We have our story of the year in golf and it’s still only March.
Call it the Texas two-step. This week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open is the beginning of a two-event swing for the PGA Tour through the Lone Star State.
Memorial Park Golf Course, a municipal layout refreshed in 2019 by noted course architect Tom Doak, with consultation from Brooks Koepka, plays host for the six straight season. The course is located just west of Houston’s downtown and will also host the Chevron Championship, the LPGA Tour’s first major of the 2026 season, next month.
Koepka, back on the PGA Tour in 2026 after leaving the LIV Golf League late last year, is among those being followed closely this week, given his connection to the course as well as the fact he’s coming off three straight top-20 finishes.
The field includes 18 of the top 50 players in the World Ranking with Chris Gotterup leading the way at No. 10. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler had been scheduled to play, but withdrew on Tuesday due to the pending birth of his second child.
Beyond who might claim the title, a secondary storyline centers around the upcoming Masters and the chance for players to claim last-minute invites. Thirty players in the field at Memorial Park have already qualified to play at Augusta National. Any player not already in the Masters field who is in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of play on Sunday will also earn an invitation. Players in the field between Nos. 40-65 in the OWGR who have not qualified for the Masters: Jake Knapp (No. 42), Nicolai Højgaard (No. 47), Pierceson Coody (No. 51), Michael Thorbjornsen (No. 56), Rickie Fowler (No. 61) and Jordan Smith (No. 65).
The overall prize money payout this week in Houston is $9.9 million with the winner claiming a first-place payday of $1.782 million. Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer. Come back on Sunday after the end of the tournament and we’ll update this list with names and detail payouts.
Win: Gary Woodland, -21/259, $1,782,000
2: Nicolai Hojgaard, -16/264, $1,079,100
T-3: Johnny Keefer, -15/265, $584,100
T-3: Min Woo Lee, -15/265, $584,100
5: Sam Stevens, -14/266, $405,900
T-6: Jake Knapp, -13/267, $322,987
T-6: Chris Gotterup, -13/267, $322,987
T-6: Sudarshan Yellamaraju, -13/267, $322,987
T-6: Jason Day, -13/267, $322,987
T-10: Bronson Burgoon, -12/268, $259,875
T-10: Sahith Theegala, -12/268, $259,875
T-12: Adrien Dumont de Chassart, -11/269, $220,275
T-12: Denny McCarthy, -11/269, $220,275
T-14: Keith Mitchell, -10/270, $170,775
T-14: Pontus Nyholm, -10/270, $170,775
T-14: Thorbjorn Olesen, -10/270, $170,775
T-14: Jhonattan Vegas, -10/270, $170,775
T-14: Michael Thorbjornsen, -10/270, $170,775
T-19: Max McGreevy, -9/271, $136,125
T-19: Karl Vilips, -9/271, $136,125
T-21: Sam Burns, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Aldrich Potgieter, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Alex Smalley, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Harris English, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Beau Hossler, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Zecheng Dou, -8/272, $96,525
T-21: Adam Scott, -8/272, $96,525
T-28: Mac Meissner, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Rasmus Hojgaard, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Harry Hall, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Ben Griffin, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Vince Whaley, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Shane Lowry, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Rico Hoey, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Chad Ramey, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Jackson Suber, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Michael Brenna, -7/273, $59,625
T-28: Stephan Jaeger, -7/273, $59,625
T-39: Jeffrey Kang, -6/274, $41,085
T-39: Adrien Saddier, -6/274, $41,085
T-39: Austin Eckroat, -6/274, $41,085
T-39: Tony Finau, -6/274, $41,085
T-39: Paul Waring, -6/274, $41,085
T-44: William Mouw, -5/275, $32,175
T-44: Andrew Putnam, -5/275, $32,175
T-44: Jordan Smtih, -5/275, $32,175
T-44: Ricky Castillo, -5/275, $32,175
T-48: Erik van Rooyen, -4/276, $26,433
T-48: John Parry, -4/276, $26,433
T-48: Steven Fisk, -4/276, $26,433
T-51: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, -3/277, $23,938.20
T-51: Matthieu Pavon, -3/277, $23,938.20
T-51: Matt Wallace, -3/277, $23,938.20
T-51: Eric Cole, -3/277, $23,938.20
T-51: Chris Kirk, -3/277, $23,938.20
T-56: Matt Kuchar, -2/278, $22,770
T-56: Jimmy Stanger, -2/278, $22,770
T-56: Tom Kim, -2/278, $22,770
T-56: Danny Willett, -2/278, $22,770
T-60: Kurt Kitayama, -1/279, $21,879
T-60: Sungjae Im, -1/279, $21,879
T-60: Sam Ryder, -1/279, $21,879
T-60: Davis Riley, -1/279, $21,879
T-60: Takumi Kanaya, -1/279, $21,879
T-65: Kevin Roy, E/280, $21,087
T-65: Peter Malnati, E/280, $21,087
T-65: Lee Hodges, E/280, $21,087
68: Danny Walker, +1/281, $20,691
T-69: Garrick Higgo, +3/283, $20,394
T-69: Jesper Svensson, +3/283, $20,394
T-71: Brice Garnett, +4/284, $19,899
T-71: Tom Hoge, +4/284, $19,899
T-71: Emiliano Grillo, +4/284, $19,899
74: Matti Schmid, +5/285, $19,503
75: Luke Clanton, +7/287, $19,305
