The Winning Element: Houston Open PGA DFS Picks, Ownership & Rankings | Cameron Smith

All of the PGA DFS content and picks this week are geared toward providing information that will help with DraftKings and FanDuel daily fantasy golf and PGA odds and betting decisions in the best way possible. With the help of the Awesemo expert , this is the last of the week-long written PGA picks material for DraftKings and FanDuel at the Houston Open.

PGA DFS Picks: Houston Open

This column will include 6 to 12 players as part of the core, which earns my highest allocation on DFS and is matched with bets across the board. For the third consecutive week, none of my core favorites are here to compete.

Weather

The weather should not be a factor this week.

Slate Preview

Total expected player pool: 60

Expected number of lineups created: 100-300

Top PGA DFS Picks for DraftKings and FanDuel

These golfers will have anywhere between 20% and 50% allocation.

Cameron Smith ($10,200 DraftKings/$11,600 FanDuel)

Since the missed cut at the U.S. Open, Smith has made eight straight cuts, with his worst finish being 34th at the BMW Championship. Over that span, he has also added four top-10s and two top-fives, playing some of the best golf over this stretch. While Sam Burns has undoubtedly been better over that same period, Smith is not far behind and provides $1,000 savings as well. If the lineup build permits, using both could be advantageous but could also be a popular stack this week. Diversifying among the lower-priced golfers should provide enough variance.

Adam Scott ($10,200 DraftKings/$10,600 FanDuel)

Since his win at the Genesis Open almost two years ago, before COVID-19 took its grip on things, Scott was ranked sixth in the world. But it has been a slippery slope since then, as he has dropped all the way to 43rd after the FedEx St. Jude Invitational. But he has a couple of top-fives since then, and Scott seems to be trending in the right direction. With just one missed cut in his last 10 starts, his consistency seems to be returning as well. Lastly, his is projected to be roughly half that of Talor Gooch and Aaron Wise, and results between the three have been somewhat similar. An intriguing option this week is to take the ownership discount with Scott and at the very least hope he outperforms the two higher-owned golfers.

Patrick Reed ($9,000 DraftKings/$10,900 FanDuel)

With 20 birdies last week, a top-20 finish should have been a given for Reed. But a couple of double bogeys and a slew of other bogeys kept him from a good week. However, this week he should not make as many bogeys because it is not nearly as tricky off the tee or as penal. With only four water hazards on the entire course, it should naturalize Reed’s worst-performing skillset. Lower ownership sealed the deal to make Reed a core play this week.

Reed is showing up in the optimal lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel, according to the Awesemo projections and lineup optimizer. Check out all of our free PGA DFS optimizer picks this week in our DraftKings PGA cheat sheet and FanDuel PGA cheat sheet.

Russell Henley ($8,900 DraftKings/$9,800 FanDuel)

Hopefully the poor performance in Round 3 will scare off gamers this week, as Henley under 15% ownership has not happened in quite some time. He has been on the verge of a win for some time now, but something always seems to hold him back. Typically it is the putter and/or off the tee that gives him struggles, and it was off the tee last week again. Like with Reed, that should be nullified this week and give Henley a chance to use his strong iron play to get his first top-five since the Honda Classic.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($8,600 DraftKings/$9,700 FanDuel)

While the allocation could have been a bit more last week, where Bezuidenhout finished in a tie for 15th, he is upgraded back to a core play this week. This setup should be even better, and the field is weaker. His ownership is not budging, sitting around 10%, and his top form does not seem far out of reach. When building a balanced lineup, Henley, Reed and Bezuidenhout should provide enough win equity while brining more consistency to the lineup.

Chad Ramey ($7,500 DraftKings/$9,200 FanDuel)

Going 6-for-6 in PGA DFS is the most important thing, especially when playing higher stakes or limited-entry fields. Just getting 6-for-6 some weeks pushes a lineup across the cash line without even looking at who is in it. While his first few starts on tour did not go as planned, Ramey has shown unbelievable consistency over the last year, making 42 of 46 cuts. Of those 42 made cuts, he came on in the top 10 over 20% of the time, showing upside within the consistency as well. He hits a ton of fairways and greens while also providing a solid base around the green in terms of his scrambling. All of this should translate into success on the PGA Tour, and with back-to-back top-20s in his last two starts, this should be a great spot for Ramey’s first-ever top-10 on the PGA Tour.

Ian Poulter ($7,300 DraftKings/$9,500 FanDuel)

The largest discrepancy between pricing of the two main PGA DFS sites, Poulter presents great value on DraftKings relative to his FanDuel price. That is something to take advantage of, especially since ownership does not seem to be following. It comes after a missed cut last week where he was in position for a top-10 heading into the weekend before having his tournament derailed on the back nine on Friday. A quad led to a missed cut and a reset here this week.

Taylor Moore ($7,100/$8,400 FanDuel)

Another Korn Ferry Tour graduate that has had an excellent start to his PGA Tour career, Moore has come in the top 25 in each of his last two starts after missing the cut in his first start. Comparatively to golfers priced similarly to him on DraftKings, he is much cheaper on FanDuel, so most of my allocation will go to him there.

PGA Picks Under or at $7,000

While none of these golfers are strong enough to earn 20% allocation, they are the four highest-owned golfers in my player pool under $7,000 this week.

Aaron Rai ($6,900 DraftKings/$8,600 FanDuel)

The first three starts of Rai’s PGA Tour career did not go as planned. With three missed cuts that were not particularly close to the cutline, Rai backers were left scratching their heads. But a made cut in Bermuda seemed to settle him down, as upside returned last week in Mayakoba and he tied for 15th. He did that while only making four bogeys for the week, tying him for third in that department. With the winning score expected to be around 10 under to 15 under par this week, a similar performance will yield a top-10. For this price, that is a great bargain.

Sahith Theegala ($6,900/$8,600)

Having a chance to win the Sanderson Farms Championship, Theegala showed the type of potential he has. While that may have been the best spot for him to win, he has shown his ability is certainly good enough to compete on the biggest stage. He is in a great value spot on DraftKings, where he does not need to do anything special other than make the cut to provide a return this week.

Denny McCarthy ($6,600 DraftKings/$8,100 FanDuel)

Maybe breaking Viktor Hovland’s driver last week is the good mojo that McCarthy and Hovland both needed. It led to Hovland winning the tournament after borrowing someone else’s driver the previous week. For McCarthy, he has been working with Bryson DeChambeau and his speed training, and it has seemed to add distance off the tee. He has had two top-20s in five events this season while scoring very well, putting up over 100 points on FanDuel in each of them.

Wyndham Clark ($6,600 DraftKings/$7,400 FanDuel)

Another great value on FanDuel, Clark has had a decent start to the season, making three of four cuts. His best start was the ZOZO Championship, where he finished in a tie for 25th in a similar setup to what he should see this week. He is good around the green and on the green but struggles with his irons at times. With the greens-in-regulation percentage around 63% for the field, Clark’s weaker iron player should be nullified by that. His last start is a perfect example of this, as the field averaged roughly 63%, while he came in at his average of 59% and finished in the top half. A slight tick upwards in that department should yield a top-20 finish this week.


Latest PGA DFS Content


PGA DFS Chalk Zone (Projected for 10%+ Ownership)

E = Equal-Weight to projected Ownership

U = Underweight to projected Ownership

O = Overweight to projected Ownership

  1. Sam Burns (E)
  2. Scottie Scheffler (E)
  3. Sungjae Im (E to U)
  4. Matthew Wolff (E)
  5. Tyrell Hatton (O)
  6. Joaquin Niemann (U)
  7. Talor Gooch (U)
  8. Aaron Wise (E)
  9. Marc Leishman (E to U)
  10. Shane Lowry (E to U)
  11. Max Homa (U)
  12. Harold Varner (E)
  13. Mito Pereira (E to O)
  14. Charley Hoffman (E to U)
  15. Jason Day (U)

Fringe PGA DFS Picks (12-17% of Lineups)

  1. Tony Finau
  2. Brooks Koepka
  3. Jason Kokrak
  4. Cameron Tringale
  5. Mackenzie Hughes
  6. Gary Woodland
  7. Jhonattan Vegas
  8. Cam Davis
  9. C.T. Pan
  10. Harry Higgs
  11. Keith Mitchell
  12. Joel Dahmen
  13. Henrik Norlander
  14. Ryan Palmer
  15. Dylan Frittelli
  16. Peter Uihlein

Alternates (6-11% of Lineups)

  1. Lanto Griffin
  2. Branden Grace
  3. Sebastian Munoz
  4. Taylor Pendrith
  5. Brian Harman
  6. Brandt Snedeker
  7. Vincent Whaley
  8. J.T. Poston

Holes in One (1-5% of Lineups)

  1. Jimmy Walker
  2. Kevin Tway
  3. Zach Johnson
  4. Trey Mullinax
  5. Kyle Stanley
  6. Adam Svensson
  7. David Lipsky
  8. Kramer Hickok
  9. Doc Reman
  10. Anirban Lahiri

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Author
Jason established his roots in the littlest state that could...Rhode Island. But after 29 years of bitter cold, and only being able to play golf 4 months a year, upended those roots and moved to Florida. Now four years later, Jason is a husband to Sarah and father of two boys, James & Myles. A dog and more specifically Lab lover (Bella), he dedicates his time to serve as the lead of PGA content at Awesemo.com. In the time he is not diving into the PGA stats and covering this week's current tournament, you can find him researching and trading stocks, on the golf course, at Disney World, on a hike, or somewhere in between. Want to chat? Have a question about Golf/Stocks or anything else? Hop on twitter and give him a message @dfsgolfer23. You can also contact Jason by emailing [email protected].

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