DraftKings preview: Texas Children's Houston Open

The PGA TOUR heads to Houston this week for the Texas Children’s Houston Open. Memorial Park Golf Course will host, measuring at 7,412 yards, and plays to a par 70 with Poa trivialis over-seeded greens.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is teeing it up alongside defending U.S. Open champ Wyndham Clark, Sahith Theegala and Will Zalatoris.

Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $600K Pitch + Putt [$150K to 1st]

Jason Day ($9,500)

Day comes into play this week on the back of six made cuts across his past seven starts, which include three top-10 finishes in that stretch. The Aussie is one of only a few golfers in the field this week who have played Memorial Park all three times this event has been held here, and his course history is quite strong, reading T16, T54 and T7.

Day has one of the game’s premier short games, and that’s what’s been carrying him this season, as he sits 25th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and 12th in SG: Total over his past 24 rounds, despite rating out as an average ball-striker in that span. Through three starts at Memorial Park, Day is gaining strokes per round both from tee-to-green and with the putter.

The rule of thumb for Day has been to play him at courses he’s had success at in the past, such as Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines, and it now appears we can add Memorial Park to that list. I very much like the idea of pairing him with Scottie Scheffler this week, or dare I say, even starting lineups with him if you decide to roll the dice and fade the world No. 1.

Aaron Rai ($8,600)

In two career starts at Memorial Park, Rai has finishes of T7 and T19 and is averaging 1.5 SG: Tee-to-Green per round.

The last time this event was played was in November of 2022, and Rai had missed the cut the week before that week, so if you’re worried about his down performance at Valspar, don’t be. He’s a bit pricier than I’d like this week at $8,600 but is still a strong play, nonetheless.

Joel Dahmen ($7,100)

Dahmen kept up his recent run of strong play last week at the Valspar, where he made the cut for a third straight start, en route to a T49. As per usual, it was his short game that failed him at Copperhead, where the bucket-hat wearer lost 3.6 strokes putting and 4.9 more around the green.

The good news, however, is that his ball-striking remained red hot. Dahmen gained a whopping 8.3 strokes on approach and 1.8 more off-the-tee last week, marking the second straight week he’s gained over eight strokes ball-striking. If you needed any more incentive to play him, Dahmen has some of the best course history at Memorial Park in this entire field, having finished T9 and T5 in his only two starts.

Among golfers in this field who have made more than one start at this event, Dahmen ranks No. 1 in both SG: Tee-to-Green per round and SG: Total per round at Memorial Park, even besting Scotting Scheffler. He’s a no-brainer play this week at this salary.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $600K Pitch + Putt [$150K to 1st]

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is Lan1228) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

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