With the Masters only a week away, things are heating up towards the most prestigious golfing event, however, first, we must turn our attention to the Vivint Houston Open which tees off at 7.45 am (ET) on Thursday 5, November.
The players will face a tricky course as Memorial Park will host its first-ever PGA Tour event since 1963 and ahead of their first tour in 57 years, it has been redesigned by Tom Doak with the help of golfer Brooks Koepka. The fairways have been widened, some obstacles such as trees are no longer there and the holes have been shortened.
Let’s take a look at the three leading contenders of the Vivint Houston Open:
Dustin Johnson (Odds: +700)
Dustin Johnson is back in action after having caught coronavirus which sidelined him for 11 days in October which meant he also withdrew from two tournaments. The world no 1 golfer and reigning FedExCup champion Johnson is the frontrunner to claim the event.
Although his last three tournaments have thrown up a mixed bag of results. In his previous tournament, Johnson tied for sixth place in the U. S. Open Championship after posting a score of +5.
However, he did win the Tour Championship and claimed the FedExCup at East Lake Golf Club in early September where he posted a score of -21. He also did quite well in the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club where he finished in second place when he finished on -4.
He’s back!#DJGolfSchool #DustinJohnson #FlexIt pic.twitter.com/BhUFysiRCG
— Dustin Johnson Golf School (@DJGolfSchool) November 5, 2020
Tyrrell Hatton (Odds: +1600)
Englishmen Tyrrell Hatton makes his Vivint Houston Open debut, although his odds are at +1600 there is a reason why he is the second favorite. Hatton is ranked 10th in the overall PGA rankings and he did win the BMW PGA Championship when he posted an overall score of -19.
He performed admirably in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek Golf Course in North Las Vegas, where he tied for third place with a score of -17, while in the ZOZO championship at Sherwood Golf Course he tied for 28th place as he finished with a score of -5.
.@TyrrellHatton is making his debut at the @HouOpenGolf. He meets with the media from Memorial Park. https://t.co/tQRzjbrSqq
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 4, 2020
Tony Finau (Odds: +1800)
Tony Finau may be the dark horse when it comes to the Houston Open as he is the third favorite for the event with +1800 odds to his name.
Finau has had a mixed bag of results this year so it probably comes as no surprise as why the 17th best golfer in the PGA tour has the odds he has.
Finau’s best tournament this year has been in the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, where he finished in fourth place sharing the position with Jason Day, Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Wolff, and Scottie Scheffler.
Finau also did quite well in the BMW Championship where he finished in fifth place, but then couldn’t quite get a top 10 spot in the Tour Championship where he placed 17th, he then responded in the U. S, Open where he finished in eighth place.
But in his last appearance at the ZOZO Championship, he finished outside the top 10, where he finished in 11th palace.
This year’s field continues to grow! #HoustonOpen pic.twitter.com/p8Fqt44oa7
— Vivint Houston Open (@HouOpenGolf) October 8, 2020
* Odds correct at time of publication.
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Image by: Soheb Zaidi
