houston open dfs picks 2022

The penultimate event of the year on the PGA Tour is here, and it should provide a tough test for the best players in the game. Since Tom Doak’s redesign of Memorial Park in Houston, this has been one of the toughest non-major tests with the past three winning scores being 10-under, 13-under and 14-under par. With dry conditions all summer, this should continue to provide a hearty challenge.

The field, headlined by Scottie Scheffler, features four of the top 20 players in the world. In a rare occurrence on the tour, none of the last four champions will be teeing it up this week. Jason Kokrak, Carlos Ortiz and Ian Poulter have all left for LIV Golf while Lanto Griffin is recovering from disc surgery this summer.

Here are the players who have my interest—and those who certainly don’t—this week at the 2022 Houston Open.

Tony Finau ($10,400 DraftKings | $11,600 FanDuel)

It was a disappointing missed cut for Finau last week in Mayakoba as he was knocking off the rest, making his first start of the season. I believe there were enough bright spots to consider playing him this week. In his two rounds, he made nine birdies and an eagle. That’s the same stat line as Viktor Hovland (T-10) and was better than both Aaron Wise (T-15) and Scottie Scheffler (T-3). He was sunk by four different penalty strokes, which is unlikely to happen again.

Denny McCarthy ($9,200 DraftKings | $10,800 FanDuel)

McCarthy is coming off a stellar T-6 in Bermuda. Since Memorial Park was renovated in 2019 and this event moved to the course, McCarthy has one of the best records of anyone in this field. He has finished T-9, T-38 and T-11 in his three trips to this event.

Matthew NeSmith ($8,900 DraftKings | $10,700 FanDuel)

He’s back! I’ve been checking the field every week in hopes of gaining access to NeSmith, who will now tee it up for the first time since the Zozo Championship. He’s been one of the best iron players on the PGA Tour, and now the results are flowing. His last three starts are a T-9 at the Sanderson Farms, T-2 at the Shriners and T-9 at the Zozo. I worry slightly about his time away from competitive golf, but he’s been…