Tony Finau looks to do something no other golfer has done in two decades when the PGA Tour returns to the Lone Star State for the 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open. The six-time Tour winner is the defending champion at Memorial Park Golf Course and is looking to be the first pro to win the Houston Open back-to-back times since Vijay Singh in 2004 and 2005. Finau has steep competition in the 2024 Houston Open, however, and is listed at 18-1 to defend last year's victory. The Houston Open 2024 will begin on Thursday with the first tee times set for 8:20 a.m. ET.
Scottie Scheffler is coming off back-to-back wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship and is the 14-5 favorite in the latest 2024 Houston Open odds. Other notable golfers in the Houston Open field include Wyndham Clark (14-1) and Will Zalatoris (18-1). Before locking in any 2024 Houston Open picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed in June 2020. In fact, the model is up nearly $9,500 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
McClure's model predicted Scottie Scheffler would finish on top of the leaderboard at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship this season. McClure also included Hideki Matsuyama in his best bets to win the 2024 Genesis Invitational. That bet hit at +9000, and for the entire tournament, McClure's best bets returned nearly $1,000.
The model also predicted Jon Rahm would be victorious at the 2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions and The American Express. At the 2023 Masters, the model was all over Rahm's second career major victory heading into the weekend. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the third round, but the model still projected him as the winner. It was the second straight Masters win for the model, which also nailed Scheffler winning in 2022.
In addition, McClure's best bets included Nick Taylor (70-1) winning the 2023 RBC Canadian Open, Jason Day (17-1) winning outright at the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson, and Rickie Fowler (14-1) finishing on top of the leaderboard at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic. This same model has also nailed a whopping 10 majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now that the 2024 Houston Open field is set, SportsLine simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard.
Top 2024 Houston Open predictions
One major surprise the model is calling for at the Houston Open 2024: Finau, the defending champion and one of the top favorites, struggles this week and doesn't even crack the top five. Finau coasted to victory at the 2022 Houston Open, shooting 16-under par and winning by four strokes. He went wire-to-wire and set a tournament and course record of 264 en route to his fifth career win.
However, Finau has struggled mightily in recent weeks, finishing T-45 or worse in three of his last five starts on the PGA Tour, which includes a missed cut at last week's Valspar Championship. Finau's recent rough patch can be directly attributed to his inconsistent putting stroke. The 34-year-old enters this week's event ranked 144th in strokes gained: putting (-0.460) and 131st in total putting (235.3), which doesn't bode well for his chances to finish on top of the leaderboard.
Another surprise: Stephan Jaeger, a 50-1 longshot, makes a strong run at the title. He has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.
The German golfer has a pair of T3 finishes on the 2024 season, fighting for the top of the leaderboard at the Farmers Insurance Open and the Mexico Open. He also ranks sixth on the Tour in total driving (96) and ninth in driving distance (307.5), which sets him up to play well on the long fairways at Memorial Park. Jaeger also ranks 24th in strokes gained off the tee (0.438) which could be another reason why the model is high on him to finish strong at the Houston Open. See who else to pick here.
How to make 2024 Houston Open picks
The model is also targeting three other golfers with odds of 40-1 or longer to make a strong run at the title. Anyone who backs these longshots could hit it big. You can only see the model's picks here.
Who will win the 2024 Houston Open, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the Houston Open 2024 odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected Houston Open leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed 10 golf majors, including last year's Masters and Open Championship.
2024 Houston Open odds, field
See the full Houston Open picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Scottie Scheffler +280
Wyndham Clark +1400
Tony Finau +1800
Will Zalatoris +1800
Sahith Theegala +2000
Jason Day +2800
Si Woo Kim +3500
Keith Mitchell +4000
Alex Noren +4500
Stephan Jaeger +5000
Beau Hossler +5000
Tom Hoge +5000
Aaron Rai +5500
Jake Knapp +5500
Patrick Rodgers +5500
Kurt Kitayama +6000
Billy Horschel +6000
Thorbjørn Olesen +6000
Akshay Bhatia +6500
Mackenzie Hughes +7000
Cam Davis +7000
Ben Griffin +7500
Luke List +8000
Taylor Moore +8000
Doug Ghim +8000
Ryan Fox +8000
Taylor Montgomery +9000
Davis Thompson +9000
Daniel Berger +10000
Chesson Hadley +10000
Alex Smalley +11000
Joel Dahmen +11000
K.H. Lee +11000
Taylor Pendrith +11000
Scott Stallings +12000
Thomas Detry +12000
Mark Hubbard +12000
Peter Malnati +12000
Sam Ryder +12000
Victor Perez +12000
Robert MacIntyre +12000
Adam Svensson +12000
Cameron Champ +12000
Joseph Bramlett +15000
Carl Yuan +15000
Matt Wallace +15000
Ben Silverman +15000
Sam Stevens +17000
Carson Young +17000
Vincent Norrman +17000
Garrick Higgo +17000
Greyson Sigg +17000
Ryan Moore +17000
Chandler Phillips +17000
Chris Gotterup +17000
Gary Woodland +20000
Justin Suh +20000
Matti Schmid +20000
S.H. Kim +20000
Andrew Novak +20000
Chan Kim +20000
Bud Cauley +20000
Alexander Björk +20000
Jhonattan Vegas +20000
Davis Riley +20000
