The 2021-22 PGA Tour wraparound season is already several weeks in and we've already seen some huge stars like Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama and Viktor Hovland capture victories. On Thursday, a star-studded field will descend upon Memorial Park Golf Course in Texas for the 2021 Houston Open. The Houston Open field will include a handful of past major champions like Shane Lowry, Adam Scott, Patrick Reed and Gary Woodland.
However, it's Sam Burns who is listed as the 16-1 favorite in the latest 2021 Houston Open odds from Caesars Sportsbook. Burns has two PGA Tour victories in his career and currently sits atop the FedEx Cup standings entering this week's event. Other 2021 Houston Open contenders include Scottie Scheffler (18-1), Sungjae Im (22-1), Cameron Smith (25-1), Tony Finau (25-1) and Matthew Wolff (25-1). Before locking in your 2021 Houston Open picks, be sure to see the golf predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.
SportsLine's proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, has been red-hot since the PGA Tour resumed last June. In fact, it's up almost $10,000 on its best bets since the restart, nailing tournament after tournament.
Last week at the 2021 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, the model was all over Viktor Hovland (18-1) winning his third PGA Tour title.Â
At the 2021 Open Championship, McClure's best bets included Collin Morikawa winning outright even though he was listed as a massive 40-1 long shot. He was also all over Daniel Berger (+220) and Emiliano Grillo (+700) finishing inside the top-20. McClure's best bets netted over $2,200 at the 2021 Open Championship.
In addition, McClure's model was all over Jon Rahm's (10-1) first career major championship victory at the 2021 U.S. Open. Rahm was two strokes off the lead heading into the weekend, but the model still projected him as the winner. And at the 2021 Masters, McClure nailed Rahm's (+250) top-five finish in his best bets, as well as Corey Conners' (+550) top-10 showing. Â
This same model has also nailed a whopping seven majors entering the weekend. Anyone who has followed it has seen massive returns.
Now that the 2021 Houston Open field is locked, SportsLine simulated the event 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected 2021 Houston Open leaderboard.
The model's top 2021 Houston Open predictionsÂ
One major surprise the model is calling for at the 2021 Houston Open: Sungjae Im, a two-time PGA Tour champion and one of the top favorites, stumbles this week and barely cracks the top 10. The 23-year-old is off to a strong start this season, winning the Shriners Children's Open and securing a top-10 finish at the CJ Cup.Â
However, Im struggled mightily at the Houston Open in 2020, finishing T-50 after shooting three-over par. Plus, Im has been extremely inconsistent with his putter this season, entering this week's tournament ranked 176th in total putting (262.7) and 106th in one-putt percentage (42.13). His inability to drain putts, coupled with his ineffectiveness at Memorial Park Golf Course doesn't bode well for his chances to finish on top of the leaderboard this week. He's not a strong pick to win it all and there are far better values in the Houston Open 2021 field.
Another surprise: Brooks Koepka, a 30-1 long shot, makes a strong run at the title. He has a much better chance to win it all than his odds imply, so he's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday.
The four-time major champion and eight-time winner on the PGA Tour has slipped to No. 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking after battling some knee issues recently, However, he was victorious at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February and finished inside the top-six in three different major championships last season. And while he hasn't been playing great since the 2021-22 season started, he has had some success in this event.
In fact, Koepka recorded a top-five finish at the Houston Open in 2020, shooting back-to-back 65s on the weekend. His proven ability to score well at Memorial Park, plus his long odds, makes him a strong value pick for 2021 Houston Open bets this week.Â
How to make 2021 Houston Open picks
The model is also targeting three other golfers with odds longer than 28-1 who will make surprising runs. Anyone who backs these long shots could hit it big. You can only see them here.
So who will win the Houston Open 2021? And which long shots stun the golfing world? Check out the odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected 2021 Houston Open leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed seven golf majors and is up almost $10,000 since the restart.
2021 Houston Open odds
Sam Burns 16-1
Scottie Scheffler 18-1
Sungjae Im 22-1
Cameron Smith 25-1
Matthew Wolff 25-1
Tony Finau 25-1
Tyrrell Hatton 28-1
Talor Gooch 30-1
Joaquin Niemann 30-1
Brooks Koepka 30-1
Patrick Reed 33-1
Carlos Ortiz 33-1
Adam Scott 33-1
Aaron Wise 33-1
Marc Leishman 25-1
Maverick McNealy 40-1
Russell Henley 45-1
Shane Lowry 45-1
Cameron Tringale 45-1
Max Homa 45-1
Mackenzie Hughes 50-1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 50-1
Seamus Power 50-1
Lanto Griffin 50-1
Jason Kokrak 50-1
Harold Varner 55-1
Erik Van Rooyen 60-1
Mito Pereira 60-1
Branden Grace 66-1
Sebastian Munoz 70-1
Gary Woodland 80-1
Emiliano Grillo 80-1
Ian Poulter 80-1
Jason Day 80-1
Kevin Streelman 80-1
Joel Dahmen 80-1
Jhonattan Vegas 90-1
Russell Knox 90-1
Adam Long 90-1
Chad Ramey 90-1
Cameron Davis 90-1
Brian Harman 90-1
Charley Hoffman 90-1
Ryan Palmer 100-1
Taylor Pendrith 100-1
Danny Willett 100-1
Chez Reavie 100-1
C.T. Pan 100-1
Taylor Moore 100-1
Matthias Schwab 100-1
Lee Westwood 100-1
Adam Schenk 125-1
Luke List 125-1
Brian Stuard 125-1
Sepp Straka 125-1
Henrik Norlander 125-1
Scott Stallings 125-1
Harry Higgs 125-1
Martin Laird 125-1
Stewart Cink 125-1
Sahith Theegala 125-1
Keith Mitchell 125-1
Greyson Sigg 150-1
James Hahn 150-1
Denny McCarthy 150-1
Pat Perez 150-1
Robert Streb 150-1
Scott Piercy 150-1
Henrik Stenson 150-1
Aaron Rai 150-1
Andrew Landry 150-1
Hudson Swafford 150-1
Tom Hoge 150-1
Brice Garnett 150-1
Dylan Frittelli 150-1
J.J. Spaun 150-1
Wyndham Clark 175-1
Tyler Duncan 175-1
Andrew Putnam 175-1
Stephan Jaeger 175-1
Adam Svensson 175-1
J.T. Poston 200-1
Nick Taylor 200-1
Nate Lashley 200-1
Kyle Stanley 200-1
Graeme McDowell 200-1
Francesco Molinari 200-1
Brandt Snedeker 200-1
Anirban Lahiri 200-1
Peter Uihlein 200-1
Matthew NeSmith 200-1
David Lipsky 200-1
Davis Riley 200-1
Jason Dufner 200-1
Vincent Whaley 200-1
Doc Redman 200-1