2012 Shell Houston Open Predictions
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
The PGA Tour finished up the Florida Swing with Tiger Woods capturing his first win since the end of the 2009 season. Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a 13-under 257, five shots ahead of runner-up, Graeme McDowell. While Woods will take the week off to get ready for the Masters, the PGA TOUR will make its annual stop in Humble, Texas for the Shell Houston Open.
This is the last stop before the first major of the season. A lot of golfers like to take the week off to make sure they are mentally and physically ready to play their best at Augusta, while others use this event as a stepping stone for the first major of the season.
The Shell Houston Open is played at Redstone Golf Club, which has a lot of similarities to Augusta. Redstone is one of the longer tracks on the schedule. At 7,457 yards, it is just 32 yards longer than Augusta. If you are going to score low at Redstone, you must be able to hit greens in regulation, scramble for pars, and take advantage of birdie opportunities on the par 5s. This long track favors the big hitters who excel at hitting a lot of greens. In 2010, Anthony Kim won this event with a 12-under 276, despite hitting a field-worst 23-percent of the fairways in regulation.
There are plenty of big names in action this week. Most notably, defending champion, Phil Mickelson. Last year, Mickelson shot a course-record 20-under thanks to a remarkable 63 on Saturday and 65 on Sunday. For those of you looking to place a wager on who will win this week, here is a quick look at the three golfers I feel have a great shot at bringing home the trophy.
Ernie Els – Els comes into this event off back-to-back top five finishes in the last two weeks. After finishing fifth at the Transitions Championship, Els brought home a 4th place finish last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. There will be a lot of attention on Els this week. He has to win this event to qualify for a spot in the Masters. Els comes in ranked 29th in green in regulation. He has the distance and accuracy off the tee to put himself in the right situations to make birdies. Add in how well he has played over the last couple events, and you can see why he I believe he will be right there with a chance to win on Sunday.
Steve Stricker – Here is a guy that really fits the mold for what we are looking for at Redstone. Stricker is one of the best iron players on TOUR. He currently ranks 5th in greens in regulation and 2nd in scrambling. He is No. 1 in birdie average and to no surprise, he has really played well at Redstone in the past. In his five starts at this course, he has four finishes inside the top 11, including a tie for 4th last year.
Charl Schwartzel – Schwartzel came out of no where to win the Masters in 2011, and he has a strong history of playing well at Redstone. Schwartzel finished tied for 3rd at this event in 2010, just one shot back of Kim and Vaughn Taylor. He has finished under par in six of his last eight rounds played at Redstone. I have a good feeling Schwartzel is ready to turn up the heat and come out and play extremely well this weekend.
Looking for some advice on how to golf better this year? Check out these putting tips that are sure to lower your score next time out.
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