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It seems a long time since Brooks Koepka won in Singapore – this will be the first LIV Golf event after a four-week break. And much has happened in-between. Bryson DeChambeau was the star of the show at the PGA Championship, winning the crowd but falling one shot short of the winner. Current LIV Golf player, Richard Bland, won the Senior PGA Championship and two former LIV Golf players finished 1-2 on the DP World Tour last week. This is, unusually, the first of a three-week spell for some of the LIV Golf players. This week is followed by the U.S. Open for 12 LIV Golf players and then LIV Golf moves to Nashville in two weeks’ time. It will be a tiring June for those players. The venue is the Golf Club of Houston which opened in 2005 and then hosted the Houston Open from 2006 to 2019. It was even placed the week before the Masters in the PGA Tour schedule until its move to November in 2019 as it was seen as ideal preparation for Augusta National. As such, it has pedigree as a ‘Major prep’ course, but it is hard to see how it would equally be ideal preparation for a U.S. Open. Maybe the thinking is that two weeks on U.S. Open-style courses would be too exhausting for the players. The Golf Club of Houston was specifically designed to host professional tournaments. It is a par-72, measuring 7,403 yards with standard features for professional tournaments: a driveable par-4 on the back-nine (the 12th hole, measuring 315 yards) and a long, 485-yard, par-4 18th hole with water down the left side of the fairway and the left side of the green. Winning scores at the Houston Open here ranged from 11- to 20-under-par so it is challenging enough not to be a birdie-fest. The fairways are generous, but sloped banks around the greens and a number of multi-tiered greens make the real challenges closer to the hole. It also validates its previous use as a prep course for the Masters. Admittedly, the last Tour event was held here five years, but there is enough course history to identify the type of player who fares well here, so here are a couple of angles that can be used this week. Angles to consider: 1. The short game will be important this week This course was previously used as an ideal preparation for Augusta National, but that was in April. The sloped banks and fast greens become even tougher to manage in June when the ground is harder and the greens firmer. The stimpmeter is apparently 12 feet this week. That means that even more skill is needed around and on the greens than when this course was used previously on the PGA Tour in Spring. In two of the last three Houston Opens here, the winner also led the field in putting average so there is a statistical basis for this angle, but it should only get stronger this week with the firm conditions. And with temperatures expected to reach 94-95F and the albeit light winds rising throughout the afternoon each day, this course could quickly place a strong focus on ball control. 2. Avoid players who competed in the U.S. Open qualifying this week A total of 17 LIV Golf players competed in ‘Golf’s Longest Day’ on Monday, amongst a total of 672 players. David Puig and Dean Burmester qualified for next week’s U.S. Open, while Joaquin Niemann, Anirban Lahiri, Kieran Vincent and Lucas Herbert all finished one shot short. Together with Marc Leishman who led his qualifier after the first round, but then shot 74 in the afternoon, these are all obvious players to fade this week. But for even though he didn’t get so close, competing in a 36-hole pressurised event is not good preparation for an event a few days later. Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players has been selected. Cameron Smith
As captain, he will be looking to lead Ripper GC to their third consecutive team win this week after celebrating trophies in Adelaide and Singapore. And he is also in good form himself, having finished runner-up in the last LIV Golf event, Singapore, as well as in Hong Kong. He didn’t fare as well in the PGA Championship last month, but he still led the field in strokes gained: around the green which will be relevant this week. He is known for his short game and this is borne by the stats: he leads the LIV Golf stats in terms of putting average both in this calendar year and over the last 12 months. He has played here twice previously, finishing in the top-20 in 2016, and is already exempt into next week’s event. Tyrrell Hatton
Hatton is another who is exempted into the U.S. Open event (via two categories to Smith’s three). He has become a very consistent player in LIV Golf events, securing top-5 finishes in two of the last three events. That has been borne from a strong short game which has overcome errant driving this year – he ranks inside the top-5 in LIV Golf for scrambling this year and that will be important this week, whereas his driving accuracy should not be such a penalty. Talor Gooch
Gooch famously is not exempt for next week’s U.S. Open and did make any attempt to qualify. He can fully focus on this event and the LIV Golf Nashville event in two weeks’ time. While winless this year, he has secured four top-10 finishes in seven LIV Golf starts, including 4th in the last event in Singapore. That doesn’t quite reach the standards of his three wins and claiming the LIV Golf individual title last year, but it is form enough and he clearly has the game to win this event. He finished 4th in the last Houston Open held on this course, which confirms the stats which highlight the suitability of his game to this course: he ranks inside the top-5 for scrambling and putting average this year. Tips 0-3; -6.00pts 1pt e.w. Cameron Smith 17/1 (Spreadex and Sporting Indez 1/5 1-2-3-4-5) 48th 1pt e.w. Tyrrell Hatton 15/1 (Spreadex and Sporting Indez 1/5 1-2-3-4-5) 18th 1pt e.w. Talor Gooch 17/1 (available generally 1/4 1-2-3-4-5) 15th
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