The PGA Tour continues this week as it visits Memorial Park Golf Course for the 2021 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open. Read on below to see my prediction for who will win the tournament, as well as my predictions for who will finish in the top 10, my dark horse, and my player to fade.
Winner: Sam Burns- Burns has been on quite the tear since last season, with 2 wins and 10 top 10’s in 29 starts, including a win this season at the Sanderson Farms Championship. With 3 top 15 finishes where he went a combined -58 to start the season, Burns brings a ton on momentum into the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open, where he finished T-7 last season. The leader in Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green and inside the top 5 in Strokes Gained: Approach-The-Green and Total, I predict that Sam Burns will continue his torrid stretch of play and bring home the victory this week!
Top 10: Talor Gooch- Like Burns, Gooch has also had a terrific start to this season, finishing in the top 11 in all 4 of his starts while going a combined -66 during that stretch. Gooch too has past success in this event, finishing T-4 here last season after shooting a 63 in the final round. Gooch is inside the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Approach-The-Green, Around-The-Green, Tee-To-Green, and Total and is one of the hottest players on the planet right now. Gooch is a lock for a top 10.
Dark Horse: Chad Ramey- In his rookie season on the PGA Tour, Ramey has impressed so far, with back to back top 20 finishes and only 1 missed cut in 4 starts this season. Ramey had a stellar close to his Korn Ferry Tour season this past year as well, with 1 win, 3 top 10’s, and 11 top 20 finishes in his final 13 starts. A win would be a huge upset for Ramey, but I predict that his consistent play will net him a solid top 25 finish by week’s end.
Player to Fade: Connor Arendell- Arendell has had very little success on the PGA Tour, missing the cut in all 5 of his previous starts. Winner of the 2021 Florida Open, I predict that Arendell will struggle in a field filled with A-listers this week and will easily miss the cut.