PGA Tour Power Rankings: Houston Open

The Florida Swing comes to an end as the PGA Tour heads to Texas for the Houston Open at Memorial Park.

The countdown to the US Masters is well and truly on with two of the world's best players in Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy set to tee it up in Houston.

It will be McIlroy's first appearance at Memorial Park, while Scheffler has made a habit of playing in his native Texas, finishing second, ninth and second in his three appearances since the change of venue.

While it's a tournament he's yet to win, Scheffler will take plenty of confidence from his performance last year, where only a missed five-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole saw him miss out on the title to Stephan Jaeger.

Naturally, McIlroy and Scheffler appear high on our Power Rankings this week, but who rounds off the top five? Find out below.

Houston Open: Tips and predictions
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5 - Min Woo Lee

An extremely long course that doesn't require accuracy off the tee but does rely on a stellar short game could not be more suited to Min Woo Lee on paper.

He looked impressive at the Players Championship a fortnight ago, gaining the fourth most strokes in round one and round two before blowing up in round three, and TPC Sawgrass is a course that requires much more accuracy off the tee than Memorial Park.

The 26-year-old Aussie has some nice results to his name this season, finishing in the top 20 at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Phoenix Open, the Cognizant Classic and the Players.

Despite a missed cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Lee gained the most strokes around the green across the first two rounds, and if he can replicate that touch in Houston, he can be hopeful of a strong maiden showing at Memorial Park.

4 - Michael Kim

After a first missed cut in six starts at the Players, it was intriguing to see how form player Michael Kim bounced back at the Valspar Championship.

A solid but unspectacular showing saw Kim finish 28th, and after a run of 2-13-13-6-4, it's fair to wonder whether or not Kim is just regressing to a more natural level.

But where he'll be very pleased is that he's developing into a solid all-round golfer; in the four strokes gained categories, Kim has posted positive numbers in 25 of 28 across his last seven starts - for context, Scottie Scheffler has posted positive numbers in 16 of 20 in his five starts this season.

Perhaps most importantly for this week, though, is how improved Kim has been with a wedge in hand; across his last five starts, he ranks fourth in the field for strokes gained: around the green.

3 - Aaron Rai

With his win at the Wyndham Championship last year, Aaron Rai jumped from just inside the world's top 50 to just outside the world's top 20, and if he maintains his form for the next six months, he'll be hard to leave out of Europe's Ryder Cup team.

While Rai routinely gives up plenty of yardage off the tee, he's as straight a hitter as there is on the PGA Tour. Of course, Memorial Park is extremely long without any penal rough, which doesn't seem to fit a player like Rai, yet the 30-year-old finds a way to compete on the longer courses, finishing fourth at the Mexico Open earlier this year.

After his fourth place in Mexico, Rai followed up with a T11 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and a T14 at the Players in two stellar fields.

While he won't outdrive anyone this week, his approach play will bail him out, and his solid putting may well see him post a third straight top-10 finish in Houston.

2 - Scottie Scheffler

While he's not yet finished worse than 25th this season, with his outings being three Signature Events, the Players Championship and the WM Phoenix Open, Scheffler just hasn't been quite up to the ridiculous standards he set himself last season.

Impacted by a hand injury to start the campaign, everybody has been waiting to see the Scheffler of last season, but it's just not quite there yet.

His approach play has been strong and he's driven the ball well, but his numbers in both departments are down on last season, while his short game - which will be crucial at Memorial Park - also needs work.

Of course, even with a dip in form from last season, Scheffler is still operating at a world-class level, but that slight dip in form is hard to ignore.

1 - Rory McIlroy

Right now, the best player in the world. McIlroy will be delighted with his start to the season, not just because he's won a Signature Event in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, as well as the Players, but he's looking as well rounded as he's ever been.

Historically, McIlroy has been very reliant on his driving, but he's started this season putting as well as he ever has, his iron play has improved, his short game is still solid and of course he remains world class off the tee.

All in all, McIlroy is becoming a dangerous all-round golfer, and while Memorial Park hasn't just been a course for the big hitters despite its length, the Northern Irishman can take advantage both off the tee and around the greens.

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