Two weeks from Augusta, the PGA Tour heads to Houston with a field that includes three past champions, including last year’s winner Min Woo Lee.
Lee is the prohibitive favorite after Scottie Scheffler’s withdrawal from the tournament Tuesday. All that Lee has done in 2026 is make all six cuts in the events he’s played in and finish no lower than T-38. He challenged Collin Morikawa for the Pebble Beach Pro-Am title in February where he finished T-2.
Let’s take a look at Lee’s odds and who else is expected to contend for the $9.1 million purse up for grabs at Memorial Park Golf Course.
Texas Children’s Houston Open odds (as of Wednesday, courtesy of DraftKings):
- Min Woo Lee (+1475)
- Chris Gotterup (+2050)
- Sam Burns (+2300)
- Jake Knapp (+2350)
- Brooks Koepka (+2500)
- Rickie Fowler (+2600)
- Kurt Kitayama (+2600)
- Nicolai Hojgaard (+2700)
- Ben Griffin (+3200)
- Michael Thorbjornsen (+3200)
- Marco Penge (+3200)
- Ryan Gerard (+3600)
- Harris English (+3600)
- Harry Hall (+3700)
- Adam Scott (+3700)
Houston Open winner prediction
A lot to live up to here after last week’s winner. Revenge was good for Matt Fitzpatrick. What’s good for the wallet now that there’s a theoretical surplus after the Valspar?
Chris Gotterup is now the only other top 10 player in the Official World Golf Ranking after the Scheffler news Tuesday. But ... the pick is not Gotterup. So why mention him? Well he finished T-18 here a year ago along with a dozen players, one of whom is a little to low on the odds board: Harry Hall at +3700
Hall has been a lot less consistent than someone with higher odds on this list, like Adam Scott. So what’s there to like? In all four tournaments Hall has made the cut he’s finished T-24 or better. He just has to make the cut and we’ve got a great chance, and based on his on-and-off patten he’s due to play the weekend in Houston.
Best longshot to win at Memorial Park
Wyndham Clark (+4800) and Stephan Jaeger (+6400) are likely worth a box of ziti based on recent course performance here (Clark went T-5 in 2025, Jaeger won two years ago), but like the above section we’ll look for greener pastures.
And in this case, the green is money related: Ryan Fox at +6700 is playing such better golf right now than players listed above him on the board, like Will Zalatoris who is a question mark due to injuries and Max Greyserman who went from in contention to a shocking missed cut at The Players two weeks ago.
Tied for 24th is familiar to us. Why? Hall’s four made-cut performances. Well, Fox has zero missed cuts. Just four T-24 finishes, most recently at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
He’s rested and brings in a top-15 finish here last year. Let’s take a shot with the Kiwi!
Houston Open first-round leader
Got to love DraftKings offering up a window for second-round leader (see: leader entering the weekend), talk about an unnecessary distraction before the first 18 holes! In keeping our focus on Thursday, there’s one pick that stands out as a first round outright and that’s Keith Mitchell at +5100.
Don’t look now but Cashmere Keith is eight for eight in made cuts in 2026 . Aside from being one of the best dressed golfers on the course, Mitchell has long been undeniable on Thursdays. His scores this year aren’t exactly indicative of that so there’s value on recent performance. Additionally, Mitchell is getting out early with a 8:31 a.m. ET tee time.
One other bet that’s worth a look here is Aldrich Potgieter to finish top 10 after Round 1 at +680. The 21-year-old South African is second Tour with an average driving distance of 322.6 yards, which should help him at Memorial Park. Is recent performance is nowhere near the level of Fox or Mitchell; however, Potgieter did finish in a solo fifth at the Genesis Invitational and was fifth after Round 1.
That was in a signature event field. Houston won’t have nearly the competition level as Riviera. Potgieter’s also set to go off early like Mitchell, a little after 9 a.m. ET, which is another bonus factor.
Best bet for 2026 Houston Open
Rickie Fowler is another player who’s form has been steady this season (six for six in made cuts), and it must be stressed that arguably no other name in the field comes in as hungry or as motivated as Fowler who has still not qualified for this year’s Masters and needs some strong finishes in Texas to get him inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
Therefore, the best bet is Fowler at +114 to finish top 20 (including ties). Considering the Augusta motivation and four top-20 finishes this year, this number should be more pricey. We’ll gobble up the value gladly — and maybe even take a flier at +475 for Fowler to finish top 5. He has yet to do so in 2026 but now seems to be as good of time as any to start.