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Golf: Houston Open Offers Last Chance for Masters Prep

  • Al Dannity's Author profile. Al Dannity

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The first major of the year is little over a week away and the best golfers in the world will tune-up for Augusta at this weekend’s Shell Houston Open.

A true warm-up
The Redstone course makes no secret of its role as the final warm-up event before the first major of the season. It’s no surprise that with Augusta on most players’ minds, the challenges here are on and approaching the greens. Anthony Kim managed to win last year despite finishing last in fairways hit. Excellent approach play and putting can help players overcome substandard performances elsewhere in the course.

The contenders
Matt Kuchar and Lee Westwood are the favorites for this weekend’s event, at +1400 with Sports Interaction. Kuchar returns to action after a two week break, having recorded five top ten finishes in his last seven starts. Westwood has yet to record a top ten finish in 2011 but he has good pedigree here, having finished tied for eighth in 2010. Outside of the favorites, the man to watch is Marc Leishman. A strong showing at Bay Hill saw him finish tied for third and he is currently available at the great value price of +3500. Leishman has yet to record a win in his career on tour but Paul Casey and Johnson Wagner both broke their PGA Tour duck at Redstone in recent years. A charge from the in-form Leishman could see him join their ranks.

Interesting challenge
Away from the course, the organizers of the Houston event have a unique challenge in ensuring all the golfers enjoy another big event in the city this weekend. With the Final Four taking place in Reliant Stadium, there are a lot of high-profile guests to keep happy. Those in charge of the event are in negotiations with the tournament sponsors, Shell, and the Final Four’s local organizers to source tickets [http://www.pga.com/news/pga-tour/players-in-shell-houston-open-hope-land-tickets-final-four-games] for the hottest show in town. While this may seem like a problem most people would like to have, securing tickets for the College Basketball event could prove crucial towards keeping top golfers coming back to the Houston Open in future. Relationships matter and a player that gets helped out in finding tickets for Reliant Stadium will be much happier than one that misses March Madness.

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