Paulie’s Picks: 2019 Houston Open

What do Tim Herron, Omar Uresti, Rich Beem, John Rollins, Kevin Stadler, Tommy Gainey, Daniel Chopra, and Arjun Atwal have in common? Any guesses? Well, they are all in the field this week at the Houston Open.

This is the weakest field I may have ever seen in a non-opposite field PGA Tour event. Sure, Henrik Stenson is playing, but he just retired his beloved 3-wood, so don’t expect much from him. Behind him, we have Keegan Bradley as the highest ranked player. Let that set in. Keegan Bradley!

With such a weak field and a course that players are used to seeing in the spring, there are bound to be surprises on the leaderboard. To try and counteract those surprises, I’m looking for players who have been striking the ball great over the last few events and who have gotten off to hot starts. Here are three such players to consider for DraftKings this week:

Scottie Scheffler $9,900

Scheffler, the Texas native and U of Texas alum, would like nothing more than to capture his maiden victory on Tour in his home state. With such a weak field this week, I’m surprised that Scheffler is priced this low. He has elite upside and may be the best player in this field in terms of future potential. Scheffler has started hot in each of the three events he has played in this fall, but he has faltered over the weekend. Whereas his Thursday/Friday scoring average is 65.84, his Saturday/Sunday scoring average is 71.84. I expect him to come out hot once again in the Houston Open and hope he now feels comfortable enough on the big tour to play to his potential on the weekend.

Harris English $8,900

English has been flushing it lately. Over his past three events, he has gained a combined 19.3 strokes off the tee and on approach. How does that compare to his usual form? Well, his long-term average Strokes Gained: Approach and SG: Off-the-Tee combined is 0. So essentially he is striking the ball 6.4 shots better per event. That is an insane improvement in ball-striking, and it bodes well for him, considering he is also an outstanding putter: he has gained strokes putting in 12 consecutive events. All signs point to a high finish in the Houston Open for English.

Cameron Tringale $8,700

Over the past year, Tringale has seen massive improvement off the tee. He has gone from averaging -0.7 SG: Off-the-Tee per event to +0.6. Improving 1.3 strokes off the tee is massive, especially for a player who already has an above-average iron game and deft touch around the greens. Tringale now heads to a course where he has had success in the past. He has finished eighth or better in three of his last seven starts at this event. At $8,700, Tringale is a great value in the weak Houston Open field.