Scottie Scheffler took the week off after winning consecutive Signature Events, so of course we had another longshot winner with Peter Malnati at 350-1 emerging victorious at the Valspar Championship.
The man known for his bucket hat and yellow golf ball is now the eighth player in 12 (non-alternate field) PGA Tour events this season to win with outright odds of at least 100-1. That doesn’t even include Hideki Matsuyama, who won at 80-1 at The Genesis Invitational.
Longshot better need to defeat Scottie Scheffler this week, who sits as short as +250 in the Houston Open outright market. However, the rest of the field isn’t too daunting as there isn’t a ton of relative depth this week.
Find my Houston Open Longshots & Sleepers below.
Houston Open Longshots & Sleepers
Robert MacIntyre 150-1 (FanDuel)
Unlike many other golfers in this range of outright odds, Robert MacIntyre has winning upside.
The two-time DP World Tour winner has flashed in a few major championships and was four shots clear of every other golfer at the 2023 Scottish Open besides winner Rory McIlroy in a close call for his first PGA Tour win.
While he has long been considered a rising golfer on the PGA Tour, he hasn't won in the U.S. so far. He thrives at difficult tracks and is a great driver of the ball, so Memorial Park should suit his eye, and he is worth a shot in the outright market at 150-1.
Cameron Champ 150-1 (BetMGM)
Cameron Champ is one of the most volatile golfers on the PGA Tour. He leads the Tour in both Driving Distance (314.9 yards) and Ball Speed (189.94 MPH) so far this season, so if his game is clicking off the tee, he could contend at a course like Memorial Park given its length. If the Texas A&M Aggie isn't locked in off the tee, he will probably miss the cut.
Nonetheless, there are signs of life for Champ as he is coming off of a tie for 26th at the Valspar Championship this past weekend, when he finished in the top 10 players in both Strokes Gained: (SG) Off the Tee (10th) and SG: Putting (fourth). This is relevant because Copperhead is a course that punishes golfers for missing fairways. Having played his college golf in nearby College Station, Champ should be familiar with Memorial Park.
Justin Suh 200-1 (FanDuel)
With the PGA Tour moving from Florida to Texas, this means golfers will experience a change in golf course style where there is much less water in play in the Lone Star State. While Copperhead may share some similarities with Memorial Park, I wouldn’t worry too much about players in this range of odds who didn’t put it together in the Sunshine State.
That reasoning led me to Justin Suh after he missed four consecutive cuts before tying for 33rd last week at Copperhead. The USC Trojan has his ball-striking numbers trending in the right direction, and after recording four top-10 finishes last season, he might be undervalued this season. Although he hasn’t recorded a top 10 yet this season, the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year may be flying under the radar and trending toward his first PGA Tour win.
