2020 Houston Open Tournament Preview

Houston Open LogoThe Houston Open once again is being played the week before the Masters Tournament this time in the fall due to the reschedule of the PGA Tour this year. It's a tournament that has a shaky footing on the schedule as it waits for new sponsorship for future years.

2019 was the last year it was played at the Golf Club of Houston and now moves to Memorial Park Golf Course for the 2020 season. This tournament has been around since 1946 and provides a similar layout to Augusta National so look for guys that have a good history there to play well this week.

Or... you can skip all the hard work and just join GolfStats.com and get winning picks every week for every PGA Tour tournament. They've made us money over the last 4 years...maybe you want to make some too!

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2020 Houston Open Tourney Preview

The 2020 Houston Open was also known as the Shell Houston Open but is now looking for a new tournament sponsor. The field, although weak, will still have some notable players in it such as defending champ Lanto Griffin. Look for more tour rookies in the field which could be an advantage to you if you've been tracking how some of the young guys have played so far in 2020 on the PGA Tour.

Regardless of the field, you can still play in a FREE Fantasy Golf Contest for the Houston Open. If you are new to DraftKings, make a 1st deposit or $5 or more using the links on this page and you will automatically get a FREE game ticket to play in a big money fantasy contest. We are affiliate partners with DraftKings, read the footer of the page for more details.

Dates - November 5 – November 8, 2020

Prize Pool - $7,000,000

First Place - $1,260,000

FedEx Cup Points - 500

Memorial Park Golf Course

Examining the Golf Course

Name of Course – Memorial Park Golf Course

Where is Memorial Park Golf Course - Houston, TX

Memorial Park Golf CoursePar – 72

Yards – 7292

Year Built – 1936 redesigned 2019

Designed by - John Bredemus - Redesigned by Tom Doak

 

Past Houston Winners

Lanto Griffin Defending Houston Open ChampionLanto Griffin2019 – Lanto Griffin

 

Ian Poulter2018 – Ian Poulter

 

Russell Henley2017 - Russell Henley

 

Jim Herman2016 - Jim Herman

 

Other Houston Open info - Trends, Tidbits

  • Tournament began as the Houston Open in 1946 – Won by Byron Nelson
  • There are two 3 time winners of the Houston Open - Curtis Strange (1980, 1986, 1988) and Vijay Singh (2002, 2004, 2005)
  • Shell was a tournament sponsor from 1992 - 2017
  • Since 2007, the Houston Open has been played the week before the Masters Tournament – The winner gets the final invite to the Masters

2020 Houston Open Fantasy Golf Picks Info

Because it’s not a big PGA Tournament you may not be inclined to invest a large bankroll into the tournament. Given the lack of big names in the field this is the week to join Golfstats.com and test out their expert picks for the Houston Open. It may cost more than the free picks that everyone else offers but they do come with a track record of winning which is more than can be said for all those free expert picks that golf bloggers offer up.

2020 Houston Open Sleeper Picks

Beau Hossler - This is more of a DEEP sleeper pick for the Houston Open. Hossler’s career has been stagnate with juts glimpses of how good he was as an amateur. However, he has been on a streak of making cuts and played pretty well last week at the Bermuda Championship. By no means do I think Hossler will win this week but as a daily fantasy golf pick, he could be a low cost salary cap option for your lineups to help you fit in some of the bigger names in the field this week.

Emiliano Grillo - We had mentioned Grillo in our Bermuda Championship Sleeper Picks and he did quite well for our DFS lineups. This week we figured we’d roll the dice again and play the hot hand. For daily fantasy golf he’s been on a streak of making cuts and I wouldn’t expect too much more from him this week. If you are looking to him as a sleeper pick to win - you may have to look elsewhere. I will be happy stuffing him into my DraftKings lineups and taking the made cut.