A strong PGA Tour field led by the past two Masters champions tees off Thursday at Memorial Park Golf Course in the 2022 Houston Open. Scottie Scheffler, the 2022 Masters winner, has his sights on the world’s No. 1 ranking again, and he can seize it back from Rory McIlroy with a victory this week. He tied for second last year, two strokes behind winner Jason Kokrak, who went 10 under par. Hideki Matsuyama, the 2021 champion at Augusta, also is scheduled to compete as part of the Cadence Bank Houston Open 2022 field, along with several other former major champions like Jason Day and Justin Rose. Sam Burns, a three-time winner on tour last year, and Tony Finau are among the other notable stars, and Cole Hammer and Travis Vick, teammates on the University of Texas 2022 NCAA championship team, will tee up on sponsor exemptions. Russell Henley, who won the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba last week, will try to win in Houston for the second time after claiming the 2017 title.
Scheffler is the 11-2 favorite in Caesars Sportsbook’s latest 2022 Houston Open odds, followed by Burns (14-1), Finau (14-1) and Aaron Wise (18-1). Matsuyama (20-1), Henley (22-1), Maverick McNealy (22-1) and Taylor Montgomery (22-1) also are among the favorites in the Houston Open 2022 field. Day is right behind at 25-1, while Rose is priced at 100-1 and Hammer and Vick are both massive 500-1 longshots. Before making any 2022 Houston Open picks or PGA Tour predictions, you need to check out the best bets and sleepers from SportsLine golf insider Patrick McDonald.
After spending time at FanSided and NBC Sports EDGE, McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in the spring of 2022. Now covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour.
He takes a measured approach to his outright selections and finished the 2021-22 season up 42 units on those plays, having hit Cameron Smith (22-1) at the Tournament of Champions, Hudson Swafford (250-1) at The American Express, Joaquin Niemann (70-1) at the Genesis Invitational and Justin Thomas (66-1) live at the PGA Championship.
McDonald has hit seven of his 11 matchup plays over the past three weeks and is up more than 14 units on those picks this season. At the Bermuda Championship, he backed winner Seamus Power +100 over pre-tournament favorite Denny McCarthy. For the Zozo Championship, he predicted that winner Keegan Bradley would beat Corey Conners, one of the favorites. McDonald also nailed a first-round leader at the Zozo, backing 80-1 Brendan Steele. Anyone who followed McDonald’s advice has cashed in huge.
Now, McDonald has studied the 2022 Houston Open field and is locking in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. You can head to SportsLine now to see all his PGA picks and predictions.
Top 2022 Houston Open expert picks
One thing McDonald is confident in is that McNealy’s solid run is going to crash soon, so he is fading him again. The 27-year-old’s putter has always been a strength of his game, but so far this season, it has been the only positive. He is fourth in strokes gained putting so far this season and picked up more than six strokes on the field at Mayakoba. But he ranks 135th on tour in greens in regulation and 138th tee to green. He has managed four straight top-20 finishes, but when that putter cools off, “this hot streak will burst in a big way,” McDonald says.
Meanwhile, the expert believes Finau has just the sort of well-rounded game that will be successful at Memorial Park, so he isn’t worried about last week’s missed cut. His previous outings had been stellar, including a 3-1-0 showing at the Presidents Cup and two victories over the final five events of last season. Finau was 14th in par-5 scoring and third on par-4s, finishing 11th overall (69.748), so he should have no trouble going low. The 33-year-old missed the Mayakoba cut on the number, going 68-71 to finish 3 under par, and McDonald expects him to rebound. See who else to pick at the Houston Open here.
How to make 2022 Houston Open golf picks
Before this week’s PGA Tour event at Memorial Park, McDonald has locked in his best bets for the 2022 Houston Open. He has several outright plays, including a huge longshot who would bring a monster payout of 200-1. You can only find out who it is, and see the rest of McDonald’s picks and PGA Tour analysis, at SportsLine.
So which 2022 Houston Open picks should you target? Which golfer priced at a massive 200-1 could pull off a stunning victory this week at Houston Open 2022? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald’s top picks for Houston Open 2022, all from the expert who ended last season up 42 units on outright plays, and find out.
2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open odds, field, top contenders
See full Houston Open 2022 picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Scottie Scheffler +550
Sam Burns +1200
Tony Finau +1600
Aaron Wise +1600
Taylor Montgomery +2000
Maverick McNealy +2000
Hideki Matsuyama +2200
Russell Henley +2500
Jason Day +3000
Denny McCarthy +3500
Sahith Theegala +4000
Matthew NeSmith +4000
Andrew Putnam +4000
Joel Dahmen +4500
Keith Mitchell +5000
Emiliano Grillo +5000
Davis Riley +5000
Taylor Pendrith +5000
Alex Noren +5000
Adam Hadwin +5000
Taylor Moore +5000
Si-Woo Kim +5000
Sebastian Munoz +6500
Patrick Rodgers +6500
Mackenzie Hughes +6500
Dean Burmester +6500
Alex Smalley +6500
Sepp Straka +8000
Lee Hodges +8000
Justin Lower +8000
Wyndham Clark +8000
Will Gordon +8000
Greyson Sigg +8000
Harris English +8000
Adam Schenk +8000
Ryan Palmer +10000
Robby Shelton +10000
Nick Taylor +10000
Luke List +10000
Justin Suh +10000
Justin Rose +10000
Francesco Molinari +10000
Davis Thompson +10000
Cameron Champ +10000
Brandon Wu +10000
Brendan Steele +10000
Beau Hossler +10000
Stephan Jagger +10000
Adam Long +10000
Aaron Rai +10000