Texas Children's Houston Open 2025 DFS Picks This Week: Predictions, Values & Projections

For what feels like the first time in a long time, we venture outside of the coasts of the United States and find ourselves in Houston, Texas this week for the 2025 Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course. 

This event is a unique one for the tour, in the sense that it has bounced around the schedule constantly and the home course of the event has frequently changed as well. This event has occurred at Memorial Park since the 2021 season, and this is just the 2nd season we see it this early in quite some time. Can Stephen Jaeger defend his championship like so few have done? 

Let’s dive in!

Texas Children’s Houston Open 2025: Daily Fantasy Golf Picks & Projections

You may be asking yourself, what tournament is this? It’s a valid question, as it’s had many title sponsors over the year. Shell, Vivint, Cadence Bank, and Hewlett Packard have all been title sponsors of this event, which is now sponsored by Texas Children’s Hospital. 

While this event used to not draw many big names, since it’s switch to Memorial Park, it’s fields have gotten stronger and stronger. Where it is important this year is this is the first non-signature event in which both Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy will both be in the field. These players, amongst the rest of the field, will be competing for their share of $9,500,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points.

Memorial Park Municipal Golf Course: Course Breakdown This Week

Memorial Park will be in play for the 5th time as it replaced the Golf Club of Houston in 2020. After a complete overhaul in 2019 by Tom Doak (with help from Brooks Koepka) with funding from the Houston Astros Foundation. Brooks’ impact can certainly be felt, as this course is long, with difficult green-side run offs that reward a solid all around game. Playing as a Par 71 at 7,400 yards, this course is clearly a test of distance and ball-striking.

With 3 Par 5s, 5 Par 3s, and 10 Par 4s, we see some unique features of the course. With the distance clearly one of the defensive factors, you may be surprised to see that the shortest of each par classification all have above par average scores. That said, the par 3’s here are bottom 5 in average length each of the last two seasons. We do see some consistency with the fast Bermuda greens in place this week, which will give us some consistency in key stats week over week. 

Weather historically hasn’t been a factor here, but given the links style layout and it’s location, wind could certainly impact the event. At the time of writing, we're in for some rough weather. On Thursday, we're looking at an 87% chance of precipitation and a 52% chance of thunderstorms with wind gusts approaching 30 MPH. Morning tee times will have an advantage as the wind gusts are expected to be around 20 MPH with the chance of rain down at 25%. 

Friday we're looking at a near 100% chance of rain and a 50% chance of thunderstorms with wind gusts up to 30 MPH again. No tee times will have advantage here, as this projects to be the weather the entire day. Saturday projects for another near 90% chance of rain with 50% chance of thunderstorms, but the wind will be more “tame” with gusts only projected for 25 MPH. Then on championship Sunday, we finally get a reprieve with only a 55% chance of rain and 33% chance of thunderstorms, though the wind will kick back up to 30 MPH gusts.

There are some courses that hold very similar shots gained distribution. Memorial Park is very similar to Pinehurst No. 2, as well as Olympia Fields North Course and CordeValle Golf Club. Pinehurst is near identical, with just a minor difference in Driving Accuracy and Approach. The top players at Memorial Park in course history minimum 8 rounds played include Tony Finau, Scottie Scheffler, Aaron Rai, Stephen Jaeger, Mackenzie Hughes, Cameron Tringale, Aaron Wise, Joel Dahmen, Tyson Alexander, and Scott Piercy.

When looking over our key statistics for this week, they paint a very clear picture. SG: Tee-to-Green, Ball-Striking, Birdie or Better Percentage, Par 5 scoring 600+, Short Game, Bogey Avoidance, and the key scoring on all 3 Pars come out on top at Memorial Park. Between the design and the weather, players are going to need to be creative this week and avoid danger as well.

When breaking down the key stats, here are some of the top names in the field in each stat:

• SG: Ball-striking: Rory McIlroy, Scotting Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Taylor Pendrith, Rico Hoey, Kevin Yu, Aaron Rai, Nick Taylor, Max McGreevy, Keith Mitchell
   
• Birdie or Better Percentage: Harry Hall,  Jesper Svensson, Niklas Norgaard, Danny Walker, Rory McIlroy, Aaron Rai, Maverick McNealy, Max Greyserman, Si Woo Kim
   
• SG: Tee-to-Green: Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Rico Hoey, J.J. Spaun, Alex Smalley, Michael Kim, Danny Walker, Nick Taylor, Taylor Pendrith, Si Woo Kim

Texas Children's Houston Open 2025 Field: Golf DFS

While certainly not the strongest field, it’s highlighted by Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlory as the only 2 top 10 players in the field. After that, we only see 8 other top 30 players in the event. The field is not as ripe with previous winners as many that we’ve seen of late, with Stephan Jaeger, Tony Finau, and Lanto Griffin the only previous champions teeing it up this week. 

With so few high ranked names in the field, I expect Scottie and Rory to be well over 30 percent ownership this week. Diverse lineups will be a major key this week, as truly anyone could surprise the field and win. I will be investing into the Mid and Value tiers more than the high end of players, largely because there are so few true “high” cost players this week.

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PGA Best Bets & Predictions: 2025 Valspar Championship (10-14 Overall, +2.70 Units)

• Aaron Rai: Top 20 (+115)
• Rory McIlroy: Top European Player (+200) 
• Houston Open One and Done Picks: 
  • Aaron Rai (high ranked) 
  • Rico Hoey (low ranked)

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: Top Tier
Aaron Rai ($11,800 FanDuel/$9,900 DraftKings)

Rai has come so close to breaking through, and this might just be the week he does it. Looking to build on his 2024, where he secured his first win, Rai enters this week coming off 3 straight top 15 finishes after starting the season with back to back top 15 finishes. He’s consistently been in contention save for a 3 event stretch where he struggled, but once he got back on bermuda, he was back. Rai has consistently performed at Memorial Park, with a worse career finish here of T19th and back to back T7th finishes, and statistically it makes sense. He’s been one of the best ball strikers and scorers on tour in 2025, and while his game around the green has been a bit of a struggle thus far, if he can play at least neutral in this aspect, this could be the year he jumps into the top 5 or wins. Plus, he wears two gloves and uses iron covers, what's not to love!?

Rory McIlory ($13,200 FanDuel/$11,700 DraftKings)

If I’m truly paying up this week for an elite name, it’s Rory over Scottie pretty comfortably. Getting the $800-1000 discount on a player who’s currently in better form and is a better fit for the course is a no-brainer here. I don’t need to say much about Rory. 3 wins in his last 6 starts between tours, leading the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained Total and Off-The-Tee, top 15 in Approach and top 10 in Putting. Scottie obviously is still ranked number one in the OWGR, but Rory is the better golfer at time of writing.

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: MID-TIER

Jason Day ($11,100 FanDuel/$9,400 DraftKings)

Day unfortunately had to withdraw from the Players due to illness, but he’s back in play this week and he’s back in play for me. With a T8th finish at the Arnold Palmer as his last event played, if he can bring the form he’s had for most of 2025, he deserves to be in play. He’s been great on approach, and leads the entire tour on approach from 125-150 out. He’s not sinking a ton of putts, but has been one of the best lag putters this year, with a top 15 putting average. His driver is a mess, but if he can stay in play, he can score and that’s what we want. Plus, he’s an every other year performer here at Memorial, and after a bad show last year, he’s due.

Taylor Pendrith ($10,300 FanDuel/$8,500 DraftKings)

Pendrith has struggled of late after a great start to the year, but he started to show some promising bounce back signs at the Players. He was the 6th best putter in the field, scrambled well on the weekend, and remains one of the longer players on tour. He’s top 10 in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green and Ball-striking. He’s an imperfect pick this week, and has struggled at this course, but I’m willing to take a few shots in this field.

Davis Thompson ($11,000 FanDuel/$9,400 DraftKings)

Thompson bounced back in a big way at the Players and I think he’s going to keep this hot streak going. Even through is struggles, he’s been a top 15 player off the tee in 2025, is averaging nearly 70 percent of Greens in Regulation, and has really just been held back by his putter. With that said, 3 of his 4 best putting performances thus far have been on Bermuda, so this is a great spot for him to be back in. He improved from his debut here in 2023 where he finished T43rd to a T21st finish last year. Let’s see if he can make a similar jump in 2025.

Si Woo Kim ($10,500 FanDuel/$8,900 DraftKings)

Si Woo struggled to start the year, with two missed cuts and a best finish of T32nd at the Sentry. After his missed cut at the Farmers however, he logged 4 straight top 25 finishes. He fell off a bit last week at the Players, however it was just one bad round that kept him from being in the top 20 yet again. He, like many strong ball-strikers, has struggled with the putter this year, but he’s been one of the best scorers on Par 5’s this year, and has been keeping the ball in play. 

GOLF DFS PICKS THIS WEEK: VALUE TIER

Jacob Bridgeman ($9,300 FanDuel/$8,400 DraftKings)

Bridgeman is playing the best golf of his PGA Tour career. He’s coming off a 3rd place finish at Valspar, has a T2nd finish at Cognizant, and a T15th finish at the API. He’s 14th in Total Strokes Gained, 6th in Strokes Gained: Putting, and is one of the best Par 3 scorers and final round scorers. He’s got the upside and he’s close to getting the win, and this course is one he can certainly find a win at. 

Rico Hoey ($8,900 FanDuel/$7,100 DraftKings)

Hoey has been the worst putter on tour this year, hasn’t scored well, and hasn’t avoided high scores. You may ask yourself why I’m in on him this week. It’s a question I’m asking myself, but here’s the reasons why. He’s arguably the best driver on tour right now. He’s hitting high level approach shots from all distances. He just needs the putter to come back like it was during his hot streak last season. We’re talking about a guy who had 4 top 10 finishes in a 5 month stretch, he has the upside. At this price, I’ll take that risk.

Max McGreevy ($8,900 FanDuel/$7,400 DraftKings)

McGreevy is looking for the breakthrough on the PGA tour that he desperately needs. He’s shown he can win, with 3 Korn Ferry Tour wins, and wins on the Japan Tour and PGA Tour China. He’s getting close on the PGA Tour, with four T25th or better finishes in his last 5 starts, including a T4th finish at the Cognizant Classic. Yet again, he’s another solid ball-striker who struggles with the putter, but I love the ceiling at this price.

Danny Walker ($7,700 FanDuel/$6,600 DraftKings)

Walker is another boom or bust player for us this week. He has a great swing and scores well, he just struggles to avoid blow up holes. He’s 12th in Birdie or Better Percentage and 170th in Bogey Avoidance, so this is obvious. Hilariously, the dude cannot putt early in events, but figures it out and is a top 25 golfer on the weekend. If he can make it through the cut, he can surprise us all.

PGA DFS Picks This Week (Cheat Sheet)

Player Pool

• FanDuel
• DraftKings

$ Tier	G
High	Rory McIlroy $11,700
	J.J. Spaun $9,900
	Aaron Rai $9,800
	Min Woo Lee $9,600
Medium	Davis Thompson $9,400
	Tony Finau $9,200
	Jason Day $9,000
	Si Woo Kim $8,900
	Thomas Detry $8,600
	Taylor Pendrith $8,500
	Alex Smalley $8,200
Low	Jacob Bridgeman $8,400
	Sahith Theegala $8,000
	Joe Highsmith $7,800
	Max McGreevy $7,400
	Andrew Novak $7,300
	Rico Hoey $7,100
	Danny Walker $6,600