Sleeper Picks: Houston Open

Michael Thompson … Look no further than the 34-year-old for evidence of how Golf Club of Houston rewards all styles of attack. In 2017, he finished a personal-best T12 by ranking second in Strokes Gained: Putting. He converted all 62 attempts inside 10 feet in leading the field in one-putt percentage. The following year, he paced the field in greens in regulation, missing only nine all week. A classically strong up-and-down game landed him second in scrambling; the aggregate effort planted him T14 on the leaderboard. While he placed T23 two weeks ago at Silverado, his fit is as a horse in Houston. Doc Redman … While other 21-year-olds have taken the PGA TOUR by storm, especially with a flawlessness with the putter that defies conventional wisdom given the challenge of reading greens on this stage, he’s taken the conventional on-ramp to the learning curve as a ball-striker. Currently 22nd in total driving, 25th in greens hit, T14 in proximity to the hole and 37th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, that strength is rewarded in Houston. And he’s already 3-for-4 on the season with one top 25 and 12 (of 14) rounds under par. Zach Sucher … Six months ago, if you’d have asked him if he foresaw even as high as conditional status on the PGA TOUR this season, he likely would have been pleased with it. Now that he has it, he’s put it to good use in the tournaments into which he’s gained entry. With a T24 at Greenbrier and a T18 in Mississippi, he’s 44th in the FedExCup, but Golf Club of Houston presents perhaps his best fit as a tee-to-green talent. Xinjun Zhang … After riding two wins and another three podium finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour to the top spot in earnings during the regular season, he made no noise during the Finals and surrendered his lead to tumble into the reshuffle in his return to the PGA TOUR. No matter now, though. After a slow start, he went T7-T16 at Safeway and the Shriners to climb to 21st in the FedExCup standings. He arrived in Houston with an active streak of eight red numbers and he ranks T41 in greens in regulation and 25th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Peter Uihlein … Didn’t get the job done during the Korn Ferry Tour Finals where he settled for 35th of those chasing the last 25 cards, but he’s opened the PGA TOUR season by going 3-for-3 with one top 25 on conditional status. Golf Club of Houston can benefit his average approach game, but he’ll need to bring his A-game off the tee to have a puncher’s chance. His skill set is suited for tracks that reward touch around an on greens, but he rose to finish T23 here in 2017 thanks in part to ranking T9 in greens in regulation and T2 in par-5 scoring. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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