The GC of Houston's Tournament Course has most commonly been the site for the Houston Open in March or April, so Tour players will see something a bit different this year. The rough will be a little higher and tougher this week than players are seen in the past, so getting up and down may not be as easy as they remember.
Not that it has been all that easy in the past. The scoring average last year was just over 70 and, while the course does play to a par-72, at nearly 7500 yards players may struggle a bit more. The course doesn't seem to favor length or age, so this is arguably a wide-open tournament.
With defending champion Ian Poulter opting out of the Houston Open to play in the Italian Open, there will definitely be a new Champion lifting the trophy this year.
- My Top10er this week is Henrik Stenson. The Big Swede has a pretty good record in Houston; while he has never won, he has a number of Top6 finishes to his credit. And while he hasn't been playing his normal great golf over the summer, Houston could be just the place to heat up his game a bit.
- And for my winner this week, I'm going back to the well and taking Scottie Scheffler. Scottie played pretty well earlier this year and I've picked him to win a couple of times. As it turns out, those are times when he decided not to play so well. Still, I can't help but feel he's due; after a poor showing last week, I think he's hit the bottom and an upturn in his game is in the offing. So why not this week? With all that Texas BBQ to chow down on, I'm sure he can find a rationale for winning!
(And I apologize for the rough version of this post that originally showed up on the blog. I'm breaking in some new computer equipment and accidentally posted this before it was finished.)
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