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2017 Shell Houston Open Preview

Some of the best golfers in the world will make their way to Houston, Texas this week for the Shell Houston Open. The Redstone Golf Club will play host to the final stop before The Masters next week. Some golfers decided to take the week off to rest for next week’s major tournament. However, this week’s event will feature Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson among the biggest names that will tee off for their share of the $7 million prize purse.

Event Details

Event: Shell Houston Open

Category: PGA

Date: March 30-April 2

Location: Redstone Golf Club, Houston, Texas

Jim Herman won last year’s event by one shot over Stenson, who has twice finished as the runner-up at this event. Two of the last three editions of the Shell Houston Open have been decided in a playoff. That includes J.B. Holmes’ victory here in 2015, when he beat Spieth in a playoff showdown. Spieth has never won this tournament before. However, after a pair of top-15 finishes he has to be hoping this is the year he captures that elusive victory.

Past Five Winners

2016: Jim Herman -15

2015: J.B. Holmes -16 (Playoff)

2014: Matt Jones -15 (Playoff)

2013: D.A. Points -16

2012: Hunter Mahan -16

What To Know About The Course

The numbers from past tournaments indicate that it doesn’t matter what you do off the tee here. Past winners have ranked outside of the top-50 in Driving Distance and still won. That includes last year’s winner Herman, who ranked 40th for DD and 16th for Driving Accuracy. The most important statistic to keep an eye on is Greens In Regulation. Each of the last five winners has ranked inside the top-10 in GIR. Par 4 scoring has been really important as well as the first two home last year ranked tied for second on those holes. Experience should count for something again this year but keep an eye on GIR as the one key stat.

The Field

Spieth will enter this year’s Shell Houston Open as the sports betting favorite to win outright at +600 odds. Right behind him is Jon Rahm at +1000 odds, followed by Stenson at +1100 odds. Fowler, Mickelson and Justin Rose round out the top five favorites according to the sports betting odds. Meanwhile, the defending champ Herman is available at +10000 odds to win this event for the second year in a row. Holmes, who beat Spieth in a playoff to win back in 2015, is listed at +3300 odds.

A Good Matchup To Bet: Phil Mickelson over Adam Scott

Scott won this event back in 2007 but he hasn’t played here since 2010. He could be a little rusty after skipping last week’s WGC event so we like the idea of fading him this week. Meanwhile, Mickelson has used this event as a warm-up for The Masters every year since 2008. Mickelson won this event in 2011 and has registered five straight top-20 finishes since then. Mickelson absolutely deserves to be considered among the sports betting favorites to win this week and he is a good bet to finish ahead of Scott.

Top-Five Pick: Jordan Spieth

It seems as though Spieth is overdue to win this tournament. He will be the crowd favorite once again and he will be looking for a little momentum heading in to The Masters. Spieth lost here in a playoff in 2015 and then finished T-13th here a year ago. This course suits his game so maybe this is the week Spieth finally breaks through and wins the Shell Houston Open outright.

Shell Houston Open Tee Times

1st tee
7:20 a.m. – Ken Duke, Boo Weekley, Robert Allenby (12:10 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
7:30 a.m. – Jamie Lovemark, Harold Varner III, Ryan Blaum (12:20 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
7:40 a.m. – Kevin Streelman, Ryo Ishikawa, Rafa Cabrera Bello (12:30 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
7:50 a.m. – Jason Dufner, Matt Every, K.J. Choi (12:40 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
8 a.m. – Greg Chalmers, Vaughn Taylor, Fabian Gomez (12:50 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
8:10 a.m. – Aaron Baddeley, James Hahn, Charles Howell III (1:00 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
8:20 a.m. – Charley Hoffman, Hunter Mahan, Nick Watney (1:10 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
8:30 a.m. – Si Woo Kim, Alex Cejka, Retief Goosen (1:20 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
8:40 a.m. – Chez Reavie, Steve Marino, Bud Cauley (1:30 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
8:50 a.m. – Brian Harman, John Senden, Ollie Schniederjans (1:40 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
9 a.m. – Jonas Blixt, Cameron Tringale, Spencer Levin (1:50 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
9:10 a.m. – J.J Spaun, Andrew Johnston, Chris Wood (2:00 p.m., 10th tee Friday)
12:10 p.m. – Geoff Ogilvy, Zac Blair, Sung Kang (7:20 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
12:20 p.m. – John Huh, Lucas Glover, Grayson Murray (7:30 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
12:30 p.m. – Scott Brown, Freddie Jacobson, Kyle Reifers (7:40 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
12:40 p.m. – Cody Gribble, Sean O’Hair, Stewart Cink (7:50 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
12:50 p.m. – Mackenzie Hughes, Jhonnattan Vegas, Robert Streb (8:00 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
1 p.m. – Henrik Stenson, Adam Scott, J.B. Holmes (8:10 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
1:10 p.m. – Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose (8:20 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
1:20 p.m. – Charlie Beljan, Chris Stroud, Chad Collins (8:30 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
1:30 p.m. – Stuart Appleby, Bob Estes, Tyron Van Aswegen (8:40 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
1:40 p.m. – Robert Garrigus, Jason Kokrak, C.T. Pan (8:50 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
1:50 p.m. – Patrick Cantlay, Andy Sullivan Beau Hossler (9:00 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
2 p.m. – Mark Anderson, Peter Uihlein, Riley Arp (9:10 a.m., 10th tee Friday)

10th tee
7:20 a.m. – Scott Stallings, Carl Pettersson, Ryan Palmer (12:10 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
7:30 a.m. – Morgan Hoffmann, Martin Flores, John Peterson (12:20 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
7:40 a.m. – Michael Thompson, Shawn Stefani, Cameron Smith (12:30 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
7:50 a.m. – Davis Love III, Danny Lee, David Lingmerth (12:40 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
8 a.m. – Peter Malnati, Nick Taylor, Keegan Bradley (12:50 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
8:10 a.m. – Jon Rahm, Daniel Berger, Phil Mickelson (1:00 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
8:20 a.m. – Rickie Fowler, Jimmy Walker, Jim Herman (1:10 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
8:30 a.m. – Bryce Molder, Kelly Kraft, Bernd Wiesberger (1:20 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
8:40 a.m. – Seung-Yul Noh, Jason Bohn, Derek Fathauer (1:30 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
8:50 a.m. – Ben Crane, Harris English, Blayne Barber (1:40 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
9 a.m. – Andrew Loupe, Brett Stegmaier, Mark Hubbard (1:50 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
9:10 a.m. – Sam Saunders, Bryson DeChambeau, Rich Berberian Jr (2:00 p.m., 1st tee Friday)
12:10 p.m. – Lee Westwood, Chad Campbell, Andres Gonzales (7:20 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
12:20 p.m. – Jason Gore, Brendon de Jonge, Ricky Barnes (7:30 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
12:30 p.m. – Johnson Wagner, Bill Lunde, Whee Kim (7:40 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
12:40 p.m. – Tony Finau, J.J. Henry, Billy Horschel (7:50 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
12:50 p.m. – Smylie Kaufman, Matt Kuchar, Luke Donald (8:00 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
1 p.m. – Steven Bowditch, Ben Martin, Ernie Els (8:10 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
1:10 p.m. – D.A. Points, Hudson Swafford, Troy Merritt (8:20 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
1:20 p.m. – Russell Henley, Kyle Stanley, Roberto Castro (8:30 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
1:30 p.m. – Patton Kizzire, Luke List, Michael Kim (8:40 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
1:40 p.m. – Angel Cabrera, Matt Jones, Kevin Chappell (8:50 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
1:50 p.m. – J.T. Poston, Richy Werenski, Ben Willman (9:00 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
2 p.m. – Tom Hoge, Rafael Campos, Wesley McClain (9:10 a.m., 1st tee Friday)

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Written by Geoff Harvey

Geoff Harvey has been creating odds and betting models since his days in the womb, just don't ask him how he used to get his injury reports back then. Harvey contributes a wealth of quality and informational content that is a valuable resource for any handicapper.

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