2024 The Texas Children’s Houston Open: Power Rankings, Defending Champion, Prize Money, and Major Details

The PGA Tour is a place where dreams do come true. That is something Peter Malnati would definitely agree with. Anyhow, the community was able to witness an amazing display of golf at the final stop of the 2024 Florida Swing. What’s next then? Well, the professionals now move on to Texas, or more specifically, the Memorial Park Golf Course which will host the Texas Children’s Houston Open.

The 14th event of the 2024 PGA Tour calendar will kick off on March 28 and see its final round take place on March 31, Sunday. Meanwhile, the tournament will witness top athletes duking it out for the winner’s cut of the $9.1 million purse, a figure of $1.638 million which only one golfer will be able to claim!

Top picks for the Texas Children’s Houston Open

The field of 144 golfers will tee it up at the upcoming event in Texas. The list of athletes will include players who are fully exempted as well as Sponsor exemptions. Moreover, many would also be on the lookout to become part of the Aon Swing 5 and the Aon Next 10 standings for the upcoming signature event. Thus, there will undoubtedly be favorites in the community who are slated to come out on top at the event.

1. Tony Finau: The current No.30 in the world is the defending champion of the tournament when it was dubbed the Cadence Bank Houston Open in 2023. Interestingly, he was able to come out on top with a score of 16-under, four strokes ahead of the runner-up. Although he has not had the best of starts this year, Finau boasts a total of three top-20 finishes, including a T6 at the Farmers Insurance Open. What’s more, if he can successfully defend his title, the 34-year-old would become the first person to do so after Vijay Singh in 2004-05.

2. Scottie Scheffler: Possibly the most talked about golfer at the moment, the American will be teeing it up at the upcoming contest after a scintillating back-to-back victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the PLAYERS Championship. Including the recent triumphs, the No.1 golfer in the OWGR also boasts a total of six top-10 finishes in the seven starts he made in 2024. He would surely be looking to increase his tally of wins in the season to three and thus, is a formidable foe for the other professionals in the field.

3. Wyndham Clark: The 30-year-old has a total of three top-10 finishes in the seven starts he made in the year. However, the three finishes including two T2 finishes at THE PLAYERS Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and a victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am have dubbed him as a force to be reckoned with, no doubt. Moreover, his recent finishes have allowed him to move up the world rankings to place himself at No.4. Underestimate him at your own risk.

4. Sahith Theegala: The current No.15 in the Official World Golf Rankings had a good start to the year with a T2 at the Sentry. He followed it with three more top-10 finishes at the WM Phoenix Open, The Arnold Palmer Invitational, and the event deemed as ‘The Fifth Major’ of golf, with his best coming off from TPC Scottsdale. Besides, if his current form continues, he may very well be a threat to Finau defending his title and Scheffler raking in his 3rd win of the year at The Texas Children’s Houston Open.

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5. Will Zalatoris: The 27-year-old has had a mixed season on the Monahan-led circuit. Interestingly, the Texas native will be hoping to rebound from missing the cut at the recently ended event. But even so, he had two top-five finishes in a row at the two signature events including the Genesis Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Anyhow, he would be hoping to rake in his second PGA Tour victory at the Memorial Park Golf Course.

The Texas challenge for the PGA Tour Pros

Known as one of the best municipal courses in the nation, the Memorial Park Golf Course began as a 9-hole course filled with sandy greens and was built near the hospital at Camp Logan. However, John Bredemus redesigned the course and it was then subsequently re-opened in 1936. Meanwhile, Bredemus himself dubbed the course as his  “greatest golf course ever.”

The renovations were done by world-renowned golf course architect, Tom Doak along with Brooks Koepka serving as the PGA TOUR player consultant before he defected, and Don Mahaffey, President of Greenscape Methods, overseeing the construction of the same. All in all, the golf world is sure in for a scintillating display of golf in Texas this weekend!

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