The PGA Tour is descending on H-Town.
The Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course will kick off the two-event Texas swing, boasting the two best players in the world and a $9.5 million purse with the winner collecting $1,710,000.
The 79-year-old event has moved around on the PGA Tour schedule, from the fall to the spring. After not being contested in 2023, it now sits two weeks before the Masters, giving players who aren’t already exempt one of the final few chances to punch their ticket to Augusta.
From its 156-player field, course, history, tee times and how to watch, here’s what you need to know for the 2025 Houston Open.
The field
The world’s two best players—Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy—are teeing it up this week in a Masters tuneup.
And they are complemented by 20 of the top 50 players in the world. Some of those names include Wyndham Clark, Maverick McNealy, Sahith Theegala, Sungjae Im, J.J. Spaun, Nick Taylor, Tony Finau and Jason Day.
The past champions playing this week include Lanto Griffin (2019), Finau (2022) and defending champion Stephan Jaeger, who last year earned his maiden Tour win by one stroke over Scheffler, Aaron Rai, Taylor Moore, Thomas Detry, Alejandro Tosti and Finau.
Padraig Harrington, Zach Johnson, Noah Kent, Philip Knowles, Hayden Springer, Jimmy Walker, Vince Covello and Kyle Westmoreland were granted sponsor’s exemptions.
Also, the top 50 players in the world ranking following 72 holes at Memorial Park will qualify for the Masters if they aren’t already exempt. Those currently on the bubble are No. 27 Spaun, No. 44 Jaeger, No. 52 Michael Kim, No. 53 Ben Griffin, No. 61 Eric Cole, No. 66 Si Woo Kim and No. 105 Rickie Fowler.
To force a playoff ...
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 31, 2024
A narrow miss by Scottie Scheffler whose bid to win three straight falls one shot short pic.twitter.com/RMgjfQB7u3
The course
The public Memorial Park has hosted the Houston Open 14 times: from 1947 to 1963 and then returning in 2020 after a Tom Doak renovation led by Houston Astros owner Jim Crane.
It’s a par-70, 7,475-yard layout with 7,000 square feet greens, 21 bunkers and water in play on two holes.
Ahead of last year’s Houston Open, the course was overseeded and the rough was cut from 2 inches to 1.25.
“The last few years playing around this place there was a big premium on driving accuracy, which I think for a long golf course like this was really good,” Scheffler said before last year’s Houston Open. “This year it’s a bit different with the overseed, they really did not put in much rough at all, which is a bit different. It used to be some holes where it was really, really important to hit the fairway, especially with the bermuda rough and now there’s not as much of a premium placed on that. You’ll see a lot more drivers, people hitting it really far and it will be much more of I’d say a second shot golf course this time around.”
In 2024, Memorial Park was the 12th hardest course on Tour, with a scoring average of 70.247 (+0.247), yielding a winning score of 12 under, the second-lowest score since 2020.
Its hardest hole last season was the 529-yard par-4 14th, which played 0.291 strokes over par, the 28th highest on Tour. The course’s easiest hole was the par-4 3rd, playing 0.523 strokes under par, making it the 53rd easiest hole on Tour.
History: For Renay
The emotions were prevalent in Stuart Appleby’s 1999 Houston Open victory.
Just nine months prior, his wife, Renay, was killed in an accident outside a London train station. And Stuart Appleby questioned if he would return to the sport. He did, though, at the 1998 PGA Championship.
Fast forward to May 1999 at TPC Woodlands, Appleby, on the weekend of his 28th birthday, entered the final round three strokes back of Hal Sutton.
Appleby would take the lead on the 71st hole by sinking a 15-foot putt and never relinquish it with a final-round 71 for a one-stroke triumph over Sutton and John Cook.
His late wife was with him every step of the way.
“She gave me the strength today,” the Aussie said afterward. “It’s not just a golf game which makes you win a tournament.”
And despite the defeat, Sutton couldn’t have been happier for Appleby.
“If somebody had to beat me, I was happy it was Stuart,” Sutton said. “He has been through a lot and I can certainly understand how much meaning this has for him.
“I’m sure there’s somebody smiling on him right now.”
Appleby ended his Tour career with nine victories, including another Houston Open win in 2006. But the tragedy he endured gave him a different perspective on his career—and life.
“Victories are nice on a personal satisfaction level but only for a fleeting moment,” he wrote on PGATour.com in 2024. “You hold a trophy for five minutes. It’s nothing much else after that. But when you’re on your deathbed, you’re not going to say to your children, “Oh my gosh, do you remember that putt I made on the 72nd hole back 50 years ago? There are much more important things in life.”
How to watch (all times ET)
- Thursday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
- Friday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
- Saturday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC)
- Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC)
ESPN+ will also have featured coverage each day, starting between 8:15 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. and ending at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and 6 p.m. over the weekend.
Round 1 and 2 tee times
Groupings and starting times for the first and second round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open pic.twitter.com/3i8HFrv6iD
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 25, 2025
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Texas Children’s Houston Open Preview: Field, Course, History, Tee Times, How to Watch.
