Golf Tips: Best bets for Houston Open and Nedbank Golf Challenge

• Steve's in-depth previews of both tournaments
• Dave's each-way Houston & First Round Leader tips
• More bets for the Nedbank
• Players to back at long odds
• Course info and players' form stats

Houston Open: Dahmen worth chancing again

Steve Rawlings says: "It's very hard to draw too many conclusions from just two renewals but it looks like we have a strong course correlation emerging and form at Riviera looks well worth considering.

"Sam Burns led this event through rounds two and three before he imploded on Sunday in 2020 and he was five strokes clear at halfway in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera last year.

"Dustin Johnson, who tied second in 2020, is a standing dish around Riviera (won there twice), and the man that finished alongside him here, Hideki Matsuyama, has four top-11 finishes from just eight starts...

"Scheffler is a very worthy favourite, and I may yet have a saver on him before the off. I'll also have one more selection at least in the Find Me 100 Winner Column tomorrow but for now my sole selection Joel Dahmen, who finished tied for third in Mexico last week when a selection at 90.0.

"Given he has a fifth placed finish at Riviera, that he was fifth here on debut last year and he putted nicely last week, I'm quite surprised to see him trading at as big as 65.0."

Steve's bet: Back Joel Dahmen @ 65.0

Houston Open Each-Way Tips: Keep faith in Matsuyama

Dave Tindall: "My eye is drawn to the 22/1 about Hideki Matsuyama. Various neck and back ailments seem to have affected him for a while and perhaps they played a part in his fairly modest start to the season: 25th at the Fortinet, 40th at the ZOZO and 34th at the CJ Cup.

"But now the good news - and there's quite a bit of it. Matsuyama was runner-up here on his only appearance in 2020 when closing 66-63 on the weekend to post 11-under.

"His latest start in Texas produced a third place at the Byron Nelson Championship. On that occasion he went even lower on Sunday, firing a stunning 62."

Dave's bet: Back Hideki Matsuyama each-way @ 23.0

Houston Open: Course and current form stats

Andy Swales says: "The course was renovated 27 years ago at a cost of $7m, and it was here where former PGA Championship winner and broadcaster Dave Marr learned to play golf.

"And with the PGA Tour returning to Memorial Park in 2020, some more renovations were carried out under the watchful eyes of architect Tom Doak and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka.

"This included the widening of some fairways, although the rough was toughened up to compensate. The comprehensive redesign brought ravines and water into play, while reducing the number of bunkers from 54 to 19...

"Sam Burns, the 26-year-old from Louisiana, is the second-highest ranked golfer teeing-up in Houston where he has twice posted ties-for seventh. Tends to play his best golf in the southern states where all four of his PGA Tour victories have come."

Andy's Player to Watch: Sam Burns @ 18.017/1

Nedbank Golf Challenge: Qatar form could be the key

Steve Rawlings says: "In 10 previous visits to Sun City, George Coetzee has never bettered 12th here and that's the only reason he's drifted right out to 55.0 as he's bang in form.

"Following a seventh placed finish in the Open de France, Coetzee finished 17th at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and only last week he won the South African PGA Championship.

"He tends to play well in his homeland so his form here is a bit of a mystery given he's twice finished second at Doha. If we dig a bit deeper there's evidence to suggest he can play the track.

"Coetzee sat second after round one in 2014 (finished 16th) and he sat second at halfway here in 2016 before a poor weekend saw him slip to 25th, thanks mainly to an 82 on Saturday!

"George's only victory outside of South Africa (at the Portugal Masters in 2020) occurred after he'd won the week before in his homeland. He tends to hold his form for a few weeks when he gets hot, so I was happy to back him at 55.0."

Steve's bet: Back George Coetzee @ 55.0

Nedbank Golf Challenge Each-Way Tips: Perez can land Africa's major

Matt Cooper says: "Victor Perez's ability to get the ball from tee to green in neat style was revealed when he broke through in 2019 and was maintained in 2020, when he ranked top 30 for Greens in Regulation.

He lost form in 2021 but actually improved his GIR rankings to third and he is 15th this season.

"That's good news because, with the exception of Branden Grace, since stats have been available in this tournament winners have excelled at GIR (Perez is also a handy ninth in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, the rather more sophisticated measure of long game).

"His breakthrough came with victory in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship and he was soon challenging on tough tracks against quality fields in the HSBC Champions, Turkish Airlines Open, Abu Dhabi Championship, Dubai Desert Classic, Saudi International, BMW PGA Championship, DP World Tour Championship, THE PLAYERS Championship and he made the final four in the 2021 WGC Match Play."

Matt's bet: Back Victor Perez 1pt each-way @ 41.0

Nedbank Golf Challenge First-Round Leader Tips: Count on Coetzee

Dave Tindall says: "On first glance, George Coetzee doesn't appear to have the course form you might expect for one of South Africa's better players.

"He's played Gary Player Country Club 10 times competetively on either the DP World Tour or local Sunshine Tour and not managed better than 12th.

"But scratch below the surface and he was seventh after day one the last time the Nedbank Golf Challenge was played in 2019 and he's been second and fourth respectively after 18 holes there in 2014 and 2016.

"Last year when it staged the South African Open he didn't start fast but jumped 46 spots to 17th on day two thanks to a 4-under 68. There's enough there to think that, in his current form, he can set the early pace this week."

Dave's bet: Back George Coetzee each-way at 41.0

Find Me a 100 Winner: Doha form puts Wilson in the frame

Steve Rawlings says: "Oliver Wilson's 30th on debut in 2019 could and should have been a better result given he sat fourth with a round to go.

"The Englishman has ticked over nicely since he won in Denmark, he has some decent form in South Africa and also has fair form at Doha - home of the Qatar Masters.

"Form at Doha and the Gary Player Country Club corelates nicely so Wilson's Doha form figures, reading 20-64-5-12-69-MC-68-2-12 put him in with a shout here at a humongous price."

Steve's bet: Back Oliver Wilson @ 360.0

Nedbank Challenge 2022: Course and current form stats

Andy Swales says: "This parkland venue has Kikuyu grass fairways and Bent grass putting surfaces, and was carved out of densely-wooded rolling countryside.

"At over 7,800 yards in length, it is a monster of a layout that demands accurate ball-striking, as well as power and accuracy.

"Although the ball flies further than normal, because the course is laid out just over 1,000 feet above sea level, it still requires plenty of hefty swipes to get to grips with this venue...

"Tommy Fleetwood is remarkably high in the World Ranking (No 25) for a player who hasn't won on Tour for three years. However, this perfectly illustrates his high-level of consistency over the past 14 months. Was a champion at Sun City in 2019 and this week offers the Englishman a great chance to enter the winners' enclosure once again."

Andy's Player to Watch: Tommy Fleetwood @ 11.010/1