Quick look at Houston Open

THE OVERVIEW HUMBLE, Texas — The Houston Open will always hold a special place in Steve Stricker’s heart, even after the 51-year-old officially hangs up his spikes on the PGA TOUR. Stricker missed 11 cuts in 21 starts during the 2005 season — he missed 27 cuts the two years prior to that — and briefly contemplated giving up the game. Unsure what he was going to do next, Stricker received a sponsor exemption the following year from the Houston Open and finished third. His best finish since a win at the 2001 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play began a torrid stretch for Stricker that saw him win nine times in the next 12 years and move as high as third in the Official World Golf Ranking. “It was a good momentum tournament for me, a good finish, provided a lot of confidence moving forward through a difficult time that I had the previous three years,” Stricker said. “So it’s always nice to be back here and I remember that tournament meaning a lot to me back in 2006.” Since that momentum-building week, Stricker has made it a point to play Houston on a regular basis. The tournament has acted as his final warm-up before the Masters, but with Stricker turning 50 last year and becoming PGA TOUR Champions eligible, the 12-time winner is teeing it up on TOUR this week in a last-ditch effort to make the field at Augusta National. “Played all four of the majors last year and I’m not in any of them this year, so I’ve got some work cut out if I want to play in some of those,” Stricker said. “It’s a long shot to come here and win, but hopefully play well and see what happens.” Stricker isn’t short on confidence at the moment, having won his last two PGA TOUR Champions starts — his other start was a runner-up finish — including a three-shot victory last week at the Rapiscan Systems Classic. Even with the near-immediate success he’s enjoyed on the PGA TOUR Champions, Stricker admitted he’s struggling to figure out the best balance when playing opportunities on both Tours. On one hand, he’s 51 years old and no longer needs to play a full TOUR schedule, but his competitive nature keeps telling him otherwise. “It’s getting harder,” Stricker said. “When I go out and win on the Champions Tour, should I be out there more? You can tell me, should I be out there more or should I be out here? I’m taking any advice I can get because that’s been the hardest part, where I should play. I’m fighting with myself with that a lot of times. What’s the right thing to do? I still feel like I’ve got game enough to win and play well out here, and that’s what keeps me coming back out here.” Last year, Stricker made 13 starts on the PGA TOUR to six on the PGA TOUR Champions. He said the plan this year is to try and do something similar and split his time. The tentative plan is to play THE PLAYERS Championship, Fort Worth Invitational, FedEx St. Jude Classic and attempt to get a sponsor exemption into the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. He’ll also try and qualify for the U.S. Open and hope his strong play gets him into the PGA Championship. For now, though, he has his sights set on trying to make the field at Augusta. “I would dearly love to win again out here on this Tour, and that’s my goal so that’s why I continue to come out here,” Stricker said. “And the major stuff, that will all take care of itself if you play well.” THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER JORDAN SPIETH Of the top four players in the world, he’s the only one who hasn’t won a TOUR event this season. A win in Houston would be a massive confidence booster before the Masters. PHIL MICKELSON Broke the win drought in Mexico. Based on his past form in Houston and the way he’s been playing, a strong week would reinforce the good vibes. JUSTIN ROSE Finished T15 last year in Houston. Has quietly put together a strong start to the season with four top 10s in his first five starts. THE FLYOVER The par-4 18th at Golf Club of Houston is the kind of closing hole that can make or break a tournament. With a lake bordering the entire left side of the hole, players have the option to take a more aggressive line and carry a large portion of the water, or lay back and face a daunting mid-iron approach to a left-back hole location. As if the water on the left isn’t enough, bunkers on the right side of the fairway keep players honest, capturing balls from those who attempt to bail out to the safe side of the hole. The closing hole played as the most difficult on the course last season with a 4.310 average score. THE LANDING ZONE The 480-yard par-4 5th at the Golf Club of Houston was the second-most difficult hole on the course last year. Players need to avoid the water running down the left side of the hole. Here is where all tee shots landed last year. WEATHER CHECK Thunderstorms are in the forecast for Wednesday, but other than a slight chance of rain on Thursday, the rest of the week should be smooth sailing for the tournament, with temperatures hovering around 70 degrees. For the latest weather news from Houston Texas, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I played a nine-hole practice round with [Tiger] at Valspar. This is for real this time, I think, this comeback. He’s looking good, he feels good, he’s talking good about his game and himself and how he feels. So it’s exciting to see, it really is. He’s walking with a bounce in his step like he did when he was out here kicking everybody’s butt. BY THE NUMBERS 63 – The percentage of Russell Henley’s total strokes gained that came from his performance on the greens. In total, he outperformed the field by +12.5 strokes with the putter during last year’s win. 40 – Padraig Harrington has hit 40 balls in the water at the Golf Club of Houston, nine more than the next player (Mickelson, 31) since 2006. 624 – Since 2006, the 18th hole at GC of Houston has yielded the second most balls in the water (624) on the final hole on TOUR. It’s one of three closing holes on TOUR with 600 or more shots finding the water 541 feet 10 inches – Last season, Russell Henley made 541 feet 10 inches of putts en route to victory, marking the most feet of putts made by a PGA TOUR winner in the ShotLink era (since 2003). 15 – The number of Phil Mickelson’s under-par rounds that have been on the weekend at Golf Club of Houston, the most of any player. 30 – From inside five feet, Jordan Spieth misses a putt every 30 holes played this season compared to one in every 45 holes played last season.

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