The start of round one of the HPE Houston Open was delayed for a couple hours due to inclement weather in the area. After the golfers could start the event, the PGA implemented the lift, clean and place rule which allows the golfers to mark and pick up their golf ball and clean it up should they hit the fairway. With the moisture on the course and the lift, clean and place rule implemented, many golfers in the early rounds who missed the greens were able to scramble at a much higher percentage. As we noted at the start of the tournament, this was one of the tours toughest scrambling courses last season.
Due to the delayed start at Memorial, the conclusion of the first round was moved to Friday due to suspension of play because of darkness. As such, players with Thursday afternoon tee times were forced to tee off at the crack of dawn and complete their rounds. Meaning Sungjae Im was unable to finish his round last night.
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Sungjae Im to win Houston Open (+2800)
At the time of writing Sungjae Im is a name that I am continuously seeing pop up in my notes. While he is only 1-under through 16, his price on the board doesn’t match how he is playing. I typically avoid adding more exposure on a player, but he was my favorite to win the tournament and his plays is backing that up.
Im’s opening odds were +2200 however he is currently price at +2800 by the oddsmakers at PointsBet Sportsbook. While he has only carded one birdie, he has narrowly missed multiple opportunities. One thing we noticed with the early tee times from yesterday is the advantage they had with the softer greens. As the greens began to dry up approach shots from longer distances were not checking up and stopping as close to the hole as they were early in the round. Which gave those early clubhouse leaders a bit of an advantage.
The first second round bet I am backing is Im to win outright at +2800. His average driving distance is up there with the top bombers at 299.1. He’s hit around 62% of the fairways and he’s at around 71% GIR. The only thing missing is putting. Right now, he is -0.525 strokes gained-putting. I expect him to covert more birdie opportunities in the following rounds. Keep in mind, Im is currently riding one of the longest consecutive under par rounds (12/12) streaks on tour right now. I am more than fine getting more value on Im now, than at the start of the tournament.
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