some of the best finishes of his career. In most cases, it is hard to recommend Smalley at $9,000 on FanDuel, but sprinkling him in a few spots could be a smart play for those who make a ton of lineups every week.Source: PGA Tour
1 month agoThings have been slow and steady since a T6 finish at the Mexico Open for Robert MacIntyre, but he isn't doing anything in his rounds that jump off the page. He has stayed around even in total strokes gained in three of his last four starts, aside from a poor outing at TPC Sawgrass. Bobby Mac hangs around the top 75 in both strokes gained off the tee (0.173) and on approach (0.090), but his abysmal rate of losing over half a stoke putting on the year is a cause for concern. However, much of that is due to a horrendous stretch over three events in February, where he lost an average of minus-3.93 strokes putting. For DFS players shopping in this range, there certainly are riskier options than MacIntyre at $8,700 on FanDuel.Source: Data Golf
1 month agoFinding reasons to like Chesson Hadley this week at the Houston Open starts and ends with the putter. With a ranking of 21st in strokes gained putting (0.544), everything falls off a cliff past that with being ranked outside the top 100 in every other solo strokes gained metric. Hadley is another guy on the decently long list of players who benefited more from the event being held in April rather than November, however, he's never finished better than T18, and the things plaguing his game are too much to consider playing him at $9,200 on FanDuel.Source: PGA Tour
1 month agoThe impressive play tee to green (24th on the season in strokes gained tee to green: 0.743) for Victor Perez in 2024 has been largely negated by horrendous performances on and around the green. Something that can only be attributed to his jump from the DP World Tour to the more glamorous tour in the US, as his stats on the green were a stronger point of his game in years past. Perez is currently ranked 167th in strokes gained putting (-0.70) and 117th in strokes gained around the green (-0.115), which is something his strong ball striking hasn't been able to overcome. At a course like Memorial Park, where making up ground on the greens has historically been one of the strongest factors, Perez is a hard name to be confident in at $8,900 on FanDuel.Source: PGA Tour
1 month agoIt's been great seeing Daniel Berger's return to professional golf from a back injury that left him sidelined for 18 months. However, the product inside the ropes has been undeniably rusty. He's coming off three straight missed cuts, though the only overwhelming sore spot in his game has been on the greens. The former FSU golfer is losing nearly one and a half strokes putting on the season; currently ranked 180th on tour. His ball striking is still as lethal as ever as he ranks 51st in strokes gained on approach and 58th in strokes gained off the tee (0.238). If there is a time for him to reemerge, it would be in Houston. Before this event moved from April to November, Berger racked up a T25, two top 5's, and a T18 from 2015-2018. At $9,300 on FanDuel, GPP players will be taking a huge leap of faith, but those who do could be rewarded handsomely if history has any bearing.Source: PGA Tour
1 month agoThings have been rough for Luke List since finishing T2 at The Genesis Invitational in February with a 56th-place finish at the API sandwiched between two missed cuts. It has been due to bad play on and around the greens, where List has lost an average of -0.34 strokes putting and -0.62 strokes around the green over his last three starts. The big-hitting guy from Seattle has never been considered a great player in those aspects historically, so many of his strong showings seem to come out of thin air. But coming off the missed cut at TPC Sawgrass, the former Vanderbilt Commodore was trending in the right direction in every area except around the greens, and at a much more bomber-friendly course at Memorial Park, he is an intriguing play at $9,700 on FanDuel.Source: Data Golf
1 month agoComing off a solid T3 performance at The Copperhead Course, where Mackenzie Hughes narrowly missed picking up his third PGA Tour victory, the next stop on the schedule is an event that has been kind to Hughes over the years. With only one missed cut in six starts,read more...
1 month agoIt has been a better start to the year statistically for Billy Horschel than has translated to scores and finishes through his first seven events of the season. Aside from mediocre play around the greens (ranked 95th in strokes gained around the green at minus-0.014), he is ranked inside the top 60 in every other strokes-gained metric, with highlights of 17th in strokes gained putting (0.621) and eighth in total strokes gained (1.114). Coming off a T12 at the Valspar, Horschel may be hitting that optimal "peak" going into the year's first major. He is familiar with this event, coming in second in 2013. The biggest question mark is whether he can carry his game to a more impressive field, and four players inside the top 20 in the world are slightly stronger than last week and his other solid performance at the Cognizant Classic (T9). At $10,100 on FanDuel, Horschel is less appealing than those around him, which should lower his ownership percentages and make him a more worthy play for risk/reward players.Source: PGA Tour
1 month agoJoseph Bramlett has played pretty well this year and has two top-25 results in 2024. The American golfer has been a bit unlucky. However, Bramlett has kept an even keel. Other than missing putts in bunches at the WM Open, he has only blown in two rounds all year. One was most recently at The Players Championship where Bramlett opened with a 77. He drives the ball well ranking 14th on the tour averaging 306.5 yards a drive. However, Bramlett is accurate 52.74% of the time (158th on tour) and the red numbers add up when it comes to his 133rd ranked putting average. Now, he just needs to keep the ball on the fairway.Source: PGATour.com
1 month agoMatt Wallace had a long rough patch before winning last year at the Corales Puntacana Championship. The English golfer has endured this odd pattern where he makes the cut twice, misses twice, then makes twice. Last week, Wallace made the cut and finished tied for 17th at the Valspar Championship. This was the best result of 2024 for Wallace. The Houston golf course penalizes golfers who are a bit short and inaccurate on their drives. Unfortunately, Wallace is 166th in driver accuracy at 51.39%. Wallace will need to putt extremely well especially given the 7.435 yard course. Source: PGATour.com
1 month agoChandler Phillips is primed and ready for the Houston Open this week. The American golfer comes off his best performance of the season (T-3rd at the Valspar Championship). Phillips was a stroke short on Saturday of shooting all four rounds in the 60's. It would have been the second time Phillips had accomplished that this season. Though he is a bit up and down, some forget he shot a 66 at the Cognizant Classic before having to withdraw. The concern with Phillips is similar to Peter Malnati. The course sets up long and he drives the ball accurately just 58.91% of the time at an average of 294.7 yards. Phillips will have to scramble often. Source: PGATour.com
1 month agoPeter Malnati won the Valspar Championship with a 68-67 weekend last week. The American golfer started out poorly in 2024 missing the cut in four of the first five tournaments. Malnati's only misstep since was that horrid 81 at The Players Championship. The Houston Open course is a long one at 7,435 yards and is a Par-70. Malnati might have issues off the tee where he is 160th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained. Worse, the golfer drives the ball an average of 290.1 yards on a course with several long Par-5's and some nearly 500 yard Par-4's. This could be a challenging week for the now two-time Tour winner. Source: PGATour.com