Vijay Singh goes into this year's Shell Houston Open with history on his mind. Not only has Singh won the past two Shell Houston Opens, but should he win this year, he'll accomplish something only Tiger Woods (The Memorial, Bay Hill), Tom Watson (Byron Nelson Invitational), and Stuart Appleby (Mercedes Championship) have accomplished: back-to-back-to-back wins in the same same tournament.

Last year we saw Vijah Singh defeat John Daly in a playoff with a par.

The Shell Houston dates back to 1946 and is the tenth oldest tournament on the PGA Tour schedule. Byron Nelson won that event, conducted by the Houston Golf Association. He beat Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. Records show that it was the only time those Hall of Fame players ever finished 1-2-3 in a tournament.

Suffice to say the course on which Byron won wasn't as long as this year's course. Designed by Rees Jones and PGA Tour player David Toms, Redstone can be stretched to a whopping 7,457 yards. In addition to length, the Tournament Course at the Redstone Golf Club offers short game challenges and scenic views. The Redstone Golf Club is also home of the Dick Harmon Golf School. Sadly, we lost Dick abruptly earlier this year which you can read more about him here.

There are many PGA Tour professionals from the Houston area but it wasn't until Fred Couples won in 2003 that the so-called "Cougar Jinx" was broken. Up until that point no University of Houston alumni had won a Houston-area event. Given his play at the Masters it would have been nice to see Fred compete in his hometown this week.

Looking at the rest of the field, I would think that Vijay has the best chances since he has adapted so well to the Members Course, winning four times and once finishing runner-up in recent years. It will be interesting to see how he handles the new Tournament Course. Singh's season is not off to a good start, with only one top-three finish and seven top-10's.

This year's purse is $5.3 million with $954,000 going to the winner. The Shell Houston Open will be held at the new Tournament Course at the Redstone Golf Club. From April 20 - April 23, 2006. It can be seen on USA and CBS plus heard on XM Radio on at the following
times:

Thu, 4/20 4pm-6pm   ET  USA
Fri, 4/19 4pm-6pm   ET  USA
Sat, 4/20 3pm-6pm   ET  CBS
Sun, 4/21 3pm-6pm   ET  CBS

Thu, 3/9  12pm-8pm  ET  XM 146
Fri, 3/10 12pm-8pm  ET  XM 146
Sat, 3/11 12pm-8pm  ET  XM 146
Sun, 3/12 12pm-8pm  ET  XM 146

Photo Credit: © Redstone Golf Club

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The PGA Tour stops in the Midwest for the first time in 2005. Redstone Golf Club will be the host of the Shell Houston Open where the course is long and the winds are plentiful. Two-time Houston Open champion Vijay Singh headlines the field this week, and his success in this tournament over the years has been nothing short of spectacular. The current number two player in the world has won here twice and placed in the top 10 seven times in his nine starts overall. He lost his number one ranking when Tiger Woods won The Masters two weeks ago, and he will be looking to gain ground on Tiger this week in Houston.

While Vijay is the only top five guy in the field this week, there are a number of other guys in the top 30 that will be teeing it up Thursday. David Toms, the champion of the World Golf Match Play Championship in February, is the only other guy from the top ten making an appearance at Redstone. He has been struggling with consistency this year. He can win any given tournament, but he can also miss the cut in any given tournament. He will be looking to have a better finish this week than his tie for 68th at The Players Championship and his "missed cut" at Augusta.

Other notables that are playing in the Houston Open include the native Texan Chad Campbell, John Daly, Stephen Ames, and Charles Howell III. Darren Clarke, who is coming off a terrible weekend at the MCI Heritage, will be looking to get off to the same start he did at Harbour Town last week. Clarke led by six shots going into the weekend, but went downhill from there, shooting rounds of 73 and 76 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Fred Couples, who is the only Houston University graduate to win this tournament, had to withdraw because of back spasms.

The field will be tough this week, and the premium will be on driving distance. Vijay led the field last year in driving distance and was third in driving accuracy. He also led the field in greens in regulation, which pretty much explains his success in this tournament. Any time that formula is achieved, a good week in definitely on the horizon. This week will be no different, as nine of the top 10 players in driving distance are in the field. Also, 19 guys who average more than 290 yards off the tee will be playing this week.

As tough as the players have to be here, the course is equally as tough. Redstone Golf Club will be hosting the Houston Open for the last time this year, as the tournament will be moving to a course adjacent for the 2006 event. Redstone is a very long golf course measuring 7508 yards and par is 72. The winning score last year was -11, which means low scores will be tougher to find than usual. The par-5 holes this week will give up some low scores, but the par 4's are very long for the most part and yield very few birdies.

The seventh hole is 498 yards off the tee, and it is easily the longest par 4 on the golf course. A decent drive may still require a long iron or fairway wood into the green. The green is the largest on the course and is actually split into two parts. The left side of the hole is guarded by bunkers, while the right side of the hole is fronted by a water hazard. If a player hits a short tee shot or gets in trouble off the tee, they may choose to lay up on their second shot. From there, they can try to save par the hard way. The finishing hole is also a par 4 and measures 448 yards off the tee. The tee shot requires accuracy with water on the left and trees on the right. The green is elevated and depending on the wind, the players may be hitting agressive short irons into the green or hitting cautious long irons into the green. The 18th will definitely be a hole to keep an eye on if the tournament is close when Sunday afternoon rolls around.

The forecast right now calls for a chance of thunderstorms all weekend long, albeit not a very good chance. Hopefully the rain will stay away for the second straight week. The wind does not look like it will be a huge factor this year, but that can change in a heartbeat in Texas.

I could easily pick Vijay Singh to once again be victorious in this tournament, but I am going to pick someone different just to keep things interesting. I am going to pick Chad Campbell for numerous reasons. He has good distance off the tee and is fairly straight as well. He should also get a very warm reaction being a fellow Texan. His game has been inconsistent this year, but as bad as he is some weeks, he can be that much better other weeks. My "sleeper" pick this week is Hank Kuehne. Like I mentioned earlier, driving distance will be huge this week. Even if players are not real accurate, they will still have chances to control the course with distance. So keep an eye out for Kuehne, who currently ranks fourth in driving distance this season.

The Shell Houston Open looks to be a very solid tournament. The total purse for the week is $5 million, with $900,000 going to the winner. The tournament will be aired this week on USA and CBS at the following times:

Thu    4-6pm ET    USA
Fri    4-6pm ET    USA
Sat    3-6pm ET    CBS
Sun    3-6pm ET    CBS

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