Golf: Shell Houston Open
Tournament: Shell Houston Open
Date: Apr. 2 - Apr. 5
Venue: Golf Club of Houston
Location: Humble, TX
The PGA stays in Texas with the Shell Houston Open this week, the final tournament leading up to the Masters. The par-72, 7,441-yard course attempts to replicate Augusta as best as it can since it was given this notch in the schedule, but solid play here doesn’t necessarily mean a strong showing in the chase for the “Green Jacket.”
Four of the top-10 players from the Official World Golf Rankings will be teeing it off this week, with Henrik Stenson leading the charge along with Texan Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia and Jimmy Walker. Another eight players from the top-25 will also be in the field as Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer and Victor Dubuisson are a few of those names that are coming from overseas.
Last week, the aforementioned Jimmy Walker took the trophy in San Antonio, a course 30 minutes from his home, and in the process became the first multiple winner of the year while also breaking a curse of leaders going into Sunday losing, which lasted more than two months.
It is going to be tough for this year’s event to be much better than what we saw last year as Aussie Matt Jones came from six shots down on Sunday and shot a 66, including a very long birdie putt on 18, to force a playoff. He then went on to go pin hunting with a chip-in birdie on the same hole, downing Matt Kuchar with the tremendous shot. His score of 15-under-par was the worst winning mark since 2010 as there is typically plenty of scoring here with the victor being in double-digits under par in each installment since 1999. Not many have dominated this course recently and there are no golfers in the field that have multiple wins here.
Let’s take a look over a few names who could distance themselves from the rest of the field once Sunday afternoon rolls around.
Golfers to Bet:
Matt Kuchar (15/1): Kuchar had a very disappointing loss here last season but has still been dominant at this course with a top-eight finish in each of his past three starts. He hit an amazing 86.1% of GIR last year before throwing up a 72 on Sunday and losing in the playoff. Overall he is 34-under-par in those three events and shot 70 or better in 10-of-12 rounds. He already has seven top-25s in his nine outings this year and is coming off a solid 69 on Sunday to finish 15th in San Antonio. His short game has been great this year with 0.616 strokes gained putting (15th on tour), a scrambling percentage of 68.1% (5th on tour) and a sand save percentage of 72.4% (best on tour); all of which will be vital in Houston as he goes for his eighth career PGA win.
Louis Oosthuizen (29/1): Oosthuizen has played a mere four events on the PGA tour thus far on the season, making 3-of-4 cuts with a top-14 finish each time. The former Open Championship winner may have missed the cut here last year with a 72-73 on the first two days, but he rattled off three consecutive top-16 showings in his previous three visits with his best showing coming in 2012 as he ranked third after leading heading into Sunday, but coming up short with a final day 75. Look for the South African to do well once again on a course that fits him very well.
Lee Westwood (30/1): Westwood is certainly not the player that he once was, winning just once on the European tour since mid-2012 and failing to get a victory on American soil since 2010, but he has come around of late with six consecutive made cuts to start off this season. He placed in the top-25 at each of those events as his 70.00 scoring average has him ranked 12th on tour. He has been a consistent finisher here as well and has done no worse than 30th when going back to 2010. His great putting (0.609 strokes gained putting (17th on tour) should keep his solid play here going once again this week.
Carlos Ortiz (90/1): The rookies showed some impressive skills last week in San Antonio as he rebounded from an opening round 79 to make the cut and eventually finish with a one-over, 15th-place finish; his sixth top-25 placing of the year. He was also in the top-25 at Bay Hill and continues to show up with his long drive (297.0 yards per, 33rd on tour) from week-to-week. He parlays that length with a solid putting game (0.441 strokes gained putting, 34th on tour) and a top-50 ranking in sand save percentage (58.7%, 31st on tour) to be on his way to a first career PGA victory. Look out for this youngster as he gets more comfortable among his peers.
Brice Garnett (450/1): Garnett has only two career top-10 finishes and one of them came here last season when he posted a score of eight-under and tied for seventh. He hit 76.4% of GIR and 69.6% of fairways in the solid showing and has done well this year with 67.4% of greens hit in regulation (55th) as he’s made the cut in 8-of-14 tourneys. This is certainly a big long shot of a pick, but Garnett plays on the weekend more often than not and could repeat with a second straight great performance when all is said and done in Houston.
Shell Houston Open Betting Odds
Jordan Spieth 7/1
Jimmy Walker 12/1
Matt Kuchar 15/1
Patrick Reed 15/1
J.B. Holmes 23/1
Sergio Garcia 23/1
Rickie Fowler 24/1
Phil Mickelson 27/1
Louis Oosthuizen 29/1
Lee Westwood 30/1
Ryan Moore 30/1
Bill Haas 35/1
Justin Rose 35/1
Keegan Bradley 35/1
Matt Jones 35/1
Jason Kokrak 40/1
Paul Casey 45/1
Hunter Mahan 50/1
Shawn Stefani 50/1
Brendan Steele 60/1
Cameron Tringale 60/1
Daniel Berger 60/1
Martin Kaymer 60/1
Russell Henley 60/1
Charley Hoffman 65/1
Charl Schwartzel 70/1
Jamie Donaldson 75/1
Justin Thomas 75/1
Graham Delaet 80/1
Carlos Ortiz 90/1
Nick Watney 90/1
Chesson Hadley 100/1
Danny Willett 100/1
Scott Piercy 100/1
Victor Dubuisson 100/1
Charles Howell III 110/1
Francesco Molinari 140/1
Kevin Chappell 140/1
Padraig Harrington 150/1
Robert Streb 150/1
Anirban Lahiri 160/1
Brendon de Jonge 160/1
Pat Perez 160/1
Robert Garrigus 160/1
Joost Luiten 170/1
Scott Stallings 180/1
Jonas Blixt 190/1
Aaron Baddeley 200/1
Angel Cabrera 200/1
Brian Harman 200/1
Erik Compton 200/1
Ernie Els 200/1
Hudson Swafford 200/1
Jeff Overton 200/1
Mikko Ilonen 200/1
Scott Pinckney 200/1
Tony Finau 200/1
Will MacKenzie 200/1
Jerry Kelly 210/1
K.J. Choi 220/1
Martin Flores 220/1
Danny Lee 230/1
Freddie Jacobson 240/1
Alex Cejka 250/1
Brian Davis 250/1
Bryce Molder 250/1
Chad Campbell 250/1
D.A. Points 250/1
Kyle Reifers 250/1
Michael Putnam 250/1
Michael Thompson 250/1
Ryo Ishikawa 250/1
Carl Pettersson 300/1
Chris Stroud 300/1
David Hearn 300/1
David Lingmerth 300/1
Jason Bohn 300/1
Jonathan Byrd 300/1
Zac Blair 300/1
Adam Hadwin 350/1
Andrew Svoboda 350/1
Ben Crane 350/1
Blayne Barber 350/1
John Huh 350/1
John Merrick 350/1
Jon Curran 350/1
Troy Merritt 350/1
Luke Guthrie 400/1
Nicholas Thompson 400/1
Sam Saunders 400/1
Stewart Cink 400/1
Alex Prugh 450/1
Andres Romero 450/1
Billy Hurley III 450/1
Bo Van Pelt 450/1
Brice Garnett 450/1
Chad Collins 450/1
Colt Knost 450/1
David Toms 450/1
Fabian Gomez 450/1
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano 450/1
J.J. Henry 450/1
Kevin Kisner 450/1
Mark Wilson 450/1
Scott Langley 450/1
Andrew Putnam 500/1
Ben Willman 500/1
Blake Adams 500/1
Cameron Percy 500/1
Charlie Beljan 500/1
Chez Reavie 500/1
Cody Gribble 500/1
Darren Clarke 500/1
Derek Ernst 500/1
Derek Fathauer 500/1
Jarrod Lyle 500/1
Jhonattan Vegas 500/1
Jim Herman 500/1
Jim Renner 500/1
Johnson Wagner 500/1
Jonathan Randolph 500/1
Justin Leonard 500/1
Ken Duke 500/1
Kevin Streelman 500/1
Mark Hubbard 500/1
Max Homa 500/1
Nick Taylor 500/1
Oscar Fraustro 500/1
Ricky Barnes 500/1
Robert Allenby 500/1
Roger Sloan 500/1
S.J. Park 500/1
Scott Brown 500/1
Scott Verplank 500/1
Steve Wheatcroft 500/1
Steven Bowditch 500/1
Tim Wilkinson 500/1
Tom Hoge 500/1
Whee Kim 500/1
Woody Austin 500/1
HEADLINES
• Sportsbook: Shell Houston Open
• News: Books ready for 2015 Masters
• Stricker plans return at Masters
• Jimmy Walker wins hometown Texas Open
• Frost wins Champions event in Mississippi
• Kraft wins Web.com's Louisiana Open
• Canada's Sue Kim wins Symetra event
• Richie Ramsay wins Hassan II by 1 stroke
• Kerr rallies to end drought on LPGA Tour
MORE HEADLINES
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