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PGA Golf

2013 PGA Shell Houston Open Preview/Picks & Betting Odds

PGA Betting – Shell Houston Open Predictions

I know I know – you are used to seeing the Shell Houston Open the week before the Masters but not this year! It is a weird scheduling blip that will right itself after this year.

2013 Shell Houston Open
Location: Humble, Texas, United States
Course: Redstone Golf Club
Date: Mar 28-31, 2013
Total Purse: US $ 6,000,000
Winner’s Share: US $ 1,062,000 (18% of total purse)
Odds: Bovada

Defending Champion: Hunter Mahan ($1,080,000)

Redstone Country Club will still do its best to emulate the conditions at Augusta however – undulating and uber-slick greens, similar distance, and extremely difficult scrambling stats from the nearly unfair rough. To add to the intrigue, the weather this week isn`t supposed to be great.

You have to hit it close and hope that your putter heats up in order to win. Let`s take a look at a few of the names to watch this week in what is basically a Masters prep tournament.

The Favorites:

Rory McIlroy 9/1

Rory should be motivated this week after losing his #1 World Ranking but enters in some so-so form. He is coming off a T8 in the WGC-Cadillac Championship after a sizzling final round. He has just two starts in this event with a T19 being his best result in 2009 – the other result being a missed cut. Rory is definitely dangerous but I can’t trust him until he shows me that he is comfy with his new clubs.

Keegan Bradley 12/1

Is coming off a T3 last week for his third top 5 finish already this season. He finished T4 here last year and enters having finished seventh or better in his last three starts overall. He is great off the tee and is known as one of the premiere putters in the world which will certainly help at Redstone. Bradley is definitely due and this course suits his game pretty well.

The Contenders:

Steve Stricker 16/1

Will be playing only his third event this year but comes in with a good history on this course – T4 in ’11 and sporting four top-11 finishes since 2006. He last played three weeks ago – a runner-up finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. He has placed eighth or better in his last four tournaments – rest may be his friend this week.

Hunter Mahan 16/1

Is the defending champion in this event and has four top 11s in six starts on the course – not too shabby although he did miss the cut here in 2008 and 2010. He has seven straight top 25s this year including four top 10s and is coming off an unspectacular T21 at Bay Hill. He has yet to break through with a win so far this year but is overdue for a victory.

Phil Mickelson 16/1

Won this event in 2011 and finished fourth here in 2012 and has a nice streak of 10 rounds in a row under par on the line this week. He missed the cut in last weekend’s tournament, but has a win and a third-place finish in two of his last five tournaments. He has been experimenting with his putter lately but the experimentation has to stop soon with the Masters on the horizon.

Brandt Snedeker 22/1

Gets back to action after a rib muscle injury which can’t be good for your swing. He missed the cut last week but he currently leads the TOUR in greens hit. He has never made the cut here in three tries here but he, like so many realize that a good tournament here sets them up well for Augusta.

Lee Westwood 33/1

Westy hasn’t exactly been himself this year so far – just three top 25s in six starts but he has never finished outside the top 30 in this event in six starts. His weakness traditionally has been his work on the greens and his short game – not exactly a recipe for success at Redstone. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

Jimmy Walker 40/1

Has quietly been one of the more consistent golfers on TOUR this season – three top 10s already this season including last week when he was T8 despite an ugly 74 in the final round. He is under par in 26 of 32 rounds this season and has the distance and the putting chops to contend this week.

The Sleepers:

Chris Kirk 50/1

Finished an impressive T2 here in 2011 but then took 2012 off. He is coming off a T16 at the Arnold Palmer – his fourth top 25 already this year in seven starts. He is a good driver of the ball and has a very nice putter – both are crucial for success at Redstone.

Henrik Stenson 50/1

Has played this event twice in his career and has finished T3 in 2009 and T21 in 2012. Stenson was T8 last week at Bay Hill – he proved he can hit the ball straight and get on the greens. Now if his putter would wake up!

Carl Pettersson 66/1

Was the runner-up here last year and is coming off a T21 at the Arnold Palmer last week. He hasn’t done much this year but has to be in the conversation based on his result last year.

Bryce Molder 100/1

Has finished top 20 in his last three appearances at Redstone and has made the cut seven times in seven attempts this year with four top 25s. His putter is very good and he is 34th in adjusted scoring on TOUR this year.

The Pick:

My pick this week is Phil Mickelson at 16/1. He has a win and a T4 here the last two years and he will be out to avenge a terrible week at Bay Hill. Just when we start to discount Phil a tad he comes up big. He will use this event as a tune-up for Augusta and will be at his best!

My sleeper is Chris Kirk at 50/1. He has been playing great golf this year and looked good in finishing second here in 2011.

Our Updated FULL Field Houston Open odds (Click to bet today)

Rory McIlroy 9/1
Keegan Bradley 12/1
Hunter Mahan 16/1
Phil Mickelson 16/1
Steve Stricker 16/1
Brandt Snedeker 22/1
Dustin Johnson 25/1
Louis Oosthuizen 28/1
Lee Westwood 33/1
Bill Haas 40/1
Jimmy Walker 40/1
Bo Van Pelt 50/1
Charles Howell III 50/1
Chris Kirk 50/1
Fredrik Jacobson 50/1
Henrik Stenson 50/1
Jordan Speith 50/1
Nick Watney 50/1
Thorbjorn Olesen 50/1
Carl Pettersson 66/1
Geoff Ogilvy 66/1
George Coetzee 66/1
John Senden 66/1
Boo Weekley 80/1
Cameron Tringale 80/1
Graham Delaet 80/1
Greg Chalmers 80/1
John Huh 80/1
Luke Guthrie 80/1
Pat Perez 80/1
Retief Goosen 80/1
Ryan Palmer 80/1
Vijay Singh 80/1
Aaron Baddeley 100/1
Bob Estes 100/1
Brendon De Jonge 100/1
Brian Stuard 100/1
Bryce Molder 100/1
Chad Campbell 100/1
Harris English 100/1
Jeff Overton 100/1
John Rollins 100/1
Josh Teater 100/1
Kevin Stadler 100/1
Michael Thompson 100/1
Scott Brown 100/1
Sean O’Hair 100/1
Ben Kohles 125/1
Erik Compton 125/1
Gary Woodland 125/1
Justin Leonard 125/1
Lucas Glover 125/1
Marc Leishman 125/1
Martin Laird 125/1
Russell Henley 125/1
Seung-yul Noh 125/1
Stewart Cink 125/1
Ben Crane 150/1
Billy Horschel 150/1
Branden Grace 150/1
Brendan Steele 150/1
Brian Harman 150/1
Bud Cauley 150/1
Charley Hoffman 150/1
David Hearn 150/1
David Lynn 150/1
George Mcneill 150/1
Greg Owen 150/1
J.J. Henry 150/1
James Driscoll 150/1
Jerry Kelly 150/1
John Merrick 150/1
Johnson Wagner 150/1
Jonas Blixt 150/1
Jonathan Byrd 150/1
Ken Duke 150/1
Kyle Stanley 150/1
Matt Every 150/1
Matt Jones 150/1
Paul Casey 150/1
Roberto Castro 150/1
Ross Fisher 150/1
Sang Moon Bae 150/1
Scott Stallings 150/1
Shane Lowry 150/1
Shawn Stefani 150/1
William Mcgirt 150/1
Andres Romero 200/1
Angel Cabrera 200/1
Brad Fritsch 200/1
Brandt Jobe 200/1
Brian Davis 200/1
Casey Wittenberg 200/1
Charlie Beljan 200/1
Chris Stroud 200/1
James Hahn 200/1
John Mallinger 200/1
Justin Hicks 200/1
Kevin Chappell 200/1
Robert Streb 200/1
Scott Langley 200/1
Tom Gillis 200/1
Trevor Immelman 200/1
Bobby Gates 250/1
Cameron Percy 250/1
Chez Reavie 250/1
D-A Points 250/1
Daniel Summerhays 250/1
David Lingmerth 250/1
Fabian Gomez 250/1
Hunter Haas 250/1
Jason Bohn 250/1
Jeff Maggert 250/1
Martin Flores 250/1
Nicholas Thompson 250/1
Patrick Reed 250/1
Ricky Barnes 250/1
Ryo Ishikawa 250/1
Steve Marino 250/1
Stuart Appleby 250/1
Tag Ridings 250/1
Tommy Gainey 250/1
Troy Matteson 250/1
Colt Knost 300/1
Doug Labelle 300/1
Peter Tomasulo 300/1
Richard Lee 300/1
Robert Allenby 300/1
Tim Herron 300/1
Will Claxton 300/1
D.H. Lee 400/1
David Mathis 400/1
Jason Kokrak 400/1
Steven Bowditch 400/1
Alistair Presnell 500/1
Arron Oberholser 500/1
Clayton Wonnell 500/1
Hank Kuehne 500/1
Joe Ogilvie 500/1
Lee Williams 500/1
Mark O’Meara 500/1
Matt Dobyns 500/1
Michael Bradley 500/1
Mike Weir 500/1
Scott Gardiner 500/1
Scott Verplank 500/1
Troy Kelly 500/1
Joey Snyder III 1000/1
Wes Short Jr 1000/1

 

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By DaveB

Dave B has been a Fantasy Football writer for us for 10 years. A couch potato wannabe, Dave’s insights have been read by 10’s of people for years. He hope’s for world peace + global relaxation. Enjoy and remember only smoke things that are completely natural.