Russell Henley has to be feeling good as he heads to the next stop on the PGA Tour, the 2022 Houston Open, which tees off Thursday at Memorial Park. Henley cruised to a four-stroke victory at last weeks’ World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, and now he comes to a tournament where he has excelled. Henley won the 2017 Houston Open and has finished in the top 10 five times in his nine appearances. He will face a strong Cadence Bank Houston Open 2022 field led by the past two Masters champions – world No. 2 Scottie Scheffler and 2021 winner Hideki Matsuyama. Scheffler has a chance to reclaim the No. 1 ranking with a victory, and he tied for third last week in Mexico. He also held the 54-hole lead at Memorial Park last year before finishing as a runner-up, two strokes behind Jason Kokrak. Among the others in action this week are Tony Finau, Sam Burns and major champions like Jason Day and Justin Rose.
Scheffler is the 11-2 favorite in the latest 2022 Houston Open odds, and Burns (12-1), Finau (16-1) and Aaron Wise (16-1) also are expected to contend. Taylor Montgomery (20-1), Maverick McNealy (20-1), Matsuyama (22-1) and Henley (25-1) are among the other favorites in the Houston Open 2022 field. Before you consider any 2022 Houston Open picks or PGA Tour predictions, you need to check out the best bets and sleepers from SportsLine golf insider Patrick McDonald.
After spending time at FanSided and NBC Sports EDGE, McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in the spring of 2022. Now covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis on the PGA Tour.
He takes a measured approach to his outright selections and finished the 2021-22 season up 42 units on those plays, having hit Cameron Smith (22-1) at the Tournament of Champions, Hudson Swafford (250-1) at The American Express, Joaquin Niemann (70-1) at the Genesis Invitational and Justin Thomas (66-1) live at the PGA Championship.
McDonald has hit seven of his 11 matchup plays over the past three weeks and is up more than 14 units on those picks this season. At the Bermuda Championship, he backed winner Seamus Power +100 over pre-tournament favorite Denny McCarthy. For the Zozo Championship, he predicted that winner Keegan Bradley would beat Corey Conners, one of the favorites. McDonald also nailed a first-round leader at the Zozo, backing 80-1 Brendan Steele. Anyone who followed McDonald’s advice has cashed in huge.
Now, McDonald has studied the 2022 Houston Open field and is locking in his best bets, top sleepers and favorites to avoid. You can head to SportsLine now to see all his PGA picks and predictions.
Top 2022 Houston Open expert picks
McDonald faded McNealy last week before his top-10 finish, and the expert is still not sold, so he is fading the 27-year-old again. McNealy gained six strokes on the field with his putter in Mexico, and McDonald knows that’s not sustainable. When the putter cools off, “this hot streak will burst in a big way,” the expert says. The California native is fourth in strokes gained putting and was 19th last season. But he also was 122nd in strokes gained on approach and 124th around the green, and he hasn’t been any better this fall. McDonald will find better value elsewhere.
On the other hand, the expert isn’t fazed by Finau’s missed cut last week and expects his well-rounded game to play better in Houston this time. The 33-year-old had a strong showing at the Presidents Cup, going 3-1-0 in the Americans’ victory, and closed last season on a roll. He had back-to-back victories and two other top-10 finishes in his final five events. He finished last season in the top 15 in strokes gained off the tee, approach and tee to green and was 58th in putting. He was fifth in greens in regulation (71.25 percent) and 11th in scoring (69.748). See who else to pick at the Houston Open here.
How to make 2022 Houston Open golf picks
Before this week’s PGA Tour event at Memorial Park, McDonald has locked in his best bets for the 2022 Houston Open. He has several outright plays, including a huge longshot who would bring a monster payout of 200-1. You can only find out who it is, and see the rest of McDonald’s picks and PGA Tour analysis, at SportsLine.
So which 2022 Houston Open picks should you target? Which golfer priced at a massive 200-1 could pull off a stunning victory this week at Houston Open 2022? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald’s top picks for Houston Open 2022, all from the expert who ended last season up 42 units on outright plays, and find out.
2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open odds, field, top contenders
See full Houston Open 2022 picks, best bets, and predictions here.
Scottie Scheffler +550
Sam Burns +1200
Tony Finau +1600
Aaron Wise +1600
Taylor Montgomery +2000
Maverick McNealy +2000
Hideki Matsuyama +2200
Russell Henley +2500
Jason Day +3000
Denny McCarthy +3500
Sahith Theegala +4000
Matthew NeSmith +4000
Andrew Putnam +4000
Joel Dahmen +4500
Keith Mitchell +5000
Emiliano Grillo +5000
Davis Riley +5000
Taylor Pendrith +5000
Alex Noren +5000
Adam Hadwin +5000
Taylor Moore +5000
Si-Woo Kim +5000
Sebastian Munoz +6500
Patrick Rodgers +6500
Mackenzie Hughes +6500
Dean Burmester +6500
Alex Smalley +6500
Sepp Straka +8000
Lee Hodges +8000
Justin Lower +8000
Wyndham Clark +8000
Will Gordon +8000
Greyson Sigg +8000
Harris English +8000
Adam Schenk +8000
Ryan Palmer +10000
Robby Shelton +10000
Nick Taylor +10000
Luke List +10000
Justin Suh +10000
Justin Rose +10000
Francesco Molinari +10000
Davis Thompson +10000
Cameron Champ +10000
Brandon Wu +10000
Brendan Steele +10000
Beau Hossler +10000
Stephan Jagger +10000
Adam Long +10000
Aaron Rai +10000