Three Storylines to Follow at the Texas Children’s Houston Open

I’ll be the first to say that I’m kind of looking ahead two weeks. The Masters is so close that it’s pretty hard to focus on anything else. That said, the Texas Children’s Houston Open should be a fun watch.

Scottie Scheffler is no longer in the field after he withdrew on Tuesday, as he and Meredith are about to welcome kid No. 2—congrats to the Schefflers! But defending champion Min Woo Lee, Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Chris Gotterup, Tony Finau, and Jake Knapp are all still slated to tee off Thursday morning.

With just eight rounds left before the golf world heads to Augusta, the countdown is officially on for the players not yet in the field for the year’s first major championship. And that’s where we’ll start for this week’s storyline run-down.

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Big Names Not in the Masters Field

Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, Sahith Theegala, Tom Kim, and Will Zalatoris—all in the field in Houston—are not currently qualified to play in the Masters. Now, a win at Memorial Park would take care of their problems, as would squeaking into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.

No pressure, gentleman.

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A Brooks Koepka Win is Coming

I loved Koepka heading into the Valspar Championship last week, and he eventually tied for 18th. His iron play was great—he’s ranked first on TOUR this season in Strokes Gained: Approach—and the putter woke up a bit—he was 26th in the field in SG: Putting.

He just couldn’t keep the driver on the planet.

But at the Houston Open, that shouldn’t be a problem. Min Woo hit just 42 percent of fairways last year, Jaeger hit 54 percent the year before. Memorial Park is all about distance off the tee, and Koepka is still plenty long—he averages just under 310 yards.

Plus, he tied for fifth at this track at the end of 2020—a long time ago, sure, but still notable.

A Koepka win is coming, and it might come Sunday.

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Two Great Course Fits

Two other players I think fit this golf course perfectly: Jake Knapp and Nicolai Hojgaard.

Knapp missed the cut at THE PLAYERS, but he was playing some of the best golf in the world before that. I expect him to rebound at a course built for his game: drive it long (eighth in driving distance) and make birdies (first in scoring average, second in SG: Putting)

Plus, I found this tweet interesting:

And guess where Knapp’s lone TOUR win came at? Yup, the Mexico Open.

Finally, Hojgaard. Like Knapp, this golf course should be a great fit for the man from Denmark. He’s 14th in driving distance, 20th in SG: Approach, and 24th in SG: Putting—a damn good recipe to make a lot of birdies around Memorial Park.

He missed the cut in his tournament debut last year, but he enters this edition with four top-25 finishes in six starts this season.

That’s all I got for you this week. Enjoy the golf!

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