The Houston Open has Turned into the Official Tune-Up for the Masters

This part of the schedule can be tricky for the boys out on the PGA TOUR. Finding the perfect recipe for tournaments leading up to the Masters is crucial to peak at the right time. Of course, the Florida Swing is a great stretch to get dialed in, but most players don’t want to be away from the TOUR for the two weeks between leaving the Sunshine State and driving down Magnolia Lane.

Enter the Houston Open.

The folks at Memorial Park Golf Course in have done a wonderful job of turning their Houston muni into a mini Augusta National. And before you freak out, I’m not saying this place is as good as Augusta. But what they’ve done with the layout, the setup, it all perfectly reflects what players can expect to see once they’re among the Georgia Pines.

Memorial Park has gone away from long Bermuda rough parallel to the fairways and instead has gone for a shorter cut, à la the first cut at Augusta. Despite its lack of gnarliness, the short rough can be tricky to play out of. Players can catch flyers, dead balls, just enough to get the guys thinking over every shot.

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This change has also turned this place into a bomber’s paradise. It’s less about hitting fairways and more about getting it down there as far as possible. Stephan Jaeger (2024 winner), Alejandro Tosti (T-2), Scottie Scheffler (T-2), and Tony Finau (T-2) all contended last season and can absolutely move it. The same thing can be said for Augusta.

Plus, the green surroundings are also Augusta-like. The long rough is gone and in its place are tight runoff areas that test every aspect of a player’s short game. This feature elevates the golf course to a new height, in my opinion. Long rough around greens can be boring from a viewer’s standpoint. It’s all hit and hope. But tight lies and run-off areas are as entertaining as it gets.

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The changes at Memorial Park have caught the attention of some of the best players in the world. World No. 1 Scheffler isn’t a stranger to this event—he’s played in five straight going back to 2020 and has grabbed top-10s during his last three trips—but this time around he’ll be joined by the biggest names in the sport. Rory McIlroy, fresh off his win at THE PLAYERS Championship, has committed to the field. So have Tony Finau, Wyndham Clark, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Sahith Theegala, Min Woo Lee, and Sungjae Im, just to name a few.

It’s easy to look past the next few weeks thanks to what’s quickly approaching on the horizon, but the 72 holes in H-Town should be fun.