The emotions of 2020 have been overwhelming for a lot of people. Nothing has been the same and a lot of things will never be the same. That’s why the level of symbolism this week on the PGA Tour really means a lot. We know that the Houston Open means that the Masters is coming. Well, the Houston Open is this week and the Masters is next week.

Credit to all involved with the PGA Tour for making this calendar switch. The Vivint Houston Open will once again be the lead-in to the Masters. However, because it’s 2020 and nothing can be as we remember it, there is a venue change. The Golf Club of Houston will not host the event, rather the Memorial Park Golf Course will be the site of this year’s Houston Open. It’s a public course that costs $38 to play on weekends.

With a new course and a field of quality players on hand to iron out the kinks before the trip to Augusta National, let’s check this one out with the help of some odds from MyBookie Sportsbook.

GOLF BETTING ODDS TO WIN THE 2020 VIVINT HOUSTON OPEN

DUSTIN JOHNSON +750
TYRRELL HATTON +1400
BROOKS KOEPKA +1800
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA +1800
TONY FINAU +1800
VIKTOR HOVLAND +2200
RUSSELL HENLEY +2500
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER +2500
ADAM SCOTT +2500
SUNG-JAE IM +3300
SERGIO GARCIA +3500
JASON DAY +4500
LANTO GRIFFIN +5000
DOC REDMAN +5000
ZACH JOHNSON +5000
BRIAN HARMAN +5000
SI-WOO KIM +5000
SHANE LOWRY +5000
COREY CONNERS +5500
JORDAN SPIETH +6000
ALEX NOREN +6000
JAMES HAHN +6000
DENNY MCCARTHY +6000
ERIK VAN ROOYEN +6600
LEE WESTWOOD +6600
CAMERON DAVIS +7500
STEWART CINK +7500
TALOR GOOCH +7500
KEVIN STREELMAN +7500
J T POSTON +7500
PHIL MICKELSON +7500
HAROLD VARNER +8000
EMILIANO GRILLO +8000
WYNDHAM CLARK +9000
DYLAN FRITTELLI +9000
MACKENZIE HUGHES +9000
MARTIN LAIRD +9000
HENRIK STENSON +10000
AARON WISE +10000
MATT JONES +11000
CAMERON TRINGALE +11000
CHARLEY HOFFMAN +11000
BRANDT SNEDEKER +11000
ADAM SCHENK +11000
SAM BURNS +11000
KRISTOFFER VENTURA +11000
HARRY HIGGS +11000
MATTHEW NESMITH +11000
RUSSELL KNOX +12500
SCOTT PIERCY +12500
KEEGAN BRADLEY +12500
LUKE LIST +12500
HENRIK NORLANDER +12500
OLLIE SCHNIEDERJANS +12500
LUCAS GLOVER +12500
TYLER DUNCAN +12500
BEAU HOSSLER +12500
RORY SABBATINI +12500
DANNY WILLETT +12500
PADRAIG HARRINGTON +12500
MAVERICK MCNEALY +14000
SEPP STRAKA +14000
MAX HOMA +14000
FRANCESCO MOLINARI +14000
ADAM LONG +15000
MARK HUBBARD +15000
BRIAN GAY +15000
CARLOS ORTIZ +16000
SCOTT STALLINGS +16000
AUSTIN COOK +16000
TOM HOGE +16000
TOM LEWIS +16000
PAT PEREZ +17500
CHARL SCHWARTZEL +17500
PATRICK RODGERS +17500
BRICE GARNETT +17500
DANNY LEE +17500
JUSTIN HARDING +17500
JHONATTAN VEGAS +20000
BRIAN STUARD +20000
GRAEME MCDOWELL +20000
PATTON KIZZIRE +20000
TROY MERRITT +20000
RYAN ARMOUR +20000
CHRIS KIRK +20000
BRANDEN GRACE +20000
ROBBY SHELTON +20000
ANDREW LANDRY +22500
HUDSON SWAFFORD +25000
ANDREW PUTNAM +25000
C T PAN +25000
KEVIN CHAPPELL +25000
WILL GORDON +25000
KEITH MITCHELL +25000
JASON DUFNER +25000
MICHAEL THOMPSON +25000
VAUGHN TAYLOR +27500
JOHN HUH +27500
SCOTT HARRINGTON +27500
NATE LASHLEY +30000
SUNG-HOON KANG +30000
SEAN OHAIR +30000
CAMILO VILLEGAS +35000
KYOUNG-HOON LEE +35000
KEVIN TWAY +35000
SAM RYDER +40000
BO HOAG +40000
LUKE DONALD +40000
DAWIE VAN DER WALT +40000
JIMMY WALKER +40000
SATOSHI KODAIRA +40000
KELLY KRAFT +40000
GRAYSON MURRAY +40000
JAMIE LOVEMARK +50000
SCOTT BROWN +50000
GRAHAM DELAET +60000
TED POTTER +75000
HUNTER MAHAN +75000
BO VAN PELT +100000
MICHAEL KIM +100000
K J CHOI +100000
KYLE HOGAN +100000
GREG CHALMERS +150000
D A POINTS +150000
BEN WILLMAN +200000
MARTIN TRAINER +200000
KEVIN STADLER +200000

This is arguably the most top-heavy field we’ve had on the PGA Tour in quite some time. Dustin Johnson is out to shake off some COVID rust and he’s the deserving favorite at +750. Tyrrell Hatton has played well all over the world over the last few months, but the gap from +750 to +1400 seems pretty significant. Hatton probably gets down around +1200.

Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, and Tony Finau are all +1800. Koepka has been nursing an injury. Finau, too, was out for a bit, but with COVID-19. The low prices are a mix of up-and-comers and established, proven winners. That makes for kind of a fun field.

The Field

We don’t have a ton of big names on hand, but we have enough quality players to make a good field. Players had to weigh the risk/reward of being around this week and risking COVID in advance of the Masters next week. This course is not Golf Club of Houston, which many players say has some similar elements to Augusta National, so that has likely cut the participation down a bit as well.

A lot of guys that played and played well last week in Bermuda are on hand, including winner Brian Gay, runner-up Wyndham Clark, top-10 finishers Ryan Armour, Stewart Cink, Matt Jones, Denny McCarthy, Doc Redman, and Ollie Schniederjans.

Course Profile

Koepka was part of the consultants that worked on the redesign of this course to bring it up to PGA Tour standards, so he should know his way around. This course last hosted a PGA Tour event in 1963 and was very popular back then among the players. This municipal course welcomes 60,000 patrons per year according to the course’s official website.

It will play as a par 72 coming in around 7,400 yards. The course truly has been lengthened and does play a pretty good distance from the tips. The hope from tournament organizers is that they would find a way to make it play somewhat similar to Augusta in terms of thicker rough and some areas around the greens that will be cut down so that errant approach shots wind up on thinner grasses and run away from the hole.

Yay or Neigh?

Well, given that the last PGA Tour event here was in 1963, we don’t have much to say about horse for course angles. Sand players won’t like that the course went from 54 bunkers down to 20.

Tom Doak, who redesigned the course along with Koepka’s input, has never had a PGA Tour event played on one of his courses, so it would be hard to even find something comparable.

The Handicap & Picks

In other news, we’re flying sort of blind into this event. When all else fails, look for iron players and guys that putt well. These are Bermuda greens instead of the Bentgrass we’ll see next week at the Masters, but Augusta National is well-known for very fast greens. Bermuda plays different than Bent, of course, but expect these to be as quick as tournament organizers can get them. That would bring proximity to the hole into play, so again, looking at iron and wedge players.

There are some long holes on this course and it would appear that they’ll favor players that hit a draw, as there are a couple dogleg lefts and some holes in which being on the left side of the fairway is beneficial. That would, of course, benefit somebody like Dustin Johnson the most.

DJ, though, is returning from a long layoff and a new course and bigger fish to fry on the horizon brings a lot of players into the mix.

Doc Redman is too big of a price at 50/1. He’s top 30 in both SG: Approach and SG: Off-the-Tee since the PGA Tour calendar flipped over. He’s 24th in SG: Tee-to-Green. Putting is always his problem, but putting will likely be a problem for most players this week with some new surfaces and different green complexes.

James Hahn just might be playing the best golf of his life. Hahn, who is 14th in SG: T2G and eighth in SG: Total this PGA Tour season, is 60/1. All Hahn has dude is finish fifth, sixth, and ninth in his last three events. He hasn’t played in a few weeks, so he’s probably been forgotten about a little but, but he’s borderline top-30 in ball striking and has been well on the plus side in putting.

To take a big price here, Ollie Schniederjans, who was not listed at time of posting last week, is +125000. Schniederjans finished third last week as he came over stateside after in the top 12 in four of his previous eight events on the European Tour. He did miss the cut in those four, but he seemed pretty comfortable in Bermuda last week.

Patrick Rodgers is another big roll of the dice this week at +17500. Rodgers has been pretty poor this season, except for being 34th in SG: OTT in his eight rounds. Last season, Rodgers was 11th in SG: Putting and 55th in SG: OTT. Approach isn’t his strong suit, hence the big price, but at 175/1, he’s worth a small wager.

Coverage of the Vivint Houston Open will be on Golf Channel.

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