Houston Open: Dave Tindall's each-way picks from 33/1 to 100/1

• 33/134.00 Jason Day has the game to thrive here

• 50/151.00 Taylor Moore was runner-up last year

• 100/1101.00 Victor Perez has good credentials at the odds

• The Masters starts on April 10. Read Dave Tindall's guide to the 2025 Masters here!

Brief history of the Houston Open

The Houston Open was first played in 1946 and this week's venue, Memorial Park, has staged 17 of them.

The initial streak ended in 1963 but after a Tom Doak redesign in 2019, it came back onto the PGA Tour.

Even then, the editions in 2020, 2021 and 2022 can't quite be married up to this week as they were all held in November when the course played differently.

It means last year's Houston Open here, also held in March when the Bermuda grass was overseeded, is the best pointer.

Twelve months ago, big-hitting Stephan Jaeger took the title and Driving Distance was a definite factor.

Other stats stood out too though. Around The Green is often the poor relation in the Strokes Gained stats but it showed up stronger than Approach which is highly unusual.

There's a logical reason for ATG's prominence. Memorial Park has shaved run-off areas around the greens - think Augusta, Pinehurst No.2 and Quail Hollow - so a sharp short game is rewarded as there's usually more skill used in chipping off tight lies than hacking out of thick rough.

Putting has always been rewarded as the winners in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024 (there was no tournament in 2023) all ranked in the top five for SG: Putting. 

Jason Day @ 33/134.00

Jason Day has three wins in Texas and is playing well enough this season to add a fourth. That would take his tally of PGA Tour victories to 14.

The Aussie, a former Texas resident, was third at The American Express, eighth at Bay Hill last time and 13th at Pebble Beach.

Unusually for him, the putter was cold in the first few months of 2025 but he ranked fifth for SG: Putting in the Arnold Palmer Invitational so looks to have worked that out again.

Day really jumped into my head due to the short-game test required this week.

Thinking of some of the courses that correlate, I can picture Day's name on leaderboards and a deeper delve reveals even more good news.

Wind back to the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst and Day can be found finishing fourth. Not only that he ranked sixth for Scrambling, showing how his short game was a real asset chipping from those shaved run-off areas.

But if you want more recent evidence, simply get the stats up for recent editions of The Masters. 

Day ranked sixth for SG: Around The Green at Augusta in 2024, while he's been in the top 10 for Scrambling in three of the last five Masters. He's a demon chipping off those bare lies after balls have been repelled off greens.

A reminder here that his finishes at Augusta include a second, a third, a fifth, a 10th and three other top 25s.

How about at Quail Hollow, another course with runoff areas that requires short-game magic?

Day was fourth there last year and guess who finished first for Around The Green? Yep, our headline selection.

At Bay Hill, Day revealed that he was working again with former long-time coach and mentor Collin Swatton.

They immediately clicked and it was frustrating that the 2015 US PGA winner had to withdraw from The Players Championship due to illness.

But he should be itching to go here and with a course record that includes seventh and 16th in four appearances, Day has the chance to land his first PGA victory since 2023's triumph in another Lone Star State event, the Byron Nelson.

Still able to give it a good thump off the tee, back Day at 33s.

Taylor Moore @ 50/151.00

We already have evidence that Taylor Moore likes this course in March as he was one of the five runners-up here last year.

And what stood out was that he seemed to follow the ideal recipe for success - bashing it off the tee and showing magic with the short game.

Moore ranked second for Around The Green, seventh in Putting and 19th Off The Tee.

Like Day, he's not the biggest hitter the world has ever seen but he's long, ranking 32nd for Driving Distance this year.

In addition, he's in the top 20 for two desired categories this week: Off The Tee (19th) and Around The Green (19th).

Moore has also shown off his ability from tight lies off the green with two good showings in The Masters (39th on debut and 20th last year).

Twelve months ago he was 16th for Around The Green at Augusta. 

As for his play this year, he missed the cut at the Valspar but was 16th at halfway at the Players Championship before finishing 33rd and prior to that posted top 10s in Phoenix and The American Express.

Born in Texas and now a Dallas resident, making this the scene of his second PGA Tour win would be extra sweet.

Victor Perez @ 100/1101.00

I thought about Davis Thompson 28/129.00 and defending champion Stephan Jaeger 33/134.00 for the final slot.

Runaway Phoenix Open winner Thomas Detry was tied second here last year so could be interesting at 40/141.00 while Jesper Svensson should enjoy this test and is a big price at 125/1126.00.

But I will actually go with a European winning it for the second year running by backing Victor Perez.

The Frenchman is probably best known on Euro shores for capturing the prestigious Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland in 2019.

Since then he's added the 2022 Dutch Open and 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

American viewers may best recall him making a surprise run to the last four of the 2021 Match Play when it was a WGC event.

That, of course, was also in Texas and maybe it was a likely place for Perez to shine given that he spent his college days (studying psychology) in the neighbouring state of New Mexico.

Perez made his debut in this event last year and enjoyed himself, shooting 67-68 on the weekend to secure a top 20 finish.

He ranked 12th for Around The Green on the way to that 17th place so handled the short-game test well.

Illness caused him to miss The Players but either side of that he was 18th at the Cognizant Classic (19th ATG) and 22nd at the Valspar so his latest form is encouraging.

A longer than average driver, he's hitting his irons well and has the credentials to get in the mix at a three-figure price.

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