The First Look: Texas Children's Houston Open

With respect to Beyoncé, this is Texas.

The PGA TOUR heads back to Houston for the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course where Tony Finau is the defending champion.

However, he’ll have to hold off world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler – returning to action after back-to-back wins on the PGA TOUR.

This tournament was last held in November 2022, and with the PGA TOUR returning to a calendar-year schedule for 2024, it was not held in 2023.

So, with the tournament’s return, here’s everything else you need to know as the TOUR begins its Texas two-step in Houston.

FIELD NOTES: Scottie Scheffler returns to action after his dramatic win at THE PLAYERS Championship. Scheffler has won two events in a row on the PGA TOUR (the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard prior to his triumph at TPC Sawgrass) and has not finished outside the top 20 in any event so far this season. He’s looking to become the first golfer to win three straight events on the PGA TOUR since 2017. Scheffler has notched back-to-back top-10s in Houston and shares the course record at Memorial Park, an 8-under 62… Wyndham Clark, who fell one lipped-out birdie try short of tying Scheffler at THE PLAYERS, is back in action. Clark, a winner already this season, finished 16th at Memorial Park in 2022 – his best career finish in Houston… Tony Finau looks to become the first person to successfully defend his title in Houston since Vijay Singh in 2004-05. Finau has made seven of eight cuts so far this season. He’s had a mixed bag of results at this golf course, with a T24 and a missed cut the other finishes at Memorial Park… Texan Will Zalatoris is hoping to rebound from an early exit at THE PLAYERS. Zalatoris had two top-five finishes in a row at Signature Events before missing the cut at TPC Sawgrass. This is Zalatoris’ tournament debut in Houston… Peter Malnati is back in action after finding the winner’s circle at the Valspar Championship. Malnati’s triumph just outside Tampa was his first TOUR title in more than 3,000 days… Other notables in the field include Sahith Theegala, Jason Day, and Nick Dunlap… This is the final week prior to the world top-50 cutoff to qualify for the Masters. Amongst those in the field this week in Houston and needing an excellent finish to get to Augusta National include TOUR winners Tom Hoge (No. 57) and Mackenzie Hughes (No. 63) plus 10-time DP World Tour winner Alex Noren (No. 64).

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Sam Bennett, the 2022 U.S. Amateur champion, will make his 2024 PGA TOUR debut. Bennett, a Texas A&M alum, has played five events on the Korn Ferry Tour this season with three top-25 results… Cole Hammer, the University of Texas alum, will also make his PGA TOUR debut in 2024 this week in Houston. Hammer has made six starts on the Korn Ferry Tour this season with two top-10s. He finished 27th at Memorial Park last season… Texan Ryan Palmer will make his 502nd start on the PGA TOUR and his 16th appearance in Houston. He has one top-10 result at this tournament in his career… Kris Ventura will tee it up on the PGA TOUR for the first time since September 2021. Ventura, who lost in a playoff at the 117 Visa Argentina Open presented by Macro on the Korn Ferry Tour earlier this month, was part of the 2018 NCAA Championship-winning team at Oklahoma State alongside Viktor Hovland… Padraig Harrington is back in action on the PGA TOUR. Harrington won the Hoag Classic on PGA TOUR Champions Sunday by one shot, his seventh PGA TOUR Champions title… Adam Long, Dawie van der Walt, and Jimmy Walker round out the sponsor exemptions.

SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: Peter Malnati’s win saw him jump 29 spots in the Aon Next 10 standings from No. 35 to No. 6. The win means he’ll be exempt for the remaining Signature Events in 2024 regardless of where he finishes over the next few weeks… Shane Lowry was bumped from No. 9 to No. 11… The next Signature Event on the PGA TOUR schedule is the RBC Heritage in mid-April. The Aon Swing 5 standings for that event started with the Puerto Rico Open and continues through the Valspar Championship, the Texas Children’s Houston Open, and Valero Texas Open… With his win at the Puerto Rico Open, Brice Garnett remains on top of the Aon Swing 5 race… With his T3 at the Valspar, Chandler Phillips moved up 50 spots in the FedExCup standings and is now inside the Aon Swing 5 qualifying mark… Carl Yuan and Ryan Moore finished T5 at Innisbrook and also joined the Aon Swing 5 qualifying group after two events.

COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 UPDATES: Nick Taylor jumped back into the TOUR TOP 10 with his T64 at the Valspar Championship bumping Brian Harman to No. 11 after Harman missed the cut at Innisbrook Resort… The rest of the TOUR TOP 10 remained the same after the final event of the Florida Swing… Valspar winner Peter Malnati jumped all the way to 16th in the standings, about 150 points back of Taylor at No. 10… Two players have remained inside the TOUR TOP 10 for every week so far this season: Chris Kirk and Byeong Hun An.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: Memorial Park Golf Course, par 70, 7,435 yards. A municipal course that can trace its origins to 1912, it underwent a dramatic recent renovation in 2019 via Tom Doak before welcoming the PGA TOUR back after nearly 60 years. Holes were both lengthened and shortened and trees and bunkers were removed and re-worked.

72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Tony Finau (2022)

18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Ron Streck (3rd round, 1981 at Woodlands CC), Fred Funk (3rd round, 1992 at TPC Woodlands). Golf Club of Houston record: 63, Johnson Wagner (1st round, 2008), Adam Scott (1st round, 2008), Jimmy Walker (1st round, 2011), Phil Mickelson (3rd round, 2011), Scott Piercy (1st round, 2015), Sung Kang (2nd round, 2017).

• Memorial Park Golf Course record: 62, Scottie Scheffler (2nd round, 2021), Tony Finau (2nd round, 2022)

LAST TIME: Tony Finau’s steady 1-under 69 Sunday was enough for him to cruise to a four-shot victory. Finau took the lead after the opening round and never looked back. It was his fifth PGA TOUR title. After an opening-round 65, Finau pressed the gas pedal with an 8-under 62 at Memorial Park tying his career-low score on the PGA TOUR. After a third-round 68, Finau had an eight-shot advantage at one point Sunday and ended with a four-shot win and a 16-under 264 for the week – a tournament scoring record. Tyson Alexander finished second at 12 under while Ben Taylor was third at 11 under.

HOW TO FOLLOW: (all times ET)

Television:

• Thursday-Friday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday: 1-3:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3:30-6 p.m. (NBC)
• Sunday: 1-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC)

PGA TOUR LIVE:

• Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course
• Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group
• Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
• Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

Radio on SiriusXM and FREE at PGATOUR.com/liveaudio:

• Thursday-Friday: 1-7 p.m.
• Saturday-Sunday: 1-6 p.m.