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Shell Houston Open [Spoilers]

JB

JB

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Last preparation for the Masters as the PGA Tour leaves FL and heads to TX.
 
This was a good tourney last year and I remember liking the course. AK started to get real hot here and could have had a great season if it weren't for the injury.
 
Looks like a strong field. Should be a great event again this year.
 
This one will be a good tourney before the Masters, strong field and people everywhere are starting to get in a few rounds. The golf fever begins at a high pitch for those who are not addicts like us @ THP.
 
Field updates
Here are the most recent changes to the Shell Houston Open:
Alexandre Rocha Sponsor-Qualifying Tournament
Camilo Villegas W/D After Deadline
Andres Gonzales Sponsor-Qualifying Tournament
Bio Kim W/D After Deadline
Alexandre Rocha Sponsor-Qualifying Tournament
Andres Gonzales Sponsor-Qualifying Tournament
Bio Kim W/D After Deadline
Mike Standly Commit
Arjun Atwal W/D Before Deadline
Heath Slocum W/D Before Deadline
Bo Van Pelt W/D Before Deadline
Jason Bohn W/D Before Deadline
Ricky Barnes W/D Before Deadline
Carl Pettersson W/D Before Deadline
David Hearn Commit
Michael Thompson Commit
Martin Piller Commit
 
Last chance to tee it up in Augusta. Hoping a first timer wins
 
I will be there FRIDAY!!! Excited!!!
 
i really should start joining in these talks more often i might learn a bit more about the lesser know players well the lesser known to me anyway
 
Going thursday, Friday and Sunday!!! Houston Open is the best 4 days of the year for me!
 
If you're thinking about taking Phil Mickelson this week, you might not want to do so. He's already pretty much come out and said this is a warmup for shots he's going to hit at Augusta, and he doesn't care all that much about results this week. Here's a Golf Digest article about it: http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-tour...elsons-masters-prep-at-odds-with-courses.html

ORLANDO, Fla. - Not many golfers would go to a PGA Tour event ignoring the strategic value of the golf course and the shots required to navigate it. Most golfers aren't Phil Mickelson.

The reigning Masters champion is in prime preparation mode for his title defense at Augusta National GC, and after the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Mickelson will tee it up in next week's Shell Houston Open at Redstone GC.

It's not that he won't try to win the tournament. He'll just attempt to do it hitting some shots he wouldn't normally try to hit in a given situation.

"Houston is not going to set up well for me," Mickelson said Saturday after a 3-under-par 69 at Bay Hill Club. "The way the course is set up, you can't hit it more than 285-290 off a lot of the tees. It's not going to be a course where I'm going to play the most strategic and expect to really score well."

The Tournament Course at Redstone is a big ballpark, 7,457 yards, par 72. It would seem a good venue for Mickelson's high-ball power game - if the wind doesn't blow. But many fairways aren't as open as he'd like at the 300-yard mark. Mickelson finished T-35 there a year ago.

"The problem for me there is there is so much water that pinches off the tee, and I'm just not going to hit 3-woods off the tee and play that course strategically the week before Augusta," Mickelson said. "And then when it gets windy and I'm trying to hit high balls for Augusta and it requires a low knock-down shot, it's not going to work.

"If we get weather like this (sunny and light breezes) I may very well play well there," he added. "I just want to get progressively better each day in the Houston Open and kind of build a little momentum going into Augusta and not worry too much about results."
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Well Im just hoping my fantasy team can avoid the epic final round meltdown that it suffered at the API.
 
If phil wants to practice, then i think he should go to his range and leave a tournament spot open for some fringe pga tour player get an opportunity at a payday/career. I can't begin to imagine how upset i'd be if i was a struggling pro reading this 10 figure guy using a limited spot in a tournament to basically not give a crap for 4 days
 
cj3ap2 said:
If phil wants to practice, then i think he should go to his range and leave a tournament spot open for some fringe pga tour player get an opportunity at a payday/career. I can't begin to imagine how upset i'd be if i was a struggling pro reading this 10 figure guy using a limited spot in a tournament to basically not give a crap for 4 days
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I was thinking along these lines too. I'm a huge fan of Phil, but maybe he should give that spot to someone else, or maybe he'll still compete. Who knows? Interesting though.
 
Josh_Ross said:
I was thinking along these lines too. I'm a huge fan of Phil, but maybe he should give that spot to someone else, or maybe he'll still compete. Who knows? Interesting though.
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I think we all know (even if we don't admit it) that the big guns use some of the smaller tournaments to practice tournament shots and don't put forth all the effort all the time. It just bugs me that he's so openly flaunting his spot in the tournament, a spot that could make or break some nobodies career or just lead to a pay day to help pay the bills for a year without having to sweat it out at the end of the month, as his own personal 4 day range session.

I can't imagine how upset i'd be if i was one of the guys who just barely missed a spot and heard phil basically say "yeah i don't really give a flip about my spot in this tournament, i'm just going to practice hitting shots i want to hit next week". Then again i really don't like phil, so I freely admit i'm biased.
 
cj3ap2 said:
I think we all know (even if we don't admit it) that the big guns use some of the smaller tournaments to practice tournament shots and don't put forth all the effort all the time. It just bugs me that he's so openly flaunting his spot in the tournament, a spot that could make or break some nobodies career or just lead to a pay day to help pay the bills for a year without having to sweat it out at the end of the month, as his own personal 4 day range session.

I can't imagine how upset i'd be if i was one of the guys who just barely missed a spot and heard phil basically say "yeah i don't really give a flip about my spot in this tournament, i'm just going to practice hitting shots i want to hit next week". Then again i really don't like phil, so I freely admit i'm biased.
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I would think if this is a practice week for Phil, he would be better served by getting in the practice at Augusta National. I am sure others are over there warming up their games and strokes to the course. It certainly isn't like he cannot afford to take of from a tournament.
 
Well, after reading that Phil is off, and Ben Crane has been added to my team
 
Despite whether or not we think Phil shouldn't take someone else's spot, don't you think that he's earned the right to decide where/when he wants to play? Isn't that the perk of achieving the career he has as a golfer? I'm kind of torn on how I feel about it, but I tend to look at things subjectively and not emotionally. I also think that the tournament sponsor likes having Phil in the field, as well as some of the spectators, I'm just sayin'.
 
I think too much is being read into his statement of "...not going to worry about the results." Most avid tour fans know that the big dogs who play the week before a major are fine-tuning things for the next week. It's not like Lefty is gonna be in 18 fairway on Sunday, in Houston, tied for the lead and "hit a Master's shot". He'll hit the shot that gives him the best chance at winning.

Plus, Houston wants him there, the sponsors want him there and the fans want him there. He moves the dial.

If the first alternate that doesn't get in reads Phil's statement and doesn't like it, then maybe he should've played better earlier in the year and earned his spot.
 
staticline said:
I think too much is being read into his statement of "...not going to worry about the results." Most avid tour fans know that the big dogs who play the week before a major are fine-tuning things for the next week. It's not like Lefty is gonna be in 18 fairway on Sunday, in Houston, tied for the lead and "hit a Master's shot". He'll hit the shot that gives him the best chance at winning.

Plus, Houston wants him there, the sponsors want him there and the fans want him there. He moves the dial.

If the first alternate that doesn't get in reads Phil's statement and doesn't like it, then maybe he should've played better earlier in the year and earned his spot.
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Well said Staticline , i would rather earn my spot then have it givin to me
 
TC said:
Despite whether or not we think Phil shouldn't take someone else's spot, don't you think that he's earned the right to decide where/when he wants to play? Isn't that the perk of achieving the career he has as a golfer? I'm kind of torn on how I feel about it, but I tend to look at things subjectively and not emotionally. I also think that the tournament sponsor likes having Phil in the field, as well as some of the spectators, I'm just sayin'.
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Of course he has the right to decide where to play, and of course the Sponsor of the tourney loves having big names in the field as well as the fans loving Phil. Maybe Phil just needs to be a little more careful with how he phrases things.
 
I'm disappointed that I don't have enough Euros to pick this week! For the record, I copped out of picking Jose Maria. Call myself a fan too!
 
Got my team picked and there has been a Tooth sighting on team JB.
 
JB said:
Got my team picked and there has been a Tooth sighting on team JB.
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Woah! The closet fanboy has been spotted! :wink:
 
RonInThornton said:
Of course he has the right to decide where to play, and of course the Sponsor of the tourney loves having big names in the field as well as the fans loving Phil. Maybe Phil just needs to be a little more careful with how he phrases things.
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But that's not Phil. He gives the best interviews imo, b/c he is just real. We all know he's going there to prepare for the Masters anyway, he usually does. He said the same stuff last year too.
 
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