The PGA TOUR moseys over to Texas for the first of two tournaments leading up to the Masters. The Texas Children’s Houston Open returned to the spring last year after a few years as part of the fall schedule. Memorial Golf Club will host the event for the fifth straight tournament, and the track typically proves to be a tough test for the players as they fine-tune their games for the first major of the season. This week’s event features a strong field with several big names, so building lineups for cash games is a challenge. My top three picks for cash games this week are Scottie Scheffler ($12,700), Jacob Bridgeman ($8,400), and Davis Riley ($7,600).
Earlier on Wednesday, I broke down my top three pivot plays for tournament lineups in a companion piece to this post. The picks in both posts have upside and characteristics that I like for this week’s event. The pivot plays for tournaments are more aggressive, while these three plays are safer options. These picks will also likely have much higher ownerships, but still made solid plays where that is less of a factor. Think of cash game picks as playing a par 5 as it was designed — looking for a solid birdie; while the tournament plays are more aggressive picks that try to go for the green in two. There is potentially more reward with pivot plays, but also more risk.
The picks I highlight here each week are designed for “cash game” contests, which are contests on DraftKings that pay out to about the top half of entries. Typically, they are in the 50/50s & Double Ups or Head-to-Head sections of the DraftKings lobby. In this style of contest, it’s important to minimize risk and try to focus more on the floor of your entry rather than the ceiling. Typically, cash lineups will be more balanced in their spending. In cash games, finding low-ownership plays doesn’t matter as much since you’re just trying to finish in the top half of contests rather than finish at the very top of a GPP.
With those ground rules in place, let’s dive deeper into my top three cash game plays for this week at the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Scottie Scheffler ($12,700)
Scheffler always feels like a “safe” play for cash lineups, but he’s actually not expected to be extremely highly owned since he is so expensive and hasn’t won yet this year.
He could definitely break through this week in Houston, and even if he doesn’t, he has been finishing high enough to still be a solid cash game play. He finished in the top 25 in each of his five events and ranks second in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-To-Green and Total Strokes Gained, while also ranking third in Strokes Gained: Approach. If his putter gets going even just a little bit, he could easily end up on top this week.
Scheffler also has an extremely strong track record in Houston, finishing in the top 10 in each of his last three appearances at Memorial Park, including two runner-up finishes. Before he started winning everything, he finished runner-up to Jason Kokrak, and last year he missed a putt that would have forced a playoff with defending champ Stephen Jaeger ($8,800).
You’ll have to get creative to work around his salary, but Scheffler is a great option to build around this week.
Jacob Bridgeman ($8,400)
Bridgeman has caught fire since the PGA TOUR left California. He also has a good course history as he looks to keep rolling in Texas. The 25-year-old Bridgeman made his debut at Memorial Golf Club last year and placed T21, which was one of his 10 top-25 finishes in his rookie year on the PGA TOUR. He finished the season No. 113 in the FedExCup Fall standings, and he has been even better so far in his sophomore season.
Bridgeman actually started the season pretty slow with three missed cuts in his first four events, but then he got things going with a T34 in Mexico. He followed that with a T2 at the Cognizant Classic and a solo third at the Valspar last week while also making the cut at both the Arnold Palmer Invitationals and THE PLAYERS Championship.
Over his last 20 rounds, Bridgeman ranks fourth in the field in Total Strokes Gained and in the top 20 in both Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green. His strong short game and ability to score well on difficult tracks should help him stay playing well this week in Houston, and he could even push to earn a ticket to Augusta if he keeps playing so well.
Davis Riley ($7,600)
The season didn’t start well for Davis Riley, but like Bridgeman, he has gotten hot lately and makes sense on this track. The two-time PGA champion withdrew from the final round of The Sentry to start 2025 and proceeded to miss straight four straight cuts.
His last four tournaments have been a different story, though, with a pair of top-10 finishes at the Puerto Rico Open and at last week’s Valspar Championship. He also made the cut at both the Cognizant Classic and THE PLAYERS.
Last week, he turned in four rounds of 70 or better and led the field in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green. Over the last 16 rounds, he ranks in the top 10 in the field in Total Strokes Gained, Strokes Gained: Approach and Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green.
He’s also three-for-three in making the cut at Memorial Park, with a top-30 finish in each of those events and a T14 last year when the event moved to the spring.
He’s not a guarantee to make the cut given his struggles earlier this year, but with how well he has been playing lately, he makes a great option at this price point.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR GIANT $25 Double Up [Single Entry]
