By: @Ryan_Humphries | LineStar Chat: @N1TRO

Note: Unfortunately I couldn't get a PGA newsletter together yesterday but I thought I'd whip up a last minute abbreviated version of the Weekly Drive since several people were asking about it. Hey, it's better than nothing and hopefully this helps some folks! We'll be back to normal next week FOR THE MASTERS!!! Can't wait. Okay, let's get into the quick rundown for the Houston Open.

We are one week out from The Masters, but before we get there the Memorial Park GC will play host the Houston Open. The field consists of 132 players with a moderately strong level of talent. Eight of the top 25 and 38 of the top 100 ranked golfers in the world will be in attendance. There are 37 players within the field who are qualified for next week’s Masters tournament. Many of those golfers *could* be looking at this event as nothing more than a tune-up… time will tell just how true that is but maybe it's something to keep in mind when figuring out your player exposures. A typical cut will be in play this week -- the top 65 (and ties) after Friday’s round will make it into the weekend.

Despite conflicting reports throughout the week, Memorial Park GC will play as a lengthy Par 70 at 7,432 yards with three Par 5 holes. This is a course that hasn’t been used on the PGA Tour since the 60s and was redesigned by Tom Doak in 2019 (with consultation from Brooks Koepka), so we’re going in a little blind on how we should expect this track to play. This is a parkland course (like Augusta National GC) with treelined fairways that are above average in width. There are only 19 bunkers in play while water hazards will affect four holes. The rough shouldn’t be too tall (about 3”) but is reportedly quite thick to play out of, however, I don’t believe it will be all too problematic. The Bermuda grass greens are of average size as well and the feeling is that they will be receptive and play fairly soft.

Weather ⛅

No concerns this week. Very little wind, temps mostly in the 70s, no threat of rain currently.

Top Stats to Consider 📊

Key Stats to Consider (in order of importance)

Strokes Gained: Approach

Birdie or Better Percentage

Par 4 Scoring

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee

Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermuda)

High-Priced Targets

Dustin Johnson | DK: $11.5k, FD: $12.2k | GPP Preferred

We haven’t seen DJ in action since mid-September at the US Open which was soon followed by a COVID-19 diagnosis that held him out of a couple of events. He’ll be one of those guys who I do worry is viewing this tournament as nothing more than an opportunity to tune up his game ahead of The Masters next week. Still, his form was insanely strong the last time he teed it up so he has to be in play this week but you’re obviously forced to pay the absolute premium.

Brooks Koepka | DK: $10.6k, FD: $11.8k | GPP Only

I’m only interested in Brooksy because he was instrumental in helping Tom Doak with the course redesign last year. Otherwise, he hasn’t shown much consistency or upside in the majority of his starts the last several months.

Tyrrell Hatton | DK: $10.3k, FD: $11.7k | Cash & GPP

Hatton can pour in a ton of birdies (2nd in field in BoB%) and his long irons are elite, which will come in handy on this lengthy Par 70 set up.

Russell Henley | DK: $9.4k, FD: $11.2k | Cash & GPP

Henley has arguably the best form in this field, behind only DJ. Four top 10s across his last six starts, with a T27 and T25 being the other two results. Iron play is extremely sharp (2nd in SG: App) and he paces the field in par 4 scoring. It always comes down to the putter with him but he’s clearly been finding success with the flat stick lately and Bermuda grass greens provide his best recent putting splits.

Sungjae Im | DK: $9.3k, FD: $10.9k | GPP Preferred

I’m seeing quite a few sharp people hop on the Sungjae hype train this week and I might grab a spot as well. He pops up at #4 in my player model and after digging a bit more into the numbers, I believe he could have an excellent week in Houston. The major draw here is his putting splits as he ranks 12th in SG: Putting on Bermuda grass. If the ball striking is there, he should pay off this week.

Mid-Priced Targets

Si Woo Kim | DK: $8.3k, FD: $10.1k | Cash & GPP

I have Si Woo as a fringe cash play this week but a definite GPP target. His game is trending up after coming off of a T17 at the CJ Cup and a T8 at the Shriners. He has just one missed cut in his last 14 starts so Kim, often categorized as a bit of a wildcard, seems to have been finding some consistency.

Cameron Davis | DK: $8.1k, FD: $9.8k | GPP Preferred

Davis is popping up at #5 in my player model this week and the form is pretty strong after carding three top 15 results in his last six starts. I could see him excelling in this moderately talented but not elite field.

James Hahn | DK: $8k, FD: $9.7k | GPP Preferred

Something with Hahn’s ball-striking has really clicked lately after finishes of T5, T6, and T9 over his last three starts. His game was pretty erratic before those three events, so the long term form is still in question, but he is worth some GPP exposure for sure.

Denny McCarthy | DK: $7.9k, FD: $9.6k | Cash & GPP

DMC is almost always going to rely on his putter to carry his game (4th in SG: Putting - Bermuda) but other parts of his game are coming together as well. He has missed the cut in just one of his last 11 events while snagging three top 10s along the way. The birdie upside is terrific (9th in BoB%) and he really could take advantage of these greens if they’re going to play as soft as has been reported.

Sam Burns | DK: $7.5k, FD: $9.3k | Cash & GPP

I’m really liking Burns’ game to fit this course nicely. He does have a couple of missed cuts over his last five starts but when he has made it to the weekend over his last ten starts, he has finished no worse than T34 while posting four top 25s.

Low-Priced Targets

Scott Piercy | DK: $7.2k, FD: $8.7k | Cash & GPP

Piecy has linked together back-to-back top 20s and is striking the ball very well. These are fair prices to pay for a guy who has averaged the 18th most DKFP over his last five starts.

Adam Schenk | DK: $7.1k, FD: $8.7k | Cash Preferred

Schenk has made the weekend in 11 straight events and while he hasn’t shown off a ton of upside, the immense cut equity he brings to the table will put him in play as an affordable cash game option.

Matthew NeSmith | DK: $7k, FD: $8.3k | GPP Preferred

The ball striking, putting, and general form are all on the up-and-up for NeSmith. Bermuda greens have provided NeSmith with his best putting splits. He enters off of finishes of T8, T17, and T41 in his previous three starts.

Padraig Harrington | $6.8k, FD: $7.9k | GPP Only

Ole Paddy Harrington has been playing quite well over on the Euro Tour (T14, T40, T9 last three Euro events) and he snagged a solid T26 at last week’s Bermuda Championship. The strength of the field will be much stronger this week but I like Harrington as a cheap, low-owned GPP leverage play.

Tom Hoge | DK: $6.7k, FD: $8.1k | Cash & GPP

I don’t believe you need to go this low in cash but, honestly, I see no reason why Hoge shouldn’t be viable in all formats. He has made the cut in nine of his last ten starts with four of those finishes being T29 or better. Maybe not a ton of upside with Hoge, but at these salaries, you really just need him to make the cut. Anything beyond that is a bonus.

Ryan's One and Done Pick

Russell Henley | DK: $9.4k, FD: $11.2k

That will do it for our abbreviated PGA preview! Once again, hit me up in the LineStar chat or on Twitter @Ryan_Humphries for any questions. Good luck this week! Glad we are back!

Let us know if you enjoyed the issue with a 👍/👎!

🚨 Get 3 Free Months of LineStar Premium 🚨

Get 3-months of LineStar Premium for new users to SuperDraft who deposit/play $10!

Terms: Partnership offers do NOT renew. See SuperDraft landing page for full terms and conditions. Must be a new user to SuperDraft and deposit and play a minimum of $10 to qualify. If you have an existing LineStar Premium subscription you get a Hat/Tee/Pen combo instead of the 3-months.