On Sunday, Danny Lee’s final round 64 at the Mayakoba gave us a winner for the prop bets column and this week we are off to Texas for the second running of the Houston Open at Memorial Park.

The event is covered in Matt Vincenzi’s outright betting article, and here we will just concentrate on those ‘specials’ that pinpoint value outside of the winner market and may just add that crucial lesser-owned player for the fantasy line-ups.  

Seamus Power Top 10 +350 (DraftKings)

Let’s face facts; the Irish-born 34-year-old has never played better than he has over the last few months.

Never previously better than 339 at the end-of-season rankings, Power is looking to end the year inside the top-100 and is on a form run that indicates better may be to come. 

Having had to wait through the months of lockdown for an operation on his elbow, he then found himself isolating for ten days due to a positive result, but despite the prognosis that it would take months for the injury to heal, he has found himself in non-stop form since the Byron Nelson in May, where he finished a not-insignificant ninth at the Texas track.

Including that top-10, Power has played 46 rounds, carding no worse than 72, with 32 of those in the 60s. That level of play has resulted in a win at the Barbasol, two top-10s, a further four top-20 finishes and a 21st and 31st place.

Better than field average for both green-in-regulation and scrambling over the last three months will do no harm around this tricky track where run-offs are favoured over bunkers, whilst 17th in par-four performance over the same period fits in well with last year’s result when the top five in that category all finished in the top-15 overall (four finishing in the top seven on the final board). 

Texas form, Bermuda form, in form with recent form 11/12/21? Yes, please!

Adam Long Top 10/Top 20 +900/+400 (DraftKings)

Just a coincidence, but here’s another 34-year-old with a remarkable level of consistency.

From The Players back in March, the Duke graduate has completed nine events recording finishes of between 20th and 29th at all, none of which quite match his two top-10s at Phoenix (in the form lines of so many of last year’s top-20) or medal positions at El Chameleon (read the same) but are maybe the catalyst for an improved effort on a track on which he was 11th last season.

Just a year ago, Long came into Memorial Park with a similar trio of mid-20 finishes before ranking fifth with his irons and 10th tee-to-green, all that despite a poor negative figure off the tee, eventually finishing 11th. 

His sole win at La Quinta showed he is capable of beating the best – Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay behind – whilst his next best effort, according to the rankings, was a runner-up at the 3M Open, another event that links players nicely with this week’s challenge.

Long can rack up another top-20 to go alongside his record of ‘nothing spectacular, yet nothing done badly’ – a perfect attribute for this week’s tough test.

Martin Laird Top 10/Top 20 +1200/+500 (DraftKings)

Martin Laird is yet another that can be put into the ‘unspectacular’ bracket, but the Scot knows how to get it done on all types of tracks, having won at TPC Summerlin twice and also the Texas Open (-14) and at Bay Hill (-8).

An excellent driver of the ball who over the last three months is 19th for overall driving, 22nd for ball striking, 57th for greens and 19th for scrambling, it is clear that it’s just the flat stick that lets him down. However, as intimated with Long, this could be more of a test than a putting competition, and I’m hopeful that a return to Texas will spark just a little improvement from the recent 11th at his favourite Shriners and 22nd last week.

Laird will take encouragement from leading the driving accuracy and being 13th in greens-in-regulation in his final round on Sunday, and given that came after a month off, improvement can be expected.

Aaron Rai Top 10/Top 20 +1200/+500 (DraftKings)

Mention a track that requires a high percentage of greens found, and Aaron Rai will be in the top five on the European Tour.

At tight tracks such as Kenya, Wentworth and Valderrama, the winner of five professional events in three years is a master of fastidious play and continues to rank top-20 in most factors, no matter what the class. Beating Tommy Fleetwood in Scotland and Matt Fitzpatrick in Hong Kong is a sign of the 26-year-old’s ability, and it is just a matter of finding the right course for him on which to thrive.

Memorial Park gives us a bit of a headache with the two-gloved master – perfect in its layout to well serve his accuracy, yet maybe (only maybe) a tad long for him to compete with the bigger drivers. It’s only a ‘maybe’ as last season’s inaugural event here found eight of the top-20 finishers ranking outside of the top-30 in off-the-tee stats.

Last week’s top-15 was encouraging, finishing alongside the likes of Aaron Wise and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, and being a player that can hold his form well, this may be the time to find him at a price well away from the proven bomber tracks.