Players will get their final chance to crack the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking and qualify for the Masters this week when play begins at the 2024 Houston Open, which gets underway on Thursday at Memorial Park Golf Course. Tom Hoge, who's ranked No. 57 in the world, Mackenzie Hughes (No. 63) and Alex Noren (No. 64) are among the PGA Tour winners who are neither ranked in the top 50 nor qualified for the Masters and need an excellent result this week to earn their invitation to Augusta National in two weeks.
For this week, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the overwhelming favorite in the 2024 Houston Open odds at +260. Wyndham Clark (+1200), Will Zalatoris (+2000), Sahith Theegala (+2000) and defending champion Tony Finau (+2200) round out the top five choices in the Houston Open 2024 field. Before locking in any 2024 Houston Open picks, make sure you see the PGA Tour predictions and best bets from golf betting and fantasy expert Sia Nejad.
Nejad specializes in betting and DFS in golf, among other sports. He's had incredible success in the outright and first-round leader markets and in betting head-to-head matchups. He also has been solid with his head-to-head matchups since last year's Charles Schwab Challenge, going 36-22-2 and returning 9.953 units over that span. That's a $995 profit for $100 bettors since May 2023.
Nejad also nailed 75-1 longshot Wyndham Clark as the outright winner at the Wells Fargo Championship. In 2023, SportsLine debuted "The Early Wedge," and in the first three months of the show, he hit two first-round leaders and three outright winners.
Now, Nejad has focused his attention on the 2024 Houston Open field and has locked in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. See who they are at SportsLine.
Top 2024 Houston Open expert picks
One surprise: Nejad is completely fading defending champion Tony Finau. The six-time winner on the PGA Tour has had a slow start to the 2024 season. In seven starts this year, he has one finish better than 13th, and he sits a middling 57th in the FedEx Cup standings.
He also has struggled with both the driver and putter this year. He ranks 140th in driving accuracy (54.89%) and 144th in strokes gained: putting (-0.460). "I'm fully aware of his great history at Memorial Park and his course fit, but his play has been too erratic lately," Nejad told SportsLine.
However, Nejad is high on the chances of Wyndham Clark, who is the second choice in the odds at +1200. Clark has three top-two finishes in his last five starts. He won the rain-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and has finished second in his last two events – the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship – finishing behind Scheffler in both.
Clark has excelled from tee to green this season. He ranks eighth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: tee-to-green (1.214) and 12th in strokes gained: putting (0.656). "He has the complete game to win at this course as his ball-striking prowess is matched by his short game acumen," Nejad said. See who else to back at SportsLine.
How to make 2024 Houston Open picks
Nejad has locked in his best bets for the 2024 Houston Open and is backing several longshots, including one that is priced at more than 50-1. This player "can really spike with the ball-striking" and is a longshot who could surprise. You can see Nejad's PGA Tour picks only at SportsLine.
So which players should you target or avoid for the 2024 Houston Open, and which player in the Houston Open 2024 field could bring a huge payday at more than 50-1? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sia Nejad's top picks for the 2024 Houston Open, all from the expert who is 36-22-2 on his last 60 head-to-head picks.
2024 Houston Open odds, field
See Nejad's picks, best bets and predictions here.
Scottie Scheffler +260
Wyndham Clark +1200
Will Zalatoris +2000
Sahith Theegala +2000
Tony Finau +2200
Jason Day +2500
Si Woo Kim +3000
Alex Noren +3500
Tom Hoge +4500
Stephan Jaeger +4500
Keith Mitchell +4500
Kurt Kitayama +5000
Beau Hossler +5000
Aaron Rai +5000
Jake Knapp +5500
Billy Horschel +5500
Mackenzie Hughes +6000
Doug Ghim +6000
Akshay Bhatia +6000
Taylor Moore +7000
Patrick Rodgers +7000
Luke List +7000
Thorbjorn Olesen +7000
Taylor Montgomery +7500
K.H. Lee +8000
Joel Dahmen +8000
Thomas Detry +9000
Ryan Fox +9000
Davis Thompson +9000
Cam Davis +9000
Ben Griffin +9000
Sam Ryder +11000
Robert MacIntyre +11000
Mark Hubbard +11000
Cameron Champ +11000
Andrew Novak +11000
Adam Svensson +11000
Victor Perez +13000
Scott Stallings +13000
Ryan Moore +13000
Peter Malnati +13000
Matt Wallace +13000
Joseph Bramlett +13000
Greyson Sigg +13000
Daniel Berger +13000
Chandler Phillips +13000
Carl Yuan +13000
Ben Silverman +13000
Max Greyserman +15000
Matti Schmid +15000
Matt NeSmith +15000
Garrick Higgo +15000
Chris Gotterup +15000
Chesson Hadley +15000
Carson Young +15000
Bud Cauley +15000
Alexander Bjork +15000
Alex Smalley +15000
Vincent Norrman +18000
Taylor Pendrith +18000
Sam Stevens +18000
Nate Lashley +18000
Michael Kim +18000
Martin Laird +18000
Justin Suh +18000
Jhonattan Vegas +18000
Gary Woodland +18000
Dylan Wu +18000
Chan Kim +18000
C.T. Pan +18000
Tyler Duncan +20000
S.H. Kim +20000
Brandon Wu +20000
Vince Whaley +25000
Tyson Alexander +25000
Sam Bennett +25000
Ryan Palmer +25000
Parker Coody +25000
Nick Hardy +25000
Kevin Dougherty +25000
Jorge Campillo +25000
Jacob Bridgeman +25000
J.J. Spaun +25000
Henrik Norlander +25000
Hayden Springer +25000
Davis Riley +25000
Chez Reavie +25000
Aaron Baddeley +25000
Zac Blair +30000
Robby Shelton +30000
Rafael Campos +30000
Patton Kizzire +30000
Nick Dunlap +30000
Martin Trainer +30000
Mac Meissner +30000
Justin Lower +30000
Chad Ramey +30000
Stewart Cink +35000
Rico Hoey +35000
Norman Xiong +35000
Nicholas Lindheim +35000
Joe Highsmith +35000
Harry Hall +35000
Erik Barnes +35000
Alejandro Tosti +35000
Tom Whitney +40000
Roger Sloan +40000
Patrick Fishburn +40000
Padraig Harrington +40000
Lanto Griffin +40000
Hayden Buckley +40000
Harrison Endycott +40000
David Skinns +40000
David Lipsky +40000
Bronson Burgoon +40000
Adrien Dumont De Chassart +40000
Adam Long +40000
Zecheng Dou +50000
Wilson Furr +50000
Trace Crowe +50000
Scott Piercy +50000
Ryan McCormick +50000
Richy Werenski +50000
Austin Cook +50000
Pierceson Coody +60000
Kevin Chappell +60000
Jimmy Walker +60000
Cole Hammer +60000
Callum Tarren +60000
Paul Barjon +80000
Josh Teater +80000
Kris Ventura +100000
Ben Taylor +100000
Scott Gutschewski +150000
Brandt Snedeker +150000
Ryan Brehm +200000
J.B. Holmes +200000
Dawie Van Der Walt +200000
Raul Pereda +250000
Kevin Kisner +250000
Jesse Droemer +500000
Blaine Hale Jr. +500000
