Houston Open Each-Way Tips: Keep faith in Matsuyama

• 22/1 Hideki Matsuyama excels on tough courses
• 66/1 Adam Hadwin comes in with a hot putter
• In-form Will Gordon can challenge at 50/1

Main Bet: Hideki Matsuyama each-way @ 23.022/1

A total of 67 players broke par in Mexico last week as Russell Henley lifted the trophy with 23-under.

It was a similar story in the previous week's Bermuda Championship as 64 of the 67 who made the cut finished in red numbers.

Expect that high birdie count to drop as the Houston Open heads to Memorial Park for the third straight year.

Since the switch to the tough 7,432-yard par 70 (comprising three par 5s and five par 3s), 37 players broke par in 2020 and just 28 last year when Jason Kokrak was the only player to finish in double digits under the card. His 10-under tally won by two.

Kokrak finished third in Strokes Gained: Putting while three of the top four finishers were in the top six for that category.

Strong driving was also a key with the top three ranking 14th, 3rd and 2nd for SG: Off The Tee.

The sample size of data is still small but that tallies fairly well with the 2020 edition when the first six home were all in the top 15 for SG: Putting and runner-up Dustin Johson ranked 2nd in SG: Off The Tee.

Speaking of tee shots, it seems length is useful, although with the rough a little higher this year, finding fairways could be important too.

It's a strong front end of the market and Scottie Scheffler - third last week and second on this course last year - could be hard to stop.

Sam Burns, who owns a pair of top sevens here, will also be a likely challenger.

But with Scheffler 11/2 and Burns 12/1, 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.

Next, the putter seems to have warmed up. It's been a problem on and off for the Japanese star but he's recorded positive SG: Putting figures in his last four tournaments and ranked 20th for SGP at the CJ Cup last time.

In addition, an excellent US Open record which includes a second and a fourth shows that he revels in tough conditions.

So what about his health? Matsuyama joined Twitter last month and his latest update, posted on November 1 shows him smashing a driver which it's reasonable to take as a positive sign.

A class act, a fine driver of the ball and a player with a good record at this time of year, I'm hoping he can dig in and outrun his odds.

Next Best: Adam Hadwin each-way @ 67.066/1

If we want to zone in on someone with a hot putter, Adam Hadwin fits the bill.

The Canadian ranks 20th in Strokes Gained: Putting this season, his last two measured tournaments showing him 8th (4.873) at the Shriners and 11th (4.269) at the CJ Cup.

Only regular stats were recorded in Mexico last week but Hadwin was 11th for Putting Average so he's certainly rolling it better than most.

As for actual finishes, he had to settle for tied 32nd at the World Wide Technology Championship on Sunday but two starts earlier his good putting had helped him finished tied 10th at the Shriners in Las Vegas.

This will be Hadwin's course debut at Memorial Park but he's enjoyed recent starts in the Lone Star State.

Earlier this year, he closed with a 67 to finish tied fourth in the Texas Open at TPC San Antonio and that too is played on a testing track (JJ Spaun won with 13-under).

Prior to that, his previous Texas start yielded a top eight at Colonial Country Club.

Another good pointer to his ability to grind out a score is a tied seventh in June's US Open at The Country Club where he was one of just nine players to break par.

Having made eight straight cuts since late July, Hadwin is in solid form and hopefully the putter will take him far this week.

He looks a decent price at 66/1.

Final Bet: Will Gordon each-way @ 51.050/1

I'm going to close with a punt on Will Gordon at 50/1.

Gordon burst out of the blocks with a 62 in last week's event at Mayakoba and followed through with his effort to finish in a tie for third.

That was a step up but he's been in solid form all season, making all five cuts and not finishing lower than tied 44th at the Shriners and even there he flashed some good stuff after opening with a 65 and closing with a 63.

In Bermuda two weeks ago, Gordon was tied eighth with a round to go before sliding so he looks on the cusp of something really big.

Perhaps his upwards trajectory will follow the same pattern of his recent play on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Back in August, Gordon posted back-to-back top five finishes in the Utah Championship and the Pinnacle Championship. Fuelled by that confidence, he won the Boise Open in the third week of that hot run.

Those who have followed his PGA Tour performances will know that Gordon is a strong driver of the ball (currently 32nd in SG: Off The Tee) and he can certainly launch it from the tee.

There has been an uptick in his putting as well which bodes well.

The final plus is that he's played Memorial Park before and finished a decent tied 38th.

That doesn't tell half the story though. Gordon opened with a 76, played two excellent middle rounds of 67 and 65 to jump into the top 20 before coming home with a 72.

A confidence player, Gordon said last week: "There's a lot of guys kind of my age and younger that are having a lot of success out here, guys that I grew up playing with.

"So I think it does kind of take the fear away in a sense because you know you can do it, but you've still got to go out and do it and earn it.

"So it's been good to see the KFT class play well this fall."

A third place last week will add to that belief that he can thrive too and this could be a good place to catch him.

Gordon has no apparent Texas connections (although he did go to Uni at Vanderbilt in Tennessee, another southern State) but he said in the Sanderson Farms recently: "I went to Houston and hung out with some buddies last weekend."

Perhaps he'll have more support/good vibes here than we think but, regardless, the 26-year-old has the game, form and confidence to excel this week.