Dustin Johnson. Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Golf best bets: Outright picks for LIV Golf Houston

By Jack Dougherty | Last updated Jun 6, 2024 4:43 PM ET

LIV Golf returns from a month-long layoff for its pre-U.S. Open tournament at the Golf Club of Houston. We've already cashed two LIV outright bets this season, so you know we have to try for a third this week. Here are the three outright we're targeting for LIV Golf Houston.

Louis Oosthuizen (+2000 DraftKings)

It can be hard to find data for many of the golf courses on LIV's schedule, but the Golf Club of Houston actually hosted a PGA Tour event for more than a decade. Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Matt Jones, Ian Poulter and even Anthony Kim are all players in this field who won the Houston Open at this golf course as members of the PGA Tour.

Louis Oosthuizen didn't win the Houston Open, but he did finish 16th, third and 10th from 2011-13. The South African was in position to win in 2012 before a final-round 75 gave way for Hunter Mahan to beat him by two. Oosthuizen has two wins and three runner-up finishes in his last 10 starts worldwide, and he ranks first in scrambling and second in putting average on LIV this season. This is a great spot for his first LIV victory.

Dustin Johnson (+2200 DK)

This is strictly an upside play. Dustin Johnson can still rack up birdies on gettable golf courses as well as anyone in the world, and the Golf Club of Houston should be a fairly easy test for these players. DJ already has a win and three top-seven finishes on LIV this season.

Due to his missed cut at the Masters and his T43 at the PGA Championship, Johnson has drifted to 22/1 on the odds board. We've seen the American bounce back from poor showings and win in his next start dozens of times in his career, so we'll take a stab at the discount this week.

Paul Casey (+4000 DK)

Paul Casey has been striking his irons beautifully this season. In a league with elite ball strikers such as Joaquin Niemann, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, it's Casey who leads the tour in greens in regulation percentage (76.19 percent). The issue has been once he reaches the green, as Casey ranks 46th out of 55 players in putting average.

Maybe all the Englishman needs is a return to the Golf Club of Houston, where he won in 2009 and finished ninth in 2015, to find his putting stroke.

Jack Dougherty

Jack Dougherty has been writing professionally since 2015, contributing to publications such as GoPSUSports. com, Centre Daily Times, Associated Press, and Sportscasting. com

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