PGA Betting – Shell Houston Open Predictions
The PGA TOUR moves to Texas this week for one of the final preps for the first Major of the year. Redstone Golf Club hosts the Shell Houston Open and although the tournament is void of all of the Top players in the world, some of the best have decided to play.
Shell Houston Open
Dates: March. 26th–Apr. 1st, 2012
Location: Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course • Humble, Texas
FedExCup Points: 500
Purse:$5.8 million
Winning Share: $1,044,000
Once known as the Byron Nelson, the Shell, and Redstone has made a concerted effort to design their course to imitate the conditions that the Pros will see at Augusta.
Redstone is tough, it is long, and there is a serious emphasis on greens in regulation, scrambling and scoring on the par 5’s in the event. Phil Mickelson returns to defend his title from last year and is co-favorite in the eyes of the oddsmakers.
I had Bubba Watson winning last week – he finished T4. Let’s see if I can do a little better this week with my pick for the Shell Houston Open.
The Favorites:
Phil Mickelson 19/2
Defending champion here, Phil enters having played fairly well this year already. He ate this course up last year leading the field with 27 birdies and tying a course record 63 on Saturday. Phil is always a threat and he loves this track.
Lee Westwood 19/2
Westwood is back after a brief break from the TOUR. He has three Top 5 finishes in his last four starts (his only non Top-5 was a T29 at the Cadillac in his last start) and enters the tournament as the world’s third ranked golfer. He was T11 at Redstone in 2009 and T8 in 2010 – only inconsistency on the weekend on both years kept him from seriously contending. Westwood’s solid play in all four rounds of seemingly every tournament this year makes him a serious threat to win it all this year.
The Contenders:
Keegan Bradley 29/2
Is as consistent as any player on TOUR this year finishing Top-22 in all eight of his starts in 2012. He ranks T31 on TOUR in total driving, 20th in greens hit, 22nd in Strokes Gained-Putting, fifth in the all-around and 10th in scrambling – all qualities that will suit him well at Redstone.
Charl Schwartzel 29/2
Actually missed the cut in his last outing at the Transitions and is certainly due for a bounce back. Schwartzel is third on TOUR in scrambling which is beneficial at Redstone and he has shown that he likes this track – T3 in 2010.
Steve Stricker 37/2
Stricker is a threat in any tournament he plays. He ranks fifth on TOUR in greens in regulation, first in birdie average and second in scrambling and has a win and three top tens in four starts in 2012 and he did post a T4 finish here last year. Stricker is superb around the greens and could be the man this week.
Graeme McDowell 19/1
McDowell played very well last week and his class alone makes him worthy of a TOUR win. He finished second to Tiger last week at Bay Hill and although he doesn’t have a great track record at Redstone, after last week we all know that this man can play.
Hunter Mahan 24/1
Mahan was impressive at the Match Play but he hasn’t done a whole lot in stroke play – no Top 10s in his last four starts but three Top 25s. He has three Top 10s in this event since 2006 and is currently second on the PGA TOUR in total driving and 29th in greens in regulation. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Ernie Els 25/1
Els needs a win this week to qualify for the Masters and after last week he showed that he may be able to get it done. He has consecutive Top 5 finishes overall – very impressive and enters as the hottest yet most desperate players teeing off this week.
John Senden 35/1
Has made the cut in all four appearances at Redstone with two Top 25s. He is currently fourth on TOUR in total driving and third in greens hit which is essential on this course. Senden had been playing very well before an OK Transitions Championship and may be due for a bit of a bounce back.
Johnson Wagner 37/1
Is a former winner of this event and comes into this week playing very well in 2012 with a win at the Sony Open, a second at the Humana Challenge and finishing in a tie for fourth again last week. Wagner currently leads the FedExCup proving that he is absolutely no joke!
The Sleepers:
Padraig Harrington 53/1
Harrington has played this event six times and has made the cut in all. He finished T8 here last year and is coming off a T20 at the Transitions in a tournament that he posted an incredible 61 in the first round. Harrington has been relatively quiet – time to make some noise?
Kevin Stadler 83/1
Has five Top 25s in a row and is playing better each week. Stadler tied for sixth here in 2010 and is 11th on TOUR in scrambling – a key to success at Redstone.
The Pick:
I like Lee Westwood at 19/2 this week to finally break through. His all around game will suit him well at Redstone as will the karma that he has built up in 2012 with his solid play. Westy is due and I think it happens this week!
My sleeper this week is Padraig Harrington who is listed at a ridiculously low 53/1 this week. He could be a sneaky pick ahead of next week’s Masters
Shell Houston Open Odds
Lee Westwood | 10/1 |
Phil Mickelson | 12/1 |
Steve Stricker | 14/1 |
Keegan Bradley | 18/1 |
Hunter Mahan | 20/1 |
Charl Schwartzel | 18/1 |
Graeme McDowell | 22/1 |
Ernie Els | 28/1 |
Aaron Baddeley | 33/1 |
Johnson Wagner | 40/1 |
Henrik Stenson | 40/1 |
John Senden | 40/1 |
Kyle Stanley | 40/1 |
Peter Hanson | 40/1 |
Rickie Fowler | 40/1 |
Ryan Moore | 40/1 |
Bud Cauley | 50/1 |
Bryce Molder | 50/1 |
Louis Oosthuizen | 50/1 |
Padraig Harrington | 50/1 |
Robert Allenby | 50/1 |
Jeff Overton | 66/1 |
Chris Stroud | 66/1 |
Anders Hansen | 80/1 |
Ben Crane | 80/1 |
Spencer Levin | 80/1 |
Sean O’Hair | 50/1 |
Y-E Yang | 66/1 |
John Rollins | 80/1 |
Paul Casey | 80/1 |
J.B. Holmes | 80/1 |
Jimmy Walker | 80/1 |
Anthony Kim | 80/1 |
Kevin Stadler | 80/1 |
Brandt Jobe | 80/1 |
Thomas Bjorn | 80/1 |
Kevin Streelman | 100/1 |
Brian Davis | 100/1 |
Michael Thompson | 100/1 |
Fred Couples | 100/1 |
Camilo Villegas | 100/1 |
Chris Kirk | 100/1 |
Ryan Palmer | 100/1 |
Seung-yul Noh | 100/1 |
Carl Pettersson | 125/1 |
Ben Curtis | 125/1 |
Scott Verplank | 125/1 |
Charley Hoffman | 125/1 |
Matt Every | 100/1 |
John Mallinger | 100/1 |
Marc Leishman | 125/1 |
Pat Perez | 125/1 |
Scott Piercy | 125/1 |
D-A Points | 125/1 |
Steve Marino | 100/1 |
Andres Romero | 125/1 |
Chad Campbell | 100/1 |
Lucas Glover | 125/1 |
Vaughn Taylor | 100/1 |
D.J. Trahan | 150/1 |
John Huh | 150/1 |
Stewart Cink | 150/1 |
Brendon De Jonge | 150/1 |
Brian Harman | 150/1 |
Justin Leonard | 150/1 |
Rod Pampling | 150/1 |
William Mcgirt | 150/1 |
Cameron Tringale | 125/1 |
Nick O’Hern | 125/1 |
Ricky Barnes | 150/1 |
Davis Love III | 150/1 |
Kris Blanks | 175/1 |
Daniel Summerhays | 150/1 |
David Hearn | 200/1 |
Heath Slocum | 150/1 |
Jason Bohn | 150/1 |
Josh Teater | 150/1 |
Will Claxton | 175/1 |
Graham Delaet | 200/1 |
Greg Owen | 200/1 |
Bob Estes | 200/1 |
Stuart Appleby | 150/1 |
Boo Weekley | 150/1 |
Chris Dimarco | 200/1 |
J.J. Henry | 200/1 |
Angel Cabrera | 125/1 |
Harrison Frazar | 150/1 |
Chris Couch | 200/1 |
Darren Clarke | 150/1 |
Tom Pernice Jr. | 200/1 |
Bill Lunde | 200/1 |
Jamie Lovemark | 200/1 |
Tim Herron | 175/1 |
Roberto Castro | 250/1 |
Troy Matteson | 225/1 |