Sleeper Picks: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open

Adam Long(+400 for a Top 20) … From multiple angles, he took care of business at Mayakoba where he had recorded podium finishes in both prior appearances. His performance this time wasn’t as gleaming but he still signed for four red numbers and a T22. That extended his laughable trend of nine consecutive top 30s – when he’s made the cut – in his last 26 starts. That’s right; he missed the cut in all of the other 17. Hopes remain again in Houston where he finished T11 with four rounds of par or better last year.

Martin Laird(+400 for a Top 20) … The Scot saunters in having connected top 25s for the first time since July of 2019. After a T11 in his title defense at TPC Summerlin, he finished T22 at Mayakoba. Always strong from tee to green, and with a little pop when he needs it, Memorial Park suits his long game, so he’ll need to tighten the screws on his putting that cost him a shade over four strokes en route to a missed cut on the track last year. If he does that, the next target would be another top 25. He hasn’t had three in a row since early 2015.

Luke List(+375 for a Top 20) … He last appeared in Sleepers for the Sanderson Farms Championship and answered the bell with a T17. In the interim, he’s added a T7 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. He can be fairly judged as a long hitter and little more, but in the last four months, he’s 7-for-10 with a pair of top fives to open that stretch. Just like with Laird, the putter is List’s nemesis, but it cost him only 1.40 strokes en route to his missed cut here last year. It’s important to add that he wasn’t showcasing the kind of overall form that he has been lately.

Taylor Moore(+300 for a Top 20) … Not all momentums are alike, but he can’t be unhappy with his transition from a torrid 2021 portion of the Korn Ferry Tour to his foray on the PGA TOUR. With a pair of T10s to open the KFT Finals, the 28-year-old born in San Angelo, Texas, fortified his position in the opening graduate reshuffle. and sat out the finale. After missing the cut at Silverado, he went T17-T24 before sitting out the last four weeks. It’s too early to judge his skill at this level, but early on he’s aligning with what got him here in the first place. En route to a win, a second and two thirds among 13 top 10s on the 2020-21 KFT, he ranked T6 in total driving, 10th in greens hit, fifth in ball-striking, sixth in scrambling, sixth in the all-around and fourth in scoring average.

Dawie van der Walt(+800 for a Top 20) … Although he’s a native South African, he’s a local. He lives in Kingwood, which is north of the city, and it’s not a small thing that he’s stayed given the fact that Hurricane Harvey flooded his home in 2017. This will mark his fifth career start in the tournament, four via a sponsor exemption (including this week) and once as an open qualifier (2018). The first three were forgettable but there was magic in the air when the event moved to Memorial Park in 2020. He sat T4 at the midpoint and T6 entering the final round. A closing 1-over 71 on what was the easiest day for scoring bumped him back to a T20 that remains his second-best finish in 34 career PGA TOUR starts. The 38-year-old came close with a T22 at the season-opening Fortinet Championship, which was an extension of form on the Korn Ferry Tour where he concluded its campaign with three top 15s in four starts to earn his second TOUR card.

Odds were sourced on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. For live odds, visit betmgm.