2020 Vivint Houston Open Picks
The Vivint Houston Open gets the unfortunate place on the schedule being the week before the Masters. For bettors making picks this week it means that the field will be missing some of the favorites but will still have a stronger field than what we had last week. This year’s field is a bit stronger because some golfers have been off for a bit and are looking at the tournament as a tune up for next week.
Ironically this tournament spent 12 years on the PGA Tour sked the week before the Masters and then finally got put into the fall and on its own last year. This year when the Masters was moved it was moved to the week after the Houston Open once again.
A double whammy for bettors this year is that the tournament is being played at a new course as well, the Memorial Park Golf Course. It is a newly renovated course so it will be a new experience for every player in the field this week.
So far some of the bigger names in the field include: Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Zach Johnson, Francesco Molinari, Brooks Koepka, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott, Tony Finau, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson.
Keep in mind, when betting on the Houston Open that some of the favorites to win, like the guys mentioned above may not be the best bets to make. There are some golfers that use the tournament as a practice round for the Masters next week and won’t look too much at trying to win, or even making the cut. Some will simply play a bit, work on some of their shots in a live setting and not care too much about their result. This isn’t always the case but it is worth keeping in mind if you plan to go all in on some of the big names to win the Vivint Houston Open outright.
Favorites To Win The Houston Open
Dustin Johnson
DJ hasn’t played since the US Open over a month ago having missed a couple of scheduled tournaments after contracting Covid. He needs to play this week to shake the rust off for next week. Some will take that of note given what I wrote above and I would be more apt to fade DJ this week as opposed to betting him to win the Houston Open…but he is still the number one golfer in the world and is a contender in every tournament he enters.
Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama has too much talent to ignore and he is priced at decent odds this week because there are a few other golfers that are more prohibitive favorites. Matsuyama is always a favorite DFS pick of mine at DraftKings and this week he is an interesting outright bet to win as well.
Houston Open Sleeper Pick Bets
Jordan Spieth
Jordan Spieth a Sleeper Pick? Normally the way he has been playing I wouldn’t bet on him to win and he is priced more as a sleeper bet by the odds makers this week at Intertops. Spieth is from Texas and has played many times before at the Houston Open. Granted this is a different course than he’s played at before but he’s a hometown boy that gears up for events in his home state. Playing well here (or even a win) would give him tons of confidence into next week’s Masters Tournament.
Lanto griffin
I know, I know…Lanto Griffin is the defending champion of the Houston Open…how is he a sleeper pick? Simple, most are going to look at the favorites to win the week and see a bunch of big names to bet on and because of that Griffin’s odds look a lot better and put him into the sleeper pick range. He doesn’t have an advantage with it being a new course but he is playing pretty well heading into the tournament which makes him a bet to look at, especially in twosome or threesome in-play bets.
Other Bets To Consider This Week
Brooks Koepka – Brooks was a PGA Tour player consultant for the renovation of the Memorial Park Golf Course and so has a bit of insider knowledge of the course that nobody else in the field will have. Does that give him an edge this week? Probably not, but he is still Brooks Koepka and even with his recent struggles he is still one of the best golfers on Tour. This could be the only time Koepka plays this course since in a normal year he would be overseas playing in events this time of year. Throw in a tune up for the Masters next week and you have a recipe for a guy that would like to have a great showing this week.
Scottie Scheffler – The reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year is still looking for his first career win and even though this is a more stacked field, some may just be going through the motions this week. Scheffler is more likely to try to win and he is starting to already show that he could jump into the upper tier of golfers on Tour. This would be a tournament that he could pull up a win in.
