The 2022 PGA TOUR is making its return to Houston, Texas this week for this year’s Houston Open. First introduced in 1946, the event will be played at the Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course beginning on Thursday, November 11 and concluding on Sunday, November 14.
Last year’s Houston Open was won by Carlos Ortiz, who shot 13-under-par and finished two strokes ahead of Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama. However, Ortiz (+3300) isn’t this year’s favorite. Instead, that honor goes to Sam Burns, who's favored to win at +1600 odds, according to BetOnline.
Burns had a pretty successful outing in the 2020 Houston Open. While he didn’t win the event, he did finish 7-under-par, which was good enough for seventh place. Now, he’ll have a shot at winning in Houston again following his recent wave of momentum.
Burns began the 2022 PGA TOUR with a victory at the Sanderson Farms Championship back at the beginning of October. He followed that up with a T-14th finish at the Shriners Children’s Open before placing T-5th at the CJ Cup in his last outing on October 17. Needless to say, not many golfers have started off the new season as well as Burns has. With a lot of the sport’s top names being absent from the Houston Open this week, this is the 25-year-old’s best shot to start piling up some wins to start the campaign.
2021 Houston Open Odds
Odds via BetOnline as of Tuesday, November 9
- Sam Burns (+1600)
- Scottie Scheffler (+1800)
- Sungjae Im (+2200)
- Cameron Smith (+2200)
- Matthew Wolff (+2200)
- Tyrrell Hatton (+2500)
- Brooks Koepka (+2500)
- Talor Gooch (+2800)
- Tony Finau (+2800)
- Adam Scott (+2800)
- Joaquin Niemann (+3000)
- Aaron Wise (+3000)
- Patrick Reed (+3000)
The complete odds list is available at BetOnline.ag.
Scheffler Looking for First Win in Houston
Another golfer who’s looking for his first Houston Open win is Scottie Scheffler. The 25-year-old veteran has also competed just once at the Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course, placing 32nd in last year’s event. Now, he has +1800 odds to win the tournament, which ranks second-best among the field.
Recently, Scheffler’s been having a bit of a rollercoaster 2022 season. After winning the Ryder Cup with Team USA, he was cut at the Shriners Children’s Open and placed T-38th at the CJ Cup. However, he followed up those two disappointing performances with a fourth-place finish at last week’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. Scheffler’s done a lot of growth over the last year. Combining that with his recent success shows that he has a solid chance of winning the 2021 Houston Open.
Houston Open Odds: Three-Way for Third
While Burns and Scheffler are the clear-cut top favorites to win the Houston Open, there’s a three-way tie for third-best odds. Sungjae Im, Cameron Smith and Matthew Wolff are all tied at +2200, according to BetOnline.
After finishing 50th at last year’s even, it’s clear that Im’s odds aren’t based around past success. Instead, it’s likely because of him winning the Shriners Children’s Open about a month ago. He followed that up with a T-9th showing at the CJ Cup a week later, so it’ll be interesting to see if his hot streak continues in Houston.
Meanwhile, Smith is one of the golfers who’ll be making his Houston Open debut this week. The 28-year-old has only competed in one event on the 2022 PGA TOUR calendar so far, placing T-9th at the CJ Cup as well. Beyond that, it’s been a bit of a while since Smith won a tournament, having last been victorious at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans back in April. Only time will tell if he can get back into the win column this week.
Lastly, Wolff will also be making his tournament debut. He’s also been having a decent start to the new season, recording two Top-5 finishes in his past three outings. Wolff hasn’t won a PGA event since the 3m Open back in July 2019, so you could say that a win is long overdue. If he continues playing as he has this season, it doesn’t look like it’ll be long before he gets that elusive W.
