The PGA Tour heads to Texas for 2 weeks before the Masters in April, starting with the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open. Memorial Park is hosting this event for the sixth consecutive time, giving players a chance to tune their games before Augusta. Below, we search for the best value prop bets for the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler withdrew Tuesday with the birth of his second child immenent, making defending champion Min Woo Lee the favorite (+1200) this week, followed by Chris Gotterup (+1600), Jake Knapp, (+1800) and Brooks Koepka (+2200).
Memorial Park is 7,475 yards long, but is only a par 70, making it one of the longer courses on the schedule, relatively speaking. It typically favors bombers off the tee because of how minimally penalizing the rough is, so driving distance is one trait to consider when betting on this event. Lee won last year at a tournament-record 20-under par.
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Texas Children’s Houston Open – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 4:41 p.m. ET.
Min Woo Lee (+240)
Lee is the defending champion and comes into the week ranked second in total strokes gained in the last 3 months, among players in the field. He’s driving it exceptionally well and it’s translated to some great results, finishing T-32 or better in each of his last 5 starts.
Houston Open: Best outright winners
Jake Knapp (+400)
Knapp is another long hitter who should do well here despite missing the cut in 2024 and finishing T-27 last year. He had been playing incredibly well before missing the cut at the Players Championship, finishing between fifth and 11th in 5 straight starts.
Texas Children’s Houston Open – Top-10 picks
Marco Penge (+300)
Penge has been fairly up and down this year, but after missing the cut at the Players, he came in fourth at the Valspar Championship last week. He’s first on the PGA Tour in SG: off-the-tee, showing how well he’s driving the ball, which is an important factor at Memorial Park.
Wyndham Clark (+400)
Clark is due to get back on track soon, even after missing the cut at the Valspar. His approach game has been great (ninth in SG) but he’s struggling badly on the greens, ranking 111th in this field in SG: putting in the last 3 months.
Keith Mitchell (+350)
Everything except the putter has been cooperating for Mitchell this season, as he ranks ninth in SG: tee-to-green since the start of January. He finished T-18 here last year and T-9 in 2023, sandwiching those finishes with a missed cut in 2024.
Texas Children’s Houston Open – Top-20 picks
Alejandro Tosti (+450)
Tosti is a long shot after missing 7 straight cuts to start the year before finishing T-30 at the Valspar last week, so maybe he found something. And that was at Innisbrook, which is much less forgiving for drivers. What makes him especially intriguing this week is that he finished runner-up in 2024 and fifth last year.
Aldrich Potgieter (+300)
Potgieter follows our trend of picking bombers, as he’s one of the longest hitters on tour. He missed the cut here last year in his tournament debut and has been sporadic this season, but if he can find something with his irons and putter, watch out.
Gary Woodland (+275)
Woodland missed 2 cuts in a row before finishing T-14 at the Valspar last week, and he also ranks fourth in SG: off-the-tee among players in this field since January, so the driver is working.
Texas Children’s Houston Open – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Jake Knapp (-105) vs. Chris Gotterup (-118)
Gotterup has cooled off since his red-hot start to the year, going T-37, MC, T-18 and T-56 in his last 4 starts. Knapp will try to bounce back from a missed cut at Sawgrass and Memorial Park should suit him well.
Brooks Koepka (-105) vs. Sam Burns (-118)
Burns has either come in the top-15 or missed the cut in his last 5 starts, failing to play the weekend 3 times in that span. Koepka, meanwhile, is getting into a groove and ranks fourth in SG: tee-to-green among players in this field since January. A strong putting week could net him a win.
Texas Children’s Houston Open – Top Brit and Irish
Marco Penge (+333)
For all the reasons above, Penge is a good choice this week, even in a market that features Shane Lowry (+400) and Harry Hall (+400). He’s long off the tee and is trending up right now.
Texas Children’s Houston Open – Top South African
Aldrich Potgieter (+250)
There are 5 total South Africans in the field this week, led by Christiaan Bezuidenhout at +175. Potgieter fits the mold of players who have won here before with his length off the tee.
Texas Children’s Houston Open – First-round leader
Alejandro Tosti (+12500)
Tosti was tied for the first-round lead after shooting 65 last year and was just 2 shots back with a 66 in 2024. Take this dart throw and bet on him to potentially lead after the first round this week.
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
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