2015 Shell Houston Open Discussion Thread

[Silent]

Quote:

The Shell Houston Open, which tees off at the Golf Club of Houston next week, will have another world class field, including 13 players in the Top 25 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

Players had until 4 PM CDT Friday to commit. They could also withdraw for any reason by the deadline.

Top 25 players include No. 2 Henrik Stenson of Sweden, No. 6 Jordan Spieth of Dallas, No. 8 Sergio Garcia of Spain, No. 10 Justin Rose of England, No. 11 Rickie Fowler, No. 12 Martin Kaymer of Germany, No. 13 Jimmy Walker (current FedExCup leader), No. 14 Matt Kuchar, No. 15 Patrick Reed of Spring, No. 17 Victor Dubuisson of France, No. 20 J.B. Holmes, No. 21 Phil Mickelson and No. 25 Bill Haas.

Other highly ranked competitors include No. 27 Ryan Moore, No. 28 Jamie Donaldson of Wales, No. 29 Lee Westwood of England, No. 32 Hunter Mahan, No. 34 Charl Schwartzl of South Africa, No. 35 Anirban Lahiri of India, No. 36 Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, No. 37 Keegan Bradley, No. 39 Joost Luiten of The Netherlands and No. 49 Paul Casey of England.

Excluding the United States, there are 48 international players, representing 22 different countries. A total of 37 players in the SHO field have secured invitations to the Masters tournament, the week after the Shell Houston Open.

The 2015 Shell Houston Open starts next Thursday April 2nd.

Read more at: http://www.shoandtell.com/

[mvmac]

The Shell Houston Open will be played at the Golf Club of Houston (Tournament course) in Humble, Texas. It’s the last tournament before the Masters, and the last hope for golfers to gain entry into the year’s first major with a win. The field this week includes Jordan Spieth, who’s currently ranked No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings, Sergio Garcia (No. 8), Jimmy Walker (No. 10), who won last week at the Valero Texas Open, Justin Rose (No. 11), Rickie Fowler (No. 12), Martin Kaymer (No. 13), Matt Kuchar (No. 14), Patrick Reed (No. 15) and Phil Mickelson (No. 21).

In last year’s event, Matt Jones made a 46-foot putt for birdie, which got him into a playoff with Kuchar, then chipped in on the first playoff hole to claim his first PGA Tour victory.

http://www.pgatour.com/power-rankings/2015/03/30/shell-houston-open.html

POWER RANKINGS: SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

RANK		PLAYER	COMMENT
1 J.B. Holmes Missed cut at Bay Hill ended run of four straight top 25s; two were runner-up finishes. P2 here in 2009, T8 in 2012 and T12 last year.
2 Jordan Spieth Can't win every week, but he comes the closest. Solo second at the VTO is fifth top 10 in last seven starts. Leads TOUR in fewest putts.
3 Patrick Reed First start since P2 at Valspar. Sixteen consecutive cuts made. Ranks 13th in adjusted scoring and second in scrambling from the rough.
4 Ryan Moore Top 10s in last two starts; top 25s in last four. Currently 17th in strokes gained: tee-to-green and 21st in the all-around ranking.
5 Jimmy Walker The two-time champ has withdrawn from the tournament.
6 Brendan Steele T8 at Valero was 15th consecutive cut made. Third top 15 in last four starts. T5 in par-4 scoring; 10th in strokes gained: tee-to-green.
7 Matt Jones Defending champ finally regained form of late. Top 15s in three straight starts prior to T26 at VTO. Sits 25th in strokes gained: putting.
8 Sergio Garcia Rode the 36-hole lead here last year to a solo third. T31 in his only two starts on the Florida Swing. Ranks eighth in adjusted scoring.
9 Lee Westwood Seven consecutive top 25s worldwide. All six cuts made on 2014-15 PGA TOUR are top 25s. Top 25s in five of last six trips to Houston.
10 Matt Kuchar Last year's playoff loss piggybacked T8 in previous two trips (2010, 2011). T15 at last week's Valero. Fourth in scrambling from the rough.
11 Bill Haas Off since a T7 at the WGC-Cadillac, his first start since the birth of his second child. T14 in scrambling from the rough. T10 here in 2013.
12 Jason Kokrak One shot at VTO thwarted third straight top 10. Sits 49th in both strokes-gained stats; 23rd in adjusted scoring. Solo ninth here in 2013.
13 Louis Oosthuizen Ultimate injury risk, but recorded two top 10s on the Florida Swing. Trio of top-16 finishes in last four editions of the SHO.
14 Shawn Stefani Home game. In a sense, the 2014 SHO is where momentum was sparked: solo fifth on last start of medical. Currently 18th in FedExCup points.
15 Phil Mickelson 2011 champ hasn't placed worse than T16 in three return trips. Showing only flashes of late, but sits 27th in strokes gained: tee-to-green.

[mdaugherty24]

I wouldn't mind seeing Chesson Hadley win the Shell Houston Open and "SNAP" his way into the Masters! He's a solid player not many people know about and has been playing some good golf the last month.

[Divot Master]

Jimmy Walker The two-time champ has withdrawn from the tournament.

Apparently his right glute wasn't firing properly - must be the wallet was too heavy.

[Keith White]

Chesson would be a great addition to the field at Augusta, no doubt, but my attention over the next 4 days will be on Paul Casey. Paul is precariously perched at 49 in the rankings and decided to miss the Valero and rock up this week.  He obviously has a fine tuned plan.  Casey has suffered numerous injuries over the last few years, but despite this has been incredibly successful and often threatened to become one of the greats before injury has pegged him back.

In the last few weeks Casey has steadily ramped up the quality of his game like he has done before, and it would not be unusual for him to startle the favourites with a Sunday low round that steals the prize, or maybe even plays a solid 4 days and travels to Augusta as a dark (but very in form) horse.

The best laid plans of mice and men, I will be interested to see if his ranking, and play, stay solid and move him up another notch as the first major beckons from just around the (Amen) corner.

[Crim]

Phil kicking ass, in good form coming into the Masters. In the lead @ -11 at the mom ent with 4 holes to play in the 2nd round. A lot of golf left, but if he wins this tourney that will be a huge story going into the Masters.

[Crim]

Chesson would be a great addition to the field at Augusta, no doubt, but my attention over the next 4 days will be on Paul Casey. Paul is precariously perched at 49 in the rankings and decided to miss the Valero and rock up this week.  He obviously has a fine tuned plan.  Casey has suffered numerous injuries over the last few years, but despite this has been incredibly successful and often threatened to become one of the greats before injury has pegged him back.

In the last few weeks Casey has steadily ramped up the quality of his game like he has done before, and it would not be unusual for him to startle the favourites with a Sunday low round that steals the prize, or maybe even plays a solid 4 days and travels to Augusta as a dark (but very in form) horse.

The best laid plans of mice and men, I will be interested to see if his ranking, and play, stay solid and move him up another notch as the first major beckons from just around the (Amen) corner.

Paul just put in a nice eagle on the 17th to get him to -7. Looks like he'll at least be in contention going into the weekend

[Keith White]

Paul just put in a nice eagle on the 17th to get him to -7. Looks like he'll at least be in contention going into the weekend

Yep, been enjoying the golf tonight, Paul must have read my post ha ha. Question - Is Jordan Spieth a robot? there again in the mix, his stats are incredible !!!!

[Scotsclaff]

Oosthuizen and Westwood miss the cut.

Good to see Paul Casey in the hunt going into the weekend.

[Silent]

Was planning to watch the whole tournament, but my wife, my son and me are all sick... Change of plans.

[Crim]

Was planning to watch the whole tournament, but my wife, my son and me are all sick... Change of plans.

my wife and I got food poisoning two days ago. I watched the entire LPGA and PGA broadcast while she laid in our room and watched netflix. It was absolutely amazing.

[RJH999]

Okay, who the **** is Austin Cook?

[Tgb02]

Okay, who the **** is Austin Cook?

This is only his second PGA tour event and he played for Arkansas in college. I don't know much more other then that but he is contending that is for sure.

I live about 45 minutes from the tournament and I am wondering if I should go tomorrow. Weather isn't supposed to be great and my family plans aren't happening and my friends are all out of town. Legit my go by myself since its only 30 bucks.

[ChrisP]

Love Cooks swing. Very simple yet very pretty. Not a lot to it and that makes it easier under pressure when you don't have a lot of different parts moving.

[Natural Patrick]

Love Cooks swing. Very simple yet very pretty. Not a lot to it and that makes it easier under pressure when you don't have a lot of different parts moving.

Agree, Nice swing. I think he is ranked 199th in the world but not for sure on that.

[Tgb02]

Agree, Nice swing. I think he is ranked 199th in the world but not for sure on that.

993 in the world but ya, he finished 130 in Q school last year

http://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2015/04/04/shell-houston-open-contender-austin-cook-10552/

[Natural Patrick]

Agree, Nice swing. I think he is ranked 199th in the world but not for sure on that.

Holy crap, I think Johnny Miller just said he was ranked 993 in the world. Not sure where I got 199. LOL!  Either way Nice Swing for sure.

[Natural Patrick]

993 in the world but ya, he finished 130 in Q school last year

http://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2015/04/04/shell-houston-open-contender-austin-cook-10552/

You beat me to it, Thanks,