The Cadence Bank Houston Open
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Make the most of the data, predictions, and insights from this article to help with your fantasy golf picks for the Cadence Bank Houston Open. Check out our PGA Optimizer to make more informed player selections for your DFS DraftKings lineups. Best of luck this week!
The Cadence Bank Houston Open
Preview for the Cadence Bank Houston Open: This tournament originated in 1946 with Byron Nelson winning the first Houston Open, two strokes clear of Ben Hogan – both legends of the game. Over the last five years, winners of the Houston Open include Jason Kokrak in 2021, Carlos Ortiz in 2020, Lanto Griffin in 2019, Ian Poulter in 2018, and Russell Henley in 2017.
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Tournament purse: The prize money for this week’s event is $8.4M, the winner collects $1.512M and also earns himself 500 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course is 7,412 yards in length, is a par 70, and the sizable greens are Bermudagrass. The winning score at this tournament over the last five years ranges from -10 to -20, but it’s the last two years that matter the most since those were contested at Memorial Park, and those scores range from -10 to -13, so expect something in the same range this week – it’s a tricky course. The record on this track for this event is -15, shot by Mike Souchak in 1955. Some key stats to hone in on this week are, in order, strokes gained: putting, strokes gained: around the green, driving accuracy percentage, strokes gained: off the tee, and strokes gained: tee to green.
The field: We have another 132-player field competing this week, and the top 65 golfers plus ties after round 2 will move on to play round 3 and round 4. We have a respectable field going this week including Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns, Hideki Matsuyama, Tony Finau, and other talent, as well. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be a B-.
Three questions that are relevant to the Cadence Bank Houston Open this week:
- Which 10 players have gained the most strokes total over their last 24 rounds? Tony Finau, Dean Burmester, Scottie Scheffler, Taylor Montgomery, Trey Mullinax, Aaron Wise, Sam Burns, Lee Hodges, Andrew Putnam, and Jason Day.
- Which 10 players does my custom model like the most? Dean Burmester, Tony Finau, Ryan Palmer, Andrew Putnam, Robby Shelton, Taylor Montgomery, Aaron Wise, Jason Day, Davis Thompson, and Justin Lower.
- Which 10 players gained the most strokes total at this course since 2017? Hideki Matsuyama, Sepp Straka, Adam Long, Russell Henley, Brandon Wu, Zac Blair, Luke List, Austin Cook, Maverick McNealy, and Scottie Scheffler.
All the best in your journey to win or at least be in the money in some contests this week – here are (in no particular order) 15 DFS golf picks on DraftKings (DK), plus I also include player salaries for DK. I consistently provide recent and seasonal finishes for each of my picks, their performances at the event over the last five years, and add in some tasty data.
15 Players Who Are High Value Plays This Week – Get Them Into Your DFS Lineups
Scottie Scheffler (Salary: DraftKings – $11.5K) – Scottie went flying up the leaderboard last Sunday in Mexico to finish T3 after sitting in a T35 spot after round 3. He set the course record here last year in round 2 with a score of 62, and he’s clearly the player to beat this week in my opinion. He’s a tad pricey but has a T2 and two T3’s over his last four starts, and all that’s missing is a good putting performance to seal the deal. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T2, 2020 – T32, and 2019 – T28.
Sam Burns (Salary: DraftKings – $10.7K) – Converging trends – Burns had a T7 in his most recent start at THE CJ CUP and has two straight T7’s here at the Houston Open. Putting is extremely important on this track, and Sam is one of the best putters on the PGA Tour – in fact, he gained 9.04 strokes with the flat stick his last time out and seems to consistently gain at least 3 strokes on a fairly regular basis. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T7, 2020 – T7, and 2019 – Cut.
Taylor Montgomery (Salary: DraftKings – $9.7K) – What a run that Montgomery is on with nine straight top 15’s between the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour, and seven of those were top 10’s – WOW! He’s incredible on the greens, off the tee, and can gain strokes in the other major stat categories also. This seems like an ideal course fit for him, and I’m interested to see what he does here in his rookie outing! Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: None.
Maverick McNealy (Salary: DraftKings – $9.4K) – Here’s another putting pro, gaining strokes almost every week on the greens, and it has resulted in four straight top 18’s including two T10’s. McNealy seems like a safe bet to finish top 20 here given his recent form and his strong play on this track, buy him up and hope for a third top 10 in his last five starts. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T19, 2020 – T20, and 2019 – T17.
Joel Dahmen (Salary: DraftKings – $9.0K) – Dahmen has three top 16’s in his last four starts and it’s because his ball-striking has been quite strong since early October. His putting has been weak for quite a while now, but if he finds his form this week then he has the potential to have a top 5 like he did last year. He gained 8.18 strokes ball-striking a year ago and gained 1.83 strokes on the greens – if he does that again then he’s a steal at $9K. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T5 and 2018 – 76th.
Matthew NeSmith (Salary: DraftKings – $8.9K) – He lost his way between mid-July to mid-September, but he’s back at it again with three straight top 9’s including a T2 at the Shriners. Every part of his game is in pristine condition right now, and I’d advise you to strike while the iron is hot with NeSmith. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T46, 2020 – Cut, and 2019 – Cut.
Mackenzie Hughes (Salary: DraftKings – $7.7K) – Hughes won two starts ago at the Sanderson Farms Championship, has three straight top 25’s, and is one of the better putters on the PGA Tour. He had a T7 two years ago thanks to burning up the greens, and I can see him doing something similar again this week. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T29, 2020 – T7, 2019 – T55, 2018 – Cut, and 2017 – T23.
Dean Burmester (Salary: DraftKings – $7.6K) – Since late June/early July, Burmester has been playing some mighty fine golf with six top 11’s in his last nine starts between three different tours including a T11 at The Open Championship. He seems like a solid mid-tier value play to me this week – his floor should be a thirty-something finish and he has upside to finish top 10. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: None.
David Lingmerth (Salary: DraftKings – $6.6K) – We don’t have strokes gained data to see how he did it, but Lingmerth has back-to-back top 11’s including last week’s T8 in Mexico. He won in late August on the Korn Ferry Tour, and while it’s hard to say what you’ll get with David this week, his upside is pretty good and he should at least make the cut if his strong recent game holds up for at least one more week. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2019 – Cut and 2017 – Cut.
Robert Streb (Salary: DraftKings – $6.5K) – Here’s another good scrub player for your stars and scrubs lineups this week given he had a top 10 here last year and has three top 34’s over his last four appearances. He also has two consecutive top 42’s including his T29 in Bermuda. He’s a flyer, but he allows you to load up on stars at the top given his low price point. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T7, 2019 – T28, 2018 – Cut, and 2017 – T34.
Austin Cook (Salary: DraftKings – 6.4K) – He didn’t play here last year, but was good here the two years prior including his T17 three years ago. He’s coming off a T27 last week in Mexico gaining 5.00 strokes total, we just don’t know how he gained those strokes since shot tracker isn’t typically in place outside of North America. You might be “cooking” with fire and hot oil this week with Austin and get burnt, but the risk and reward makes sense to me. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T24 and 2019 – T17.
Aaron Wise (Salary: DraftKings – $9.9K) – He almost cracked the top 10 here two years ago, and has been strong for months now with five top 15’s in his last seven starts including a 6th at THE CJ CUP two starts ago. All of his stats look appealing including putting and ball-striking very well, and he has the potential to contend this week. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T26, 2020 – T11, and 2018 – T32.
Denny McCarthy (Salary: DraftKings – $8.1K) – He has been one of the best if not the best putter over the last few years on the PGA Tour, so he holds a lot of intrigue for me this week. He almost had a top 10 here last year thanks to strong putting, and his flat stick is a threat almost every week he plays. He’s coming off a T6 in Bermuda in his most recent start – we can’t see his strokes gained data, unfortunately, but something tells me that his putter was back in fine form since he doesn’t usually ball strike overly well but has gained over 4 strokes in the stat category over his last two measured starts. I doubt he wins this week but a top 20 is more than doable and he could get into the top 10 if the balls are really dropping on the greens. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T11, 2020 – T38, 2019 – T9, and 2018 – T43.
Will Gordon (Salary: DraftKings – $7.7K) – If cuts made really matter to you, then Gordon should be near the top of your list since he has made ten straight cut lines, he won on the Korn Ferry Tour in late August and is coming off a T3 last week in Mexico gaining 10.00 strokes total there. He was fine two years ago here, and should do something similar again this week. He’s safe and offers some level of upside given his great result last week. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: 2020 – T38.
Justin Lower (Salary: DraftKings – $7.4K) – Here’s another stud putter who’s also a decent ball-striker. He has three top 9’s over his last six starts on the PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour and also had a T20 mixed in, as well. I think this event will fit him well, and there’s the potential that he finishes top 10 if his putter is screaming hot. Cadence Bank Houston Open finishes over the last five years: None.
