Texas Children's Houton Open: Top PGA DFS Picks, Values, and Sleepers for Large-Field GPPs on DraftKings

After a fun four-week foray in Florida, the PGA TOUR is headed to Houston and San Antonio in the final run-up to the Masters, which is the first major of the 2026 season. The two warmup events get underway this Thursday, with a return to Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston. The Houston Open has moved to several different courses in the area and from the fall to the spring, but it remains a fixture on the PGA TOUR, with the course designed to present many similar looks to what players will face at Augusta National in two weeks.

The salaries for DFS fantasy golf came out on Monday before Scottie Scheffler withdrew from the event, leaving a huge gap at the top of the salary structure. It shapes up to be a wild week in Houston without a clear favorite and no golfers with salaries over $10,000. For more info on the field without Scottie, the format, and the unique par-70 layout of Memorial Park, check out this First Look from RotoGrinders.

Especially in large-field GPP tournaments, you’ll want to make sure to target players who have lower ownership projections than their potential performance suggests. Finding high-leverage plays is critical for GPP success, so the picks here go against the grain, looking for under-owned options.

Usually, I rely heavily on the Strokes Gained Model in FantasyLabs, which is very predictive of results. I also tend to lean toward players who excel in Strokes Gained: Approach, which is more sustainable week to week than a hot putter.

Since these are GPP picks, we can accept more risk in exchange for getting a higher ceiling. High-risk, high-reward options with low ownership create the “boom-or-bust” style lineups that often lead to large-field success. To find guidance for all contest types, check out our full Daily Fantasy Golf coverage each week.

No matter what type of format you prefer, be sure to use the FantasyLabs PGA Models to help you make the best choices. These models use stats and simulations to highlight different players’ strengths and weaknesses. A few critical new stats for GPP play are Perfect% and SimLeverage, which are further explained here.

As you dig into the numbers, you can enjoy the many tools FantasyLabs offers, including the Lineup Optimizer, which effortlessly creates up to 300 lineups. Alternatively, you can use the Lineup Builder if you prefer a more hands-on approach.

Check out my top picks in each price range listed below.

Editor’s note: SimLeverage and Perfect% numbers may change after this piece is published. Be sure to check the PGA Models for any updates to the sims.

High-Priced PGA DFS Picks

Brooks Koekpa $9,500

Without Scottie’s massive salary to consider, the rest of the top options are all getting plenty of attention and ownership. One player the public is still a little slow to back, though, is Brooks Koepka, who has plenty of familiarity with this course and has shown great signs of returning to form lately.

Koepka was the player consultant on the latest major renovation of Memorial Park Golf Course in 2019–2020, and even though he didn’t do the designing, he definitely should be familiar with the layout, tracking, and obstacles in place. He played the course twice after the renovation, finishing T5 in 2020 and missing the cut in 2021. He hasn’t played it since the event moved to the spring, which changes a lot about the course, but he brings enough upside to overcome that extra risk.

Koepka returned to the PGA TOUR at the start of the season from LIV Golf and started a little slowly with a T56 and a missed cut in February. When the PGA TOUR moved to Florida, Koepka’s play picked up, and he posted a T9 at the Cognizant, a T13 at THE PLAYERS, and a T18 at the Valspar over his last three tournaments.

Over the last 20 rounds, Koepka leads the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and is second in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Since this course features wide fairways and non-penal rough, big drivers with strong approach games are the way to go, and Koepka definitely fits those characteristics.

He’s not the lowest-risk play at the top of the board, but for GPP lineups, he brings enough win equity to be a great pay-up option.

Kurt Kitayama $9,300

Another strong leverage option in the top section of the salary spectrum this week is Kurt Kitayama. The 33-year-old missed the cut at THE PLAYERS, which should help keep his ownership lower even though he has a good skill set for this course.

Kitayama ranks fourth in the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and fifth in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green over his last 20 rounds. He’s not exactly a bomber off the tee, but he does rank in the top 30 in the field in Driving Distance over that span as well.

Before missing the cut in his most recent event, Kitayama posted three top-25 finishes in his previous four starts. He finished runner-up at The Genesis Invitational and also placed in the top 20 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational while playing in a very difficult field.

Kitayama has played this event in each of the last two seasons since it moved to the spring, making the cut both times and finishing T36 in 2024 and T39 in 2025. His solid tee-to-green game plays well here, and if his putter cooperates a little, he could end up chasing his third PGA TOUR career victory on Sunday.

Now available: our PGA DFS SimLabs Lineup Generator that creates advanced DFS lineups using the power of simulation.

Mid-Priced PGA DFS Picks

Check out my top picks in each price range listed below.

Editor’s note: SimLeverage and Perfect% numbers may change after this piece is published. Be sure to check the PGA Models for any updates to the sims.