Geoff Ulrich gets you set for the Houston Open with winning trends and his picks for your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups.

The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history, and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $750K Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]

The Field

This week marks the second-to-last event before the Masters. The Houston Open has undergone a few name changes, a venue switch, and now a date switch, but has remained a regular stop for the PGA TOUR over the long haul. This event had a four-year stay on the fall swing but is now back in a late March spot (right before the Masters) for the second straight season. It will also be contested at Memorial Park Golf Course for the sixth year in a row in 2026.

The field this week is again comprised of 144 players. While it’s not a signature event, it does, as of writing, feature world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is the massive favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook at +320. The cut will take place after Friday, with the top 65 players and ties making the weekend.

The Course

Memorial Park Golf Course — Houston, Texas

Par 70, 7,412 yards; Greens: Poa trivialis overseed

This year marks the sixth season that the Houston Open will be played at Memorial Park Golf Course, a public links course that was renovated before 2020 by the city of Houston and once hosted this same event for a time back in 1963. This venue/event wasn’t included on the PGA schedule in 2023, after hosting a fall event in 2022. However, it’s now part of the main annual schedule and is expected to have a significant impact on player preparation for the year’s first major.

The redesign of this course was completed in 2019 by Tom Doak, who brought in former PGA TOUR pro Brooks Koepka as an advisor. The venue is a parkland course but was modified significantly from its old layout. Water is in play on four holes, and natural hazards like ravines come into play throughout the venue. Elevation changes to the greens and fairways also occurred, while the redesign also decided to eliminate much of the sand that was on the course, as only 19 bunkers are in play now. Memorial Park was also given a variety of new tee boxes, allowing the course to play at various lengths, including an ultra-long setting for the pros. The course now plays as a par 70, and at over 7,400 yards, it is actually one of the longest par 70s the pros will see all season.

In 2020, this venue played as the 12th-toughest on the PGA TOUR, and the field here had a tough time with just about everything. Driving accuracy, particularly, was down vs. the PGA TOUR average, as players hit about seven to eight percent less of fairways than usual. Despite the penal rough, it still played as a driver-heavy course, as driving distance for the week was over 295 yards and well above the PGA TOUR average. Driving the ball well here is certainly a theme to be keyed in on this week as well. Tony Finau led the field by a wide margin in Good Drive % in 2022 and gained over 4.0 strokes OTT. Many of the other top performers the year Finau won also performed well off the tee.

Last season, Min Woo Lee was one of the least accurate drivers in the field but was fifth in driving distance overall. He combined that distance advantage with a great putting week (+8.2 strokes) to grab his first PGA TOUR win.

Scrambling around these greens is also difficult, and it’s worth mentioning that Carlos Ortiz gained +6.1 strokes Around the Green on his way to winning in 2020. Stephan Jaeger, 2024 winner, took a similar approach, gaining over 9.7 strokes ATG and Putting, while just remaining slightly positive vs. the field on approach and off the tee. In 2021, Jason Kokrak leaned heavily on his ball-striking as he gained 6.1 strokes on approach, but he also gained a very impressive 8.7 strokes putting.

A solid comparison for this week may be Copperhead at the Innisbrook Golf Resort, the host of last week’s Valspar Championship. Both Memorial and Copperhead feature five par 3s and three par 5s, as well as harder-to-hit fairways and greens strewn around a tree-lined, flatter course. We’ve also seen a lot of the same names pop up at both venues, as Finau, Sam Burns, and Kokrak (2021 winner of this event) have all posted top-10 finishes at these courses. Both courses also put a lot of stress on long iron play, and this week, there will be six par 4s at Memorial Park, which runs over 450 yards in length, requiring lots of approaches from 175+ yards.

Players at Memorial Park will also need to take advantage of the par 5s, which typically have run as the easiest holes on the course. While good putting is a must, consistent driving will be the main ingredient needed for grabbing birdies at those scoring holes and avoiding bogies on the tougher ones.

Longer drivers haven’t taken home the title at this venue every season, but certainly with Min Woo Lee, Kokrak, and Finau all winning this event over the last five seasons, it’s a course that rewards big hitters who can get their ball closer to the hole and avoid those long iron approaches. 

2026 Weather Outlook: Temperatures look slightly cooler than normal for this year’s event, with highs around 65-70F for all four days, with Sunday being the warmest day, so the cooler temperatures should keep the course playing tough and long. Additionally, day one has winds forecast at 15-18 mph, with afternoon winds picking up slightly. The wind does die down a bit on Friday and again on the weekend. As of now, it’s too tight to call a wave advantage, but certainly, given how hard this course plays, even a slight easing of the wind on Friday afternoon could give the Thursday AM / Friday PM wave the advantage.

Last Five Winners

2025—Min Woo Lee -20 (Gary Woodland and Scottie Scheffler -19)

2024—Stephan Jaeger -12 (over five players at -11)

2022—Tony Finau -16 (over Tyson Alexander -12)

2021—Jason Kokrak -10 (over Scottie Scheffler -8)

2020—Carlos Ortiz -13 (over Hideki Matsuyama -11)

Winning Trends

Five of the top-10 finishers in 2020 ranked in the top eight for strokes gained: tee-to-green stats for the week, and five of the top-six finishers gained +1.5 strokes or more around the green.

In 2022, four of the top-five finishers gained over 2.0 strokes off the tee. In 2023, 14 of the top-15 finishers gained over 1.0 strokes off the tee.

Five of the top-six finishers from 2024 gained over 2.0 strokes OTT.

Carlos Ortiz gained most of his strokes around the green in 2020 but both Kokrak and Finau gained far more OTT and on Approach.

Finau was the leader in GIR% gained and Fairways gained in 2022

Jaeger took the Ortiz approach, gaining 9.7 combined around the greens and putting for the week.

Min Woo Lee took a classic bomb and gouge approach to winning last year. He was 5th in DD, near dead last in driving accuracy, and gained an incredible 8.7 strokes putting.

Winners Stats

2025—Min Woo Lee (20-under-par)

Previous five starts coming into 2025 (T20-MC-T11-T48-T12)

SG: OTT — –0.9

SG: APP — +3.9

SG: TOTAL — +14.7

SG: ATG — +2.3

SG: PUTT — +8.7

Finding Values on DraftKings Sportsbook

Odds to win are one factor to think about when picking players (but not the only thing, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.

Michael Thorbjornsen +3900 and $8,600

Comparables:

Rasmus Hojgaard +5200 and $8,000

Comparables:

All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook are subject to change.

Recent Form

1. Brooks Koepka ($9,600; T18-T13-T9): Koepka is starting to show signs that his A-game is not far off. While he had a few hiccups last week, his approach game looked elite for the most part, and he’s now finished inside the top-20 in three straight events. 

2. Min Woo Lee ($9,900; T32-T6-T12): The defending champion of Houston has played well to start 2026. While he underperformed a bit at THE PLAYERS, he’s also grabbed multiple top-10 finishes and certainly fits the course this week, which emphasizes driving distance. 

3. Marco Penge ($9,100; T4-MC-T16): The PGA rookie from Europe has impressed of late. He posted a top-20 a few weeks ago at Riviera, and then followed that up with a great effort last week on another tough course at Copperhead, where he posted a top-5. His elite ball-striking is shining through, as many thought it would on the PGA rotation. 

4. Patrick Rodgers ($7,600; T40-T11-T29): Rodgers has made an impressive nine straight cuts to start the year. He also posted a career-best T11 at Sawgrass two weeks ago. He’s certainly on the list of players without a win who could pop up and surprise this week.

5. Rickie Fowler ($9,400; T42-T9): Fowler has made seven straight cuts to start the season. He pulled off an impressive top-10 at Bay Hill before falling back a bit at THE PLAYERS. Still, with multiple top 20 finishes, his form seems headed in the right direction.

DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY

Big Field Punt plays:

Gary Woodland ($7,400): Woodland finished T2 last year, closing with a great final round. He’s driving it extremely well in 2026 and should benefit from the change in venue from Florida to Texas. 

Matti Schmid ($7,100): I almost made him my sleeper for this week again. His T40 last week saw him close with a very solid round, and he’s another player who can bomb it when he needs to.

Isaiah Salinda ($6,500): He is a great driver of the ball and should set up well for this week’s venue. He’s made a couple of cuts in a row now and is starting to show signs that his game is coming around.

Core Plays: 

Brooks Koepka ($9,600): Koepka not being the second-most expensive name in this week’s event feels like a bit of a mistake. He loves a tough US Open setup and had a hand in designing this course, a perfect setting for his comeback win. 

Michael Thorbjornsen ($8,600) – see below

Ryan Fox ($7,400): Another big hitter who should love the chance to bomb and gouge his way around a parkland setting this week. Fox has also shown some very solid play of late and comes in under the radar with a cheap enough salary that should be taken advantage of on this week’s venue.

Contrarian Click:

Rickie Fowler ($9,400): With people focusing on big hitters, Fowler isn’t likely to be super popular this week for DFS. However, he’s top 50 in OTT stats and top 10 in putting. If he gets in a groove on these greens, he’s more than capable of making up the difference in distance and posting a win and an Augusta National ticket. 

MY PICK: Michael Thorbjornsen ($8,600)

Thorbjornsen had a difficult end to his PLAYERS Championship, where he finished T22 after a disastrous final round 77. Still, the youngster is showing loads of talent as we hit the quarter-way mark of the season. This year alone, he’s managed to finish in two final groups on Sunday and also collected a T3 at the WM Phoenix Open earlier, to go along with multiple top-five finishes from last year, including one over the fall in Japan. 

Predicting when the breakthrough win will occur has been difficult, but certainly this event lends itself to first-time winners (four of the last five winners at Memorial have been first-timers), and Thorbjornsen’s power off the tee is going to play extremely well on this longer Par 70, which has already seen multiple big drivers come out victorious. He’s already shown well at another big hitter’s paradise in Detroit, where he finished T4 last season and posted a T39 at Memorial in 2025, with a 65 in Round 2. 

Even if he is a bit of a chalky pick this week, this setup just feels eerily similar to last year when Min Woo Lee was the big-hitting newcomer searching for his first win and took the opportunity to break through on a course well-suited to his abilities. Thorbjornsen certainly has the talent to do the same, and at $8,600, is discounted enough to be a player you’ll still want to be overweight on relative to the field. For betting, his +3900 outright number looks like even better value given how good he has been at positioning himself near the lead on Sundays.

MY SLEEPER: Aldrich Potgieter ($7,200)

While he’s not the most consistent player, Potgieter has loads of talent and the power to take on the toughest PGA venues, making him a perfect value play for this week. The South African is second in driving distance on the PGA TOUR this season (after leading it last year) and comes in just a couple of starts removed from a T5 finish at Riviera, where he snuck up on everyone after four terrible starts to begin the year. 

His play in Florida was lacking, but Potgieter is almost certainly never going to be fully comfortable playing target golf on water-heavy courses such as Bay Hill and Sawgrass. However, he’s far better suited for a long parkland test like Memorial, which caters to the biggest hitters. Like Min Woo Lee, last year’s champion, Potgieter also has success at a very comparable venue in the Detroit Golf Club, where he bagged his first win last season. I’d rate this week’s venue as just as suitable and certainly a place where we could see him put together another solid four rounds. 

At $7,200, he’s a great boom or bust target for DFS, given his overall upside is likely better than almost anyone else in this range, and great for deploying in large field GPPs. For betting, I also love a ladder approach of taking him from Top-20 (+1475) through the Top-5 markets (+310) on the DraftKings Sportsbook.