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PGA Golf

2012 PGA Shell Houston Open Preview/Picks

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

 

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