The Texas Children’s Houston Open is the first of two events in the Lone Star State. Fresh from four weeks in Florida, the two Texas events will determine the final invites for the Masters Tournament, as well as parts of the RBC Heritage field via the Aon Next 10 and Aon Swing 5.

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are clear favorites in the eyes of oddsmakers, so it’s no surprise to see them towering over the rest of the field in terms of salaries for DraftKings DFS contests. After taking last week off, Scheffler ($12,700) tops the salary list with McIlroy ($11,700) close behind at Memorial Park Golf Course.

Scheffler, still searching for his first win of the 2025 season, tees it up for the final time before hosting the Masters Club dinner at Augusta National two weeks from Tuesday. The Dallas resident, who has not contended much since winning the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas last December, will feature in plenty of DFS rosters in his adopted home state. Three consecutive finishes inside the top 10, including a pair of T2 paydays, push him well ahead of the debutant McIlroy.

For $1,000 less, investors can secure the only two-time winner on TOUR this season, plus a man with 28 PGA TOUR wins to his name. McIlroy used TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course as his start before the Masters in 2024 and ran third. Leading the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Total and Off-the-Tee, plus ranking 10th in SG: Putting, he stands out.

But in a week where either of those two options could break the bank, there are plenty of options elsewhere to consider.

Following the top dogs in the Official World Golf Ranking, J.J. Spaun ($9,900) and Aaron Rai ($9,800) present interesting cases. Spaun, fresh from his playoff loss to McIlroy at THE PLAYERS Championship, is the only man on TOUR with three top-three finishes this year. He’s also won in Texas at the event next week in San Antonio. Rai, who hit the top 10 at Memorial Park in the last two years at T7, only squared five bogeys in 2024 and only needed 101 putts, the least in the field, in 2022.

The fifth edition at Memorial Park features a pair of past champions. Stephan Jaeger ($8,800) and Tony Finau ($9,200) each pack a punch from tee to green and also have multiple top-10 paydays. Jaeger signed for T9 in the final November edition of 2022 – the year Finau won – before lifting the trophy in 2024. Finau, who has posted 62 and matched the course record, followed up his win with a T2 in 2024. With $50,000 to spend, riding the favorites dents the budget quickly. Getting six players to the weekend on a demanding track will take some creativity.

After missing out at THE PLAYERS and not teeing it up at Valspar, Jason Day ($9,000) deserves a look. Rested and ready to go, the Australian has won on plenty of big ballparks and multiple times in Texas.

Michael Kim ($8,800) posted on X that he was out of gas and does not care for the course in use this week. He also reminded his followers that a top-20 payday should push him into the Masters and that he didn’t love PGA National, a course where he finished T6. The bubbling Jacob Bridgeman ($8,400) hit the podium for the second time in four events with a solo third last week at Valspar. He will enjoy the massive, 7,000-square-foot putting surfaces for approaches and with his excellent flat stick.

The Woodlands resident Sahith Theegala ($8,000) will sleep in his own bed this week, and that might be the tonic to kick-start his 2025 season. Davis Riley ($7,600) opened and closed with 65 in 2024 and has cashed T29 or better in all three starts. With two top-10 results in his last three, the stars are aligning. Mackenzie Hughes ($7,500) is making his fifth start at Memorial Park, has never cashed outside T29, and owns a scoring average below 69.

A nagging back injury kept Victor Perez ($7,100) out at THE PLAYERS, but he cashed T18 at PGA National two weeks before and T22 at Innisbrook the week after. Sitting 14th in Driving Accuracy, he should enjoy showing off on the tight fairways of Memorial Park. Since his season-best T25 at VidantaWorld, Jeremy Paul ($7,000) added T16 at the Puerto Rico Open and T22 last week at Valspar. He currently sits 47th SG: Total due to gaining strokes off the tee and with his putter.

In terms of options to round out your roster, Emiliano Grillo ($6,700) squared only five bogeys last week at the Copperhead Course to lead the field and pick up his best check of the season (T22). Pars will not hurt again this week on a course that ranks in the top 15 annually. Alejandro Tosti ($6,700) missed the cut in his last three events but was one of five players to share second here last year. He was one of four to post four rounds in the 60s. The last time he had a weekend tee time in 2025, he collected a check for T10 at VidantaWorld. Dots connected.

Here's how I would devise a six-man lineup this week at Memorial Park, staying within the $50,000 salary cap for DraftKings contests:

• Aaron Rai ($9,800)
• Tony Finau ($9,200)
• Michael Kim ($8,700)
• Davis Riley ($7,600)
• Mackenzie Hughes ($7,500)
• Victor Perez ($7,100)