Here's everything you need to know about the Houston Open PrizePicks 2024: First-Round Plays for Thursday's PGA Tour event at Memorial Park Golf Course.
Memorial Park is a par-70, 7,432-yard track designed by John Bredemus and renovated by Tom Doak that presents a strong challenge and rewards those who can avoid mistakes and simply hit greens in regulation to keep them in contention.
Find my 2024 Houston Open PrizePicks for Thursday below.
2024 Houston Open PrizePicks
Wyndham Clark: Less Than 68.5 Strokes
Wyndham Clark profiles well for Memorial Park, given that Clark ranks 11th on Tour in Greens in Regulation percentage (GIR%) this season. While hitting greens is an obvious key for success at any venue, this need to land safely on the approach is amplified at Memorial Park considering that each of the top-three finishers here last season ranked seventh or higher among the field in GIR%, the only statistic in which such a trend occurred.
Additionally, Clark had some success here last season with a tie for 16th. He shot a 68 or lower in three of those four rounds, including Thursday's opening round.
Clark also enters this week in tremendous form with back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and THE PLAYERS Championship.
Aaron Rai: More Than 3.5 Birdies or Better
Aaron Rai is another golfer to back on Thursday, and I wrote about him in my first-round leader article this week. If I like him to lead after the opening round, then I definitely like him to record at least four birdies or better.
I want to utilize this opportunity to buy low on Rai after he missed the cut at last week's Valspar Championship by backing him to get back on track with a fast start on Thursday. We must remember that, prior to that missed cut, Rai had three straight finishes inside the top 35.
Memorial Park could absolutely be the venue to get back into form, considering he tied for 19th in his first appearance here in 2021 and followed that up with a tie for seventh in 2022. That same year, Rai tied for 12th at Colonial Country Club in the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge, another course designed by Bredemus.
These courses reward golfers who hit greens in regulation more than any other aspect of the game. Therefore, it makes sense that Rai succeeds at these venues given that hitting greens is the strongest aspect of his game, ranking eighth on Tour in GIR%.
Finally, Rai ranks 56th on Tour in Birdie or Better Percentage at nearly a 25% clip.
Alex Noren: Less Than 69 Strokes
Alex Noren is the last golfer to back on Thursday. Noren enters this week in good form following a 19th-place finish at THE PLAYERS Championship and a ninth-place finish at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches.
He has quietly been one of the most consistent golfers on Tour this season as he has made the weekend in 11 straight tournaments while posting two top-three finishes over that stretch. Noren continues to knock on the door of winning, and perhaps he finally kicks it down in Houston, considering he finished fourth here last year.
Noren shot a 68 or lower in three of those four rounds, including an opening-round 65 that resulted in a tie for first after Thursday. I once again reiterate the need to hit greens in regulation at this venue, which is good news for Noren as he ranks fourth on Tour in GIR%.
