Mayo’s 2026 Houston Open Picks, Rankings, Course Preview | Fantasy Golf Picks

WATCH: Houston Open 2026 Picks | Research, Sleepers & Course Breakdown

2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open Field

• Field 133 Players
• Cut: Top 65 and Ties after 36 Holes
• First Tee: Thursday, March 26
• Defending Champion: Min Woo Lee

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Min Woo Lee has returned to defend his title along with Scottie Scheffler, Ben Griffin, Nicolai Hojgaard, Rasmus Hojgaard, Kurt Kitayama, Sam Burns, Jake Knapp, Chris Gotterup, Shane Lowry, Rickie Fowler, Michael Thorbjornsen, Ryan Gerard, Jason Day, Taylor Pendrith, Adam Scott, Pierceson Coody, Sahith Theegala, Wyndham Clark, and the man who did a lot of the redesigns to the course, Brooks Koepka

Will Zalatoris is back on the course for the first time since withdrawing prior to his round 1 tee time at the Cognizant Classic almost a month ago. His last event was the Farmers’ in late January.

This is the last chance players have to get inside the Top 50 in the official world golf rankings to earn an invitation to The Masters. If they fail, they’ll have to win next week at the Valero Texas Open to get the final spot.

2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open Key Stats

• Ball Speed
• 175+ Proximity
• Around The Green
• Par 4s Gained 450+ Yards

Mayo’s Key Stat Rankings Powered by the Rabbit Hole Tool

2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open Course

• Course: Memorial Park GC
• Yardage: 7,475
• Par: 70
• Greens: Poa trivialis overseed
• Number of Sand Bunkers: 21
• Number of Holes Water is in Play: 4
• Average Green Size: 7,000 sq. ft.

COURSE

Par 3’s (5): Average Distance – 192 yards

• Two have a bogey rate that is higher than the birdie rate, highlighted by #11 (20.2% bogey and 6.1% birdie)
• Min Woo: 3 birdies and 0 bogeys on the Par 3’s over the final 3 rounds

Par 4’s (10): Average Distance – 469 yards

• Three holes come with a bogey rate north of 21%, and they are all Par 4’s (Holes 1-4-14)
• Min Woo: Didn’t bogey a Par 4 over the weekend (multiple Par 4 bogeys in Rounds 1 and 2)

Par 5’s (3): Average Distance – 610 yards

• All three have an eagle rate of 1-2%, and two come with a sub-9% bogey rate
• Min Woo: Birdied Hole #3 all four days, brought in a sweat with a bogey on #16 Sunday

DFS Streak

Is this the course where this advantage is the greatest? It’s on the short list — Holes 1 and 18 are two of the four toughest on the course, and that makes playing it backwards a tough sell. When starting on the front, you get access to Holes 8-9-10, all of which play easier than course average.

2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open Past Winners

• 2025: Min Woo Lee -20 (One clear of Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland)
• 2024: Stephen Jaeger -12 (one clear of five golfers, including Tony Finau and Scottie Scheffler)

(Played in November)

• 2022: Tony Finau -16 (four clear of Tyson Alexander)
• 2021: Jason Kokrak -10 (two clear of Kevin Tway and Scottie Scheffler)

WINNERS NOTES

2025: Min Woo Lee (+3000, T-3rd favorite) beats Scottie Scheffler and Gary Woodland by 1

• Held a 5-shot lead over Scheffler and 6 over Woodland entering Sunday
• 8 of the top 9 finishers gained Prox 200+

2024: Stephan Jaeger (+5000) beats Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau, Thomas Detry, and Alejandro Tosti by 1

• Five of the top six finishers gained Prox 150-175 (it was the only bucket in which Jaeger gained on approach)
• Low bunker count and low impact … just 3 of the top 16 finishers gained Sand Saves on the field for the week

2023: No Event

2022: Tony Finau (+1600, T-3rd favorite) beats Tyson Alexander by 2

• The top 6 finishers all gained putting from 5-10 feet AND from 10-15 feet
• Finau was the second-best putter for the week, and Ben Taylor was third-best (finished third on the final leaderboard)

2021: Jason Kokrak (+6000) beats Scottie Scheffler and Kevin Tway by 2

• 66-65 weekend for Kokrak was 10 shots better than Tway and 7 better than Scheffler
• 6 picked up 5+ strokes on the green, their finishes: 1-2-4-5-29 (Kelly Kraft being the outlier and he finished 29th despite losing 5.6 strokes T2G)

FIRST ROUND LEADERS

2025

• 65: Taylor Pendrith (PM), Alejandro Tosti (AM), Ryan Gerard (AM), Keith Mitchell (PM), Taylor Dickson (PM)

2024

• 64: Taylor Moore (AM), William Furr (PM)

2022

• 65: Tony Finau (PM), Alex Noren (AM), Aaron Wise (AM)

2021

• 65: Martin Trainer (PM), Russell Henley (AM), Luke List (PM), Marc Leishman (AM), Taylor Gooch (AM)

2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open Notes

A 2024 May windstorm (a derecho, per meteorology terms) damaged more than 100 trees, and then Hurricane Beryl in July, which dropped 13”-plus of rain and damaged 100 more trees. This led to the lowest scoring ever in this event in 2025.

Before 2025, there had been no event at Memorial Park with an average score below par. Last year’s extra scoring could be attributed to many things: Stronger field, lower wind, the lack of trees, or simply an outlier. If it resembles 2025, you’ll want the guys who swing the club the hardest. Five of the Top 7 on the leaderboard in 2025 were tops in ball speed.

The overseed now provides a much tighter playing surface than the bermudagrass did when this event had previously been held during the swing season. This will highlight the penal green surrounds, while the shorter rough gives opportunity for aggressive approach shots to the green.

No. 17 green was moved 30 yards further back, and two bunkers were added to the left of the green for 2024. Depending on the tee box, it is drivable.

Average fairway widths in landing areas are 30-40 yards, yet one of the lower accuracy rates of any course. The three-year average: 55%

Memorial Park is the third-longest course played on TOUR this season, and it is only a par-70. There are five Par 4s, 490 yards or longer. They all play over par and are five of the six toughest holes on the course.

Tom Doak did a complete renovation of the course in 2019 (started in January and the course reopened in November). Brooks Koepka assisted. The renovation and redesign brought ravines and water into play and reduced the number of bunkers from 54 to 19. Three of the bunkers surround the 18th green.

Tons of run-off areas and false fronts on a lot of greens. Many greens elevated as well. While most courses have thicker rough surrounding the putting surfaces, Memorial Park has many shaved areas and very low-cut rough throughout the course. The average PGA TOUR Event only sees about 40% of around-the-green shots from short grass; it’s 67% at Memorial Park.

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2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open Picks

Chris Gotterup — Gotterup sits 11th in the field in ball speed, has crushed long Par 4s all season, and has produced a far more efficient scrambling rate on closely mown surfaces than out of thicker rough. Probably won’t get away with losing strokes putting and winning as he did in Phoenix, but he won’t have to gain as many as most to find himself near the top of the leaderboard.

Margo Penge — Finally produced a week in America where he flashed his upside at Valspar. Now he gets a course that fits his bomb, gauge, and putt profile. He finally gained with his irons at Copperhead. If he can keep that rolling, he’ll be a threat at Memorial Park.

Aldrich Potgiter — Look, if any part of his game beyond the driver shows up, he’s plenty live.