The Houston Open heads to Memorial Park Golf Course this week and a star-studded field, headlined by world number one Scottie Scheffler, is set to battle it out for glory.
American Scheffler is in sublime form heading into the Texas event, having won his last two starts at the Arnold Palmer and the Players Championship, both victories inspired by his improvements with the putter.
The 2022 Masters champion is the firm 13/5 favourite to make it a hat-trick of wins, with Wyndham Clark (12/1), Sahith Theegala (18/1), Will Zalatoris (20/1) and reigning Houston champion Tony Finau (22/1) in behind.
Houston Open Tips
- Sahith Theegala to win and each-way @ 18/1 with talkSPORT BET
- Keith Mitchell to win and each-way @ 40/1 with talkSPORT BET
- Martin Laird – Top UK and Irish @ 6/1 with talkSPORT BET
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Texas glory for Theegala
Theegala has been going along nicely in recent weeks, recording finishes of fifth at the Phoenix Open, T6 at the Arnold Palmer and T9 at the Players, and he looks set to contend again this week.
The 26-year-old American ranks 29th in greens in regulation and seventh in strokes gained: putting, areas that the last three course winners have excelled in, while he was 22nd here in 2022 and returns as a PGA Tour winner.
Theegala boasts a much more rounded game than he did two years ago and he looks like the chief danger to tournament favourite Scheffler.
Mitchell worth a look
It is over five years since Keith Mitchell’s PGA Tour breakthrough at The Honda Classic, but there are signs this season that he is ready to return to the winners’ circle and the 40/1 available on him is hard to ignore.
The 32-year-old has two top-10s and three top-20s on the US circuit this year and he returns to a course where he finished ninth in 2022, his best result in three attempts here.
Reliable off the tee, Mitchell is sixth in GIR and also ranks in the top 10 for SG: approach, tee-to-green and off-the-tee. Any improvement with the putter will put him in the mix this week.
Scot can claim home nations bragging rights
There are 10 UK and Irish players in the field this week and one of those that looks to have a solid chance of winning this category is Scotland’s Martin Laird, who claimed the most recent of his four PGA Tour titles in 2020.
Laird is well-accustomed to these conditions, having won the 2013 Texas Open, and he arrives in decent form with two top-10s from his last three starts.
The 41-year-old recorded his best finish here in 2022 when sharing 22nd position and he looks to have every chance of outperforming his nine rivals in the top UK and Irish market.
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