Shell Houston Open Preview

With one week to the year’s first Major, the PGA Tour heads for Texas and the Shell Houston Open. A world-class field will tee it up at Redstone Golf Club as the players complete their final preparations for The Masters.

Anthony Kim defends
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Lowdown: With one week to the year's first Major, the PGA Tour heads for Texas and the Shell Houston Open. A world-class field will tee it up at Redstone Golf Club as the players complete their final preparations for The Masters. The Houston Open began life in 1924 and over the years it's seen some notable winners including Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer and Roberto DeVicenzo. Last year Anthony Kim came through a playoff against Vaughn Taylor to take the title. The tournament course at Redstone Golf Club was designed by Rees Jones, with advice from David Toms, with the specific purpose of hosting a PGA Tour event. The track opened for play in 2005. There are no less than 16 former Major winners on the start list this week as well as three other players currently in the top-10 on the Official World Golf Ranking - Lee Westwood, Matt Kuchar and Steve Stricker. Other European players in the field include Ross Fisher, Padraig Harrington, Francesco Molinari and Jose Maria Olazabal. The weather forecast for the week looks dry so there shouldn't be any rain delays. It may, however, be windy and the temperature is expected to rise to the high 80s by Sunday.

Venue: Redstone Golf Club, Humble, Texas Date: March 31 - April 3 Course stats: par 72, 7,457 yards Purse: $5,900,000, Winner: $1,044,000 Defending Champion: Anthony Kim (-12)

TV Coverage: Thursday 31 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 8pm Friday 1 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 8pm Saturday 2 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 8pm Sunday 3 - Live on Sky Sports 3 from 6pm

Player Watch: Lee Westwood - The Englishman will look to put the finishing touches on his preparation for the year's first Major. He has a decent record in this event and will be aiming to peak at the right time.

Matt Kuchar - He's been on excellent form so far in 2011 and he should be refreshed after a two-week break from the tour. He's an excellent scrambler and putter and that should stand him in good stead around this course.

Marc Leishman - He was tied third last week at Bay Hill and he posted an excellent closing 66 in that tournament. The young Australian will look to build on that performance with a strong showing here.

Key hole: 18th. A tough par-4 of 488 yards, a lake borders the entire left hand side of the hole. From the tee the golfer must attempt to carry as much water as possible to reduce the length of the second shot. The approach is equally challenging, as anything straying to the left side will find a watery grave.

Skills required: Scrambling. This is a course that is increasingly being set up to resemble conditions at Augusta. As such, a premium is placed on the short game. The man who can get it up and down on a regular basis will have a great advantage here.

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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