Joe Champion
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Scottie Scheffler will return to the top of the Official World Golf Rankings if he can win this week’s Houston Open and the odds suggest he has a huge chance of leapfrogging Rory McIlroy with a triumph in his adopted home state.
Third behind Russell Henley at Mayakoba last week, Masters winner Scheffler is the betting favorite to claim a fifth PGA Tour victory of 2022 at Memorial Park Golf Club, where he was runner-up to Jason Kokrak a year ago. Let’s break down my best bets for this week’s action at the Houston Open.
Aaron Wise (+1800)
Available at BetMGM at time of publishing
Memorial Park has staged 2 previous editions of the Houston Open, and while Scheffler is definitely the man to beat, there are others arriving in the Lone Star State full of confidence including Aaron Wise, who looks the better option at the odds.
Wise has played exceptional golf this year, finishing runner-up at the Memorial Tournament, 6th in 72-hole scoring at the Tour Championship, and recently when sixth at the CJ Cup before a 15th-placed finish at last week’s Wide World Technology Championship at Mayakoba.
He was 11th at Memorial Park in 2020, then 26th in 2021 after a slow start. He is playing better than ever – up to a career-high 34th in the rankings – while his only PGA Tour victory came in Texas at the 2018 Byron Nelson.
Taylor Montgomery (+2700)
Available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing
Some Korn Ferry Tour graduates take the step up in their stride and Taylor Montgomery has posted results that are hard to overlook. The rookie has posted results of 3-9-15-13-10 since earning his PGA Tour card, as well as finishing 11th at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier in the year, and there’s a good chance he contends again.
Maverick McNealy (+2600)
Available at FanDuel Sportsbook at time of publishing
Maverick McNealy was in the mix again in Mexico, stretching his decent run to 4 straight finishes of 18th or better, and he’s played well in two previous appearances at Memorial Park.
Sepp Straka (+8000)
Available at BetMGM at time of publishing
Sepp Straka also looks like a potential winner and holds great odds of 80/1 as a longshot. The Austrian is wildly inconsistent but the odds look wrong for a man who claimed the Honda Classic earlier in the year and has since finished runner-up in the WGC-St Jude Invitational. He was 5th at Memorial Park in 2020.
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