2021 Houston Open: PGA Tour Betting Odds
It’s the penultimate official PGA Tour event of the calendar year this week as the Tour returns to the United States for the Houston Open. Sam Burns is favoured on the golf odds.
This might have served as part-celebration if the Houston Astros had beaten the Atlanta Braves in the World Series but of course the Braves won in six games last week. This tournament is run under the Astros Foundation and team owner Jim Crane. The official event logo is a throwback to those 1980s awesome Astros uniforms.
For many years, the Houston Open was held the week before the Masters – the last entry to Augusta went to the winner — in the spring but it was shifted to October starting in 2019 and it moved to a new course, renovated Memorial Park Golf Course, last year – when it was also the week before the delayed and rescheduled Masters. Memorial Park is a par 70 at around 7,415 yards and current Tour star Brooks Koepka was involved in its renovation, and he’s of course playing this week.
The defending champion is Carlos Ortiz, who shot a final-round 5-under 65 to finish at 13-under 267 and two ahead of Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama. Ortiz became the first player from Mexico to win on the PGA Tour in 42 years. Abraham Ancer also won this year at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Of course, last week’s Tour event was in Mexico.
Ortiz didn’t make a bogey in the final round or miss a putt inside 7 feet in any round. He was able to save par on 18 of the 21 greens he missed. It was the second straight year a player’s first PGA Tour win came at the Houston Open. American Lanto Griffin got his in 2019.
Perhaps expect a playoff on Sunday. This tournament has had a playoff 23 times out of its 74 editions, second most of any in PGA Tour history after the U.S. Open.
2021 Houston Open Golf Betting Odds
Sam Burns is the +1400 favourite. He won the Sanderson Farms Championship in early October and also has a T14 and third-place finish on the PGA Tour this new season. Burns was T7 at this tournament last year.
Sungjae Im and Scottie Scheffler are each +1800. Scheffler comes off a fourth-place finish in Mexico on Sunday – that event champion, Viktor Hovland, isn’t playing this week. Scheffler’s best finish in Houston is T28. Im made his first visit to this event last year and was T50.
Cameron Smith and Tony Finau are each +2200. Smith hasn’t played here since 2017, while Finau has a best result of T24 in Houston.
No Canadian has won this tournament, which dates to 1946. Mackenzie Hughes shot a final-round 63 last year to jump to T7. Corey Conners was T24, while David Hearn missed the cut and Graham DeLaet withdrew. Hughes is +5000 this week with Taylor Pendrith +10000, Adam Svensson +13000, Roger Sloan +18000 and Nick Taylor +21000.
2021 Houston Open Golf Prediction
Take Burns and Brooks Koepka for Top 10s, but the winner at +2700 is Talor Gooch, who has yet to win on Tour. In four events this season, his worst result is T11 and Gooch was fourth the past two years in Houston.