2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open Picks & Predictions: PGA Longshots
Following Scottie Scheffler’s late withdrawal from the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open, this field just became wide open, led by 2025 winner Min Woo Lee, at +1300 odds. Chris Gotterup and Jake Knapp are the other betting favorites between +1800 and +2000 odds, followed by Sam Burns and Brooks Koepka at +2200 odds.
Memorial Park Golf Course, renovated by Tom Doak in 2019, with assistance from Koepka, plays as a par 70. It runs 7,475 yards and features overseeded Bermudagrass on its surfaces, with rough standing under two inches.
Golfers with strength off-the-tee sit high in this week’s outright winner betting market, as errant lies won’t be punished as hard as they were during the Florida swing. Three par 5s and five par 3s await, with fewer water hazards, and undulated greens measuring 7,000 square feet on average.
My 2026 Valspar Championship Picks & Predictions: PGA Longshots never had a chance. Max McGreevy (+6000) missed the cut, while Bud Cauley and Billy Horschel placed 74th and T68.
We’ve hit one longshot this season during Akshay Bhatia’s 70-1 win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Let’s try to replicate that feat and target three golfers with long odds ahead of Round 1 at the Houston Open.
Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more free bets and PGA Tour analysis throughout the 2026 PGA Tour season.
2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open: PGA Longshots
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Sudarshan Yellamaraju (+6000)
Earning his PGA Tour card in 2026, Canada’s Sudarshan Yellamaraju has turned heads with his play this season. The 24-year-old rookie is coming off a career-best T5 finish at The Players Championship, while also carding two other top 20 finishes in seven total events.
Yellamaraju ranks 23rd in total strokes gained, including 36th in SG: Off-the-Tee and 28th in SG: Approach. He’s also ranked 16th in SG: Putting, while leading the PGA Tour in total driving.
The driving skillset is going to be massive at Memorial Park this week. Plus, Yellamaraju has shown no significant flaw in his game yet.
Let’s back the young Canadian to build off his T5 finish at TPC Sawgrass and bet on him to win outright at +6000 odds.
Aldrich Potgieter (+8000)
Aldrich Potgieter is known for his power on the tee box, which is why he’s made his way to our longshot betting card at +8000 odds. The 21-year-old South African won the 2025 Rocket Classic, so this stage shouldn’t overwhelm Potgieter.
In 2026, he’s had little to celebrate, aside from a solo fifth-place finish at The Genesis Invitational. That came in a Signature Event field, where Potgieter fired 68-68-65-68 at Riviera.
He ranks second in driving distance, 19th in total driving, and 20th in SG: Off-the-Tee. Approach shots from 200+ yards also rank in the top 40.
Despite missing the cut at Memorial Park in 2025, let’s saddle up and bet on Potgieter to post his second career win on the PGA Tour at 80-1.
Gary Woodland (+8000)
Gary Woodland has quickly become a popular pick in many betting markets this week ahead of his return to Memorial Park. Woodland is the definition of a bomber, ranked first in driving distance this season.
He’s got four outright wins under his belt on the PGA Tour. In 2025, Woodland logged a runner-up finish at the Houston Open. His past three trips at this event have gone T9-T21-T2.
Last week at Innisbrook, Woodland logged his best finish of the season at T14. He’s also 62nd in proximity and 44th in SG: Approach from 200+ yards.
Woodland can lean on his driver and recover from short rough if necessary at a course he’s dominated in recent years. Let’s finish by placing one final wager on the 41-year-old Kansas native to post his fifth PGA Tour win at +8000 odds.