The PGA Tour moves to Texas for the Texas Children's Houston Open from Memorial Park.
Following a dramatic Florida Swing in which all four events were either won on the 72nd hole or later, the PGA Tour heads to the Lone Star State for a couple of pre-Masters warm-up events.
Played at the municipal Memorial Park for the last five editions, and moved to its spring slot for the 2024 season, the Texas Children’s Houston Open has become a key part of US Masters prep perhaps in part due to its length and non-penal rough, and was played by Scottie Scheffler in 2024 and Rory McIlroy in 2025.
Memorial Park's length ranks it as one of the longest on Tour; despite being a par-70, the venue stretches beyond 7,400 yards, four of the par-4s clear 475 yards and the three par-5s nudge 600 yards.
Although Memorial Park is a stretching course, players are invited to pull driver just about everywhere, and while fairways aren’t the easiest to find, the short rough poses little threat, meaning long hitters are at a significant advantage. Of last year’s top eight finishers, one ranked in the top 10 for driving accuracy that week and only two were in the top 25. Of those eight, six ranked in the top 13 for driving distance -- another nod to Augusta National.
Since the move to Memorial Park, on average, winners have ranked 13th for driving distance compared to just 35th for driving accuracy, as per Golf Betting System.
Conditions were much easier last year, with Min Woo Lee winning with a score of -20, four better than the previous best winning score. Should the course be similar this year, more emphasis will be placed on a hot putter.
Greens are Poa trivialis and are set to run fast on the Stimpmeter. With that in mind, perhaps it’s even less of a surprise that Lee, who’d putted superbly at the Players two years earlier, went on to win.
Owing to its length, around a third of all approach shots come from 200+ yards with only a quarter coming from sub-150 yards.
The highlight of the course comes on the 17th hole. A short par-4 with water all down the right forces players to lay-up left and take water out of play – except when the tee is up and it becomes a 300-yard drivable par-4, making eagle just as possible as bogey.
World number one Scottie Scheffler heads the field as he makes his sixth attempt to finally win on the back of three runner-up finishes and tops our Power Rankings.
Take a look at the rest of our top five for this week's Texas Children's Houston Open.
5 - Brooks Koepka
With major season around the corner, Brooks Koepka looks to be coming into form at the right time.
After an underwhelming return to the PGA Tour (T56-MC at the Farmers Insurance Open and WM Phoenix Open), Koepka responded with a T9 at the Cognizant Classic and a T13 at the Players before a solid T19 at the Valspar.
The Florida events have never been to Koepka’s liking (one top 10 in 21 outings prior to this year), typically demanding more accuracy than distance, but Koepka has navigated them superbly in 2026.
Though he’s not the bomber he once was, Koepka can still shift it off the tee, and his ball-striking is improving.
A T5 on his Memorial Park debut back in 2021, Koepka has every chance of improving on that.
4 - Jake Knapp
One of the players of the season so far, Jake Knapp has done just about everything but win, and Memorial Park looks the perfect course for him to get off the mark.
After withdrawing from the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the last minute, Knapp returned at the Players Championship, but after four straight top-10s, missed the cut.
Sawgrass isn’t an ideal venue for Knapp; while his driving accuracy has improved, Sawgrass demands total precision and some loose driving ultimately saw Knapp fail to make the weekend.
Knapp was excellent across his first three rounds at last year’s tournament, finding himself T10 before the final round when nothing went right.
Knapp’s short game held him back last year when he was 53rd in the field for scrambling, though he ranks fourth on the PGA Tour in that metric this year.
Knapp’s first PGA Tour win came at a long course where you can drive the ball just about anywhere, and Memorial Park may well be the site of his second.
3 - Chris Gotterup
In March 2025, Chris Gotterup had just one top-10 in a regular PGA Tour event to his name. Fast forward to March 2026 and Gotterup has three PGA Tour wins to his name as well as a major top-five.
Gotterup was perhaps a month or two away from being named on the Ryder Cup team and right now it’s hard to see him not getting the nod for the Presidents Cup later this year.
As far as this week’s event goes, Gotterup looks to have an ideal game for Memorial Park. The 26-year-old hits the ball a mile off the tee, is an improving iron player, has a tidy short game and has shown his putting can spike superbly on the greens.
Back when he was half the player he is now, Gotterup finished T18 at last year’s Texas Children’s Houston Open posting four straight rounds in the 60s.
He’s absolutely got the game for the venue, and if he can repeat the form he’s shown so far this season, it’s hard to see Gotterup not being there or thereabouts on Sunday.
2 - Min Woo Lee
Last year’s winner, could Min Woo Lee go back-to-back? There’s no reason why not. A short game wizard, Lee two putted from off the green for a tournament-clinching par, ranking third that week for scrambling.
The Australian retains his wonderful touch around the greens and a driving distance that belies his frame, but he’s tightened up with his irons and is driving the ball straighter than ever. While driving accuracy doesn’t significantly help your chances at Memorial Park, it certainly won’t hurt.
In terms of recent results, Lee is T2-T12-T6-T32, with the first three coming at Signature Events before his Players effort.
The 27-year-old struggled in the aftermath of his Houston Open win last year, but his form over the last six months suggests he now belongs with the upper echelons of the game, and a repeat victory cannot be ruled out.
1 - Scottie Scheffler
Will it be sixth time lucky for Scottie Scheffler? The world number one has pegged it up every year since the move to Memorial Park and has somehow never got over the line. A T32 on debut was followed by a T2 in 2022 and a T9 in 2023. Following the move to March, Scheffler was runner up to Stephan Jaeger amidst his longstanding putting woes, and a T2 to Min Woo Lee when a poor round three left him five back.
Of course, the Scheffler we’ve seen in 2026 is a long way below the Scheffler of 2024 and 2025, even with his win at the American Express, Scheffler has thrown in shocking starts to tournaments leaving him with too much to do, before underwhelming showings at the Genesis (T12), Arnold Palmer (T24) and the Players (T22).
Experimentations with a new driver has seen Scheffler tack on distance but at the expense of accuracy, and while that wouldn’t hamper him at Memorial Park, the four-time major winner might want to stick to what he knows works.
Maybe a regular event in his home state of Texas is what Scheffler needs in the run-up to the Masters, and he’ll be desperate to show some form ahead of his return to Augusta.
