The PGA Tour’s Florida Swing has come and gone, meaning the Masters is right around the corner. In fact, only two tournaments separate players from the first major championship of the season with this week’s Houston Open providing the final chance for some to put together last-minute preparations.
Those who finish the week inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings will punch their tickets to Augusta National — if they have not already — with those atop the odds board likely to contend not only this week but down Magnolia Lane in a couple weeks’ time.
That, of course, means world No. 1 and two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is in the field. The Texan has done just about everything but win at Memorial Park Golf Course; he missed a close-range birdie on the 72nd hole of last year’s tournament to force a playoff with eventual champion Stephan Jaeger.
Scheffler arrives in Houston with his game in a decidedly different spot than it was 365 days ago. He is without a win across the first few months of the season, and his tee-to-green dominance has been caught by the likes of Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa. His reliable course management has taken some blows as well. Still, he headlines the field but with McIlroy creeping closer and closer by the week.
The world No. 2 makes his first start at the Houston Open in more than a decade and his first at Memorial Park. The four-time major champion has the entire game cooperating at the moment leading to two trips to the winner’s circle before April for the first time in his career.
McIlroy will make his last start this week before the Masters as the hype train continues rolling. Hoping to attract some patrons themselves in Houston are players in the field such as Maverick McNealy, Nick Taylor, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Sungjae Im, Tony Finau and Wyndham Clark.
2025 Houston Open schedule
Dates: March 27-30
Location: Memorial Park Golf Course — Houston, Texas
Par: 70 | Yardage: 7,475
Purse: $9,500,000
2025 Houston Open field, odds
Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
- Scottie Scheffler (7/2)
- Rory McIlroy (7-1): He needs to sustain this level of play for a longer period to officially take the crown from Scheffler, but there is no doubt McIlroy has been the best golfer in 2025. Fresh off his Players Championship title, the 35-year-old looked to Houston in lieu of San Antonio for his final tune-up before the big one. While he has been able to plod his way around Pebble Beach and TPC Sawgrass en route to victories, McIlroy will have to lean on the driver this week at Memorial Park.
- Aaron Rai (28-1)
- J.J. Spaun (33-1): He is one of two players with three top-three finishes already this season as Spaun came up just short of at the Players Championship. His play at TPC Sawgrass was a continuation of a stellar, three-month stretch that has seen him add distance off the tee and take a massive stride with his iron play. He is the top iron player in this field since the beginning of the year. Yes, even better than Scheffler.
- Tony Finau (33-1): We might need a temperature check on Finau, and there may be no better place to do it than Houston. A winner in the fall of 2022, Finau fought valiantly in his title defense last spring and was among the cluster to finish one stroke behind Jaeger. He hasn’t really done much since, however. Finau is now outside the top 30 in the OWGR with just one top-10 finish this season due to inconsistencies into and on the greens.
- Wyndham Clark (33-1): The world No. 11 reemerges after withdrawing during the second round of the Players Championship due to a neck injury. Ultra inconsistent to start the season, which is par for the course for Clark, the former U.S. Open champion needs to get something going ahead of the first major of the year. He is without a top-10 finish this season and ranks 35th in this field in total strokes gained.
- Jason Day (35-1)
- Davis Thompson (35-1)
- Michael Kim (35-1)
- Sungjae Im (40-1)
- Min Woo Lee (40-1): The 26-year-old seems to be finding himself by the week. The 36-hole leader at the Players Championship, Lee bombed on Saturday and back tracked to a T20 finish in Ponte Vedra Beach. It represented his fifth top-20 finish of the year, but he remains without anything better than a T11. The reason is simple: Lee’s iron play needs to get better. It was at times at TPC Sawgrass and we saw him climb to the top of the leaderboard.
2025 Houston Open predictions
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