Fantasy Golf Predictions
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions – 2020 Vivant Houston Open
Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the Vivant Houston Open
The Vivant Houston Open Fantasy Preview
When you turn 48 as a professional golfer, thoughts perhaps start to wander to the friendly and money-spinning possibilities afforded by the Champions Tour.
Brian Gay, with nine missed cuts in eleven starts since the PGA TOUR season’s restart, was probably having similar thoughts as he enters the autumn of his career.
But in golf it can often only take one fuse to light a fire, and Gay – on a track where his complete lack of length wasn’t penalized – certainly caught light at the Bermuda Championship.
He admitted that he had ideas of victory in his head when hitting the first tee – T3 at Royal Port the year before, Gay recognizes that short tracks by the coast lined with his favored Bermuda grass are always going to throw up opportunities for him.
His experience came in very handy in the playoff against Wyndham Clark, who was trying to land his maiden PGA TOUR title. The veteran showed his nous in extra time to land a trophy that even he admitted came as something of a surprise.
Onwards we go, and thoughts of The Masters are very much front and center in the mind. But first, it’s a quick sojourn to Texas for the Houston Open.
Last Week’s Fantasy Results
Last week we made 5 of 7 cuts with our Top Dog Will Zalatoris finishing T16, just outside of the “special zone.” You know, that area you need to be in for max Fantasy Points.
The Stewart Cink pick also offered a boost with his T4 finish, but honestly, the boys couldn’t pick up the pace in Bermuda.
Let’s fine tune some things this week for Houston and get it in gear for Augusta!
The Vivant Houston Open 2020 Field
We’re off to a new course this week – Memorial Park – and it’s interesting to note that Brooks Koepka, who is in the field for the Houston Open, acted as a consultant for renovation work last year. Stick a pin in that for later.
Dustin Johnson is scheduled to make his first start since a positive COVID-19 diagnosis, and he will be joined in the field by the red-hot Tyrrell Hatton and the ever-mercurial Hideki Matsuyama.
You would think that Scottie Scheffler will win on the PGA TOUR soon, and the same logic goes to Tony Finau too – both will be hoping to take the W this week.
The experienced trio of Sergio Garcia, Jason Day and Zach Johnson have got silverware coming out of their ears – can they add another trophy to their cabinets this week? Elsewhere, the likes of Adam Scott and Jordan Spieth may go under the radar as they look to find some form ahead of an attempt to slip into the Green Jacket once more next week.
This Week’s Course Preview
It’s been nearly 60 years since Memorial Park hosted a PGA TOUR event, and as you might expect the layout has been changed considerably to try and make it relevant to the modern game.
Tom Doak was tasked with a major renovation project in 2019, and he enlisted the help of Koepka as they set to work on the Houston real estate.
The outcome….well, we’ll just have to wait and see, but what we do know this is that the Par 70 layout will play at 7,300 yards this week.
We’ve taken some details from a piece that appeared in the Houston Chronicle, who write many things – the most eye-catching being that the Bermuda greens will run at around 12 to 12.5 on the stimpmeter, which is rather fast indeed.
There are just 19 bunkers on the real estate, but the feeling is that the course will be play tougher than that suggests. There are some huge lakes, but the key defense – aside from the Texan wind – are the tightly mown run-off areas, which flanking some contoured greens could lead to some very interesting approaches and putting.
As you can probably guess, we’re taking a few educated stabs in the dark this week but to sign off with a word used in the Chronicle apparently ‘challenging’ could be the order of the day at Memorial Park.
Weather Forecast for Houston, TX
If you were asked to have a guess at how the weather will be in Houston this week, you probably wouldn’t be far wrong at all.
Sunshine. Warm temperatures. A stiff wind. Yep, we’re in Texas alright.
The mercury will settle at around the 75-79°F mark, with the wind – picking up slightly over the weekend – ranging from 9 mph to a high of 13 mph on Sunday.
Last Year’s Results for the Vivant Houston Open
Played at the Golf Club of Houston, Lanto Griffin opened his PGA TOUR win account in fine style.
He held off the charge of a pair of other Tour maidens – Scott Harrington and Mark Hubbard – primarily by holing a clutch putt on the last, but the door was opened by a huge 35-footer at the sixteenth hole on Sunday which handed Griffin the outright lead.
And he never looked back, cementing his status as a Southern specialist given his track record on the Korn Ferry Tour.
Lanto Griffin’s winning highlights from Houston Open 2019
In the 2019 Houston Open, Lanto Griffin claimed his first-career victory on the PGA TOUR with rounds of 66-74-65-69 to finish at 14-under-par at Golf Club of Houston. SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh After an 18-month break, the Houston Open returns to the PGA TOUR with 500 FedExCup points available to the winner.
Where to Play Fantasy Golf for the Vivant Houston Open this Week
One week shy of The Masters, the focus should be on bankroll accumulation at the Houston Open rather than all-out risk-and-reward. Here’s two contests that will aid in that quest:
- PGA $350k Resurgence: You can keep it simple with a few entries into this $10 contest, where the winner bags a cool $100k. But most pressingly you will make a profit for finishing inside the top 22.5% of players.
- PGA $125k Drive the Green: There’s a feel of accumulation here too, and at $5 a turn you can multiply and look to cash out a handful of wins. Best case scenario you’ll land the top prize – a very nice $25k.
This Week’s Fantasy Notes for the Vivant Houston Open
As we know, we are taking a few chances when trying to describe a perfect player that could thrive at Memorial Park, but there are a few themes that we can work with.
Every piece of detail we have read and seen in course flyovers suggests that a magic short game could be key this week. Much is made of the steep slopes protecting the greens, and the putting surfaces themselves are contoured and will run slick, so even approach shots that look good off the face of the club could fail to hold the green altogether – remember, the wind over the weekend won’t help on that front either.
There could be short-siding and some putts from off the green, and that really does lend itself to players comfortable on and around the greens.
Remember, we’re on quick Bermuda this week, and while there is little danger to write about off the tee, the Houston Open will be won by the player who ‘concludes’ holes more effectively than any other.
The winner will have to navigate a pretty demanding closing stretch too, which features risk-and-reward in abundance and a dangerous Par 3 that features a devilish sloping green into a creek.
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Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the Vivant Houston Open
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Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win The Vivant Houston Open
Top Tier Pick #1:
Brooks Koepka (Odds: 20/1, FPPG: 58.1, GPFP: 72.58 Salary: $10,600)
As we’ve now discovered, Brooks Koepka was heavily involved in the remodelling of Memorial Park.
It’s human nature that his idea of what constitutes a good golf course would play to his strengths, and as a four-time major champion you suspect that philosophy relates to a stern test of credentials.
Koepka has spent plenty of time at Memorial Park, has no doubt played a few rounds and surely has an edge on the field in that regard.
He would love to win The Masters next week, and a strong performance in Houston would serve as the perfect warm-up – in the past, Brooks has shown a penchant for timing his run to major glory well.
Koepka hasn’t played much competitive golf of late, and ordinarily that would be a turn-off as far as drafting him is concerned, but remember – this is a golf course he has intimate knowledge of.
With motivation in plentiful supply, you would expect a strong effort from Koepka this week.
Key Stats (2019-20):
- Approaches from 100-125 yards – 24th
- Driving Distance – 25th
- Par 4 Birdie or Better Leaders – 36th
Top Tier Pick #2:
Russell Henley (Odds: 25/1, FPPG: 66.2, GPFP: 76.10 Salary: $9,400)
A former winner of the Houston Open, Russell Henley is a fine wind player and he should once again be in his element in Texas on the back of some outstanding form.
Top five at both the CJ Cup and the ZOZO Championship, the three-time PGA TOUR winner could have won either, and Henley’s game is certainly trending in the direction of an imminent victory.
A winner in Florida and in Hawaii too, Henley thrives in a breeze and he has the short game to get up-and-down when necessary but also the tee-to-green form to set up plenty of scoring opportunities too.
Key Stats:
- SG: Tee-to-Green – 8th
- Greens in Regulation – 8th
- Scrambling – 8th
Mid-Tier Pick #1:
Alex Noren (Odds: 80/1, FPPG: 67.5, GPFP: 53.98 Salary: $7,800)
Conditions at Memorial Park should suit Alex Noren to a tee, and he is a player who has shown a penchant for winning when in contention.
The Swede has got a classy short game, and so windy conditions and fast greens allow him to gain something of a competitive advantage over flat track bullies. And the shorter the better for Noren too, so Memorial Park is a layout he can get at.
Top 20s at the U.S. Open and the ZOZO Championship suggest his game is in good order right now, and as a ten-time winner on the European Tour in windy, Links style conditions Noren should feel right at home in Houston.
Key Stats (2019-20):
- SG: Around-the-Green – 7th
- Scoring Average – 24th
- SG: Putting – 31st
Mid-Tier Pick #2:
Mackenzie Hughes (Odds: 90/1, FPPG: 57.4, GPFP: 45.89 Salary: $7,600)
There’s no doubt that Mackenzie Hughes is at his best when the conditions require a winning score to be ground out, and that looks like it might be the case this week.
It’s why we shouldn’t necessarily take his recent form too seriously, because it’s only around the greens where he is really elite – neither the CJ Cup nor the ZOZO Championship really suited.
Hughes’ brilliance when scrambling around the putting surface is where he is fast becoming one of the most reliable chippers in the business, and while others will be terrified by some of their lays this week at the bottom of banks, this Canadian will truly embrace the challenge.
Key Stats (2019-20):
- SG: Around-the-Green – 6th
- SG: Putting – 8th
- Approaches from 75-100 yards – 74th
Low-Tier Pick:
Brandt Snedeker (Odds: 110/1, FPPG: 56.1, GPFP: 60.57 Salary: $7,300)
When Brandt Snedeker looks at the quality of the players that are winning on the PGA TOUR right now, do you think he wonders what might be for himself?
The 39-year-old fits the age profile of the most recent winners on Tour, but you would argue that he is a better player than most of them – certainly with wedges in hand, anyway.
A nine-time winner on the Tour, Snedeker looks a squally, wind-affected challenge and he will enjoy being back down South too at a venue that should suit.
He looked in good order at the Sanderson Farms (T17) and at Shriners, where a final round of 74 derailed his hopes of a nicer payday. Are the good times about to return for Snedeker?
Key Stats (2018/19):
- SG: Around-the-Green – 4th
- Scrambling – 26th
- SG: Putting – 37th
Sleeper Pick for The Vivant Houston Open
J.T. Poston (Odds: 90/1, FPPG: 61.1, GPFP: 48.87 Salary: $7,500)
Up until a few weeks ago, J.T. Poston would have been the kind of player we acknowledged as being a decent fit for Memorial Park, but whose lack of form meant he could not be drafted.
But something clicked at the Sanderson Farms Championship, where he finished solo third in an eye-catching return to form.
He then went 66-66-67 at Shriners, and so the ammunition is there to suggest he will thrive this week – particularly in the South, where he seems to play much of his best golf.
Key Stats (2019-20):
- SG: Putting – 14th
- Scoring Average – 45th
- SG: Around-the-Green – 67th
Alternative Sleeper Pick for The Vivant Houston Open
Carlos Ortiz (Odds: 160/1, FPPG: 61.3, GPFP: 71.06 Salary: $6,700)
Having studied in Texas and set up home in the state, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that Carlos Ortiz’s best efforts have come in this part of the world.
T2 at the Mayakoba Classic, the Mexican has shown up well in Mississippi at the Sanderson Farms and he was T4 in this event last year, so there’s plenty of evidence to suggest he comes alive in the South.
An excellent chipper and putter, by all accounts, you suspect Ortiz will find things to his liking this week.
Key Stats (2019-20):
- SG: Around-the-Green – 20th
- Scrambling – 29th
- Scoring Average – 55th
This Week’s Sample DraftKings Lineup
Note: Sample lineups provided as examples only. Be sure to mix-and-match players to best fit individual contests.
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Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2020-2021)
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