By Bryan Douglass
March 31, 2009 9:21am CDT

Shell Houston Open
Redstone Golf Club @ Humble, Texas
- Dates: Thursday, April 2 - Sunday, April 5
- 2009 Purse: $5,700,000 (Winning Share: $1,008,000)
- FedEx Cup Points: 3,513 (Winning Share: 500)

Tournament Schedule
First Round - Thursday, April 2 - 3:00pm EST on the Golf Channel
Second Round - Friday, April 3 - 3:00pm EST on the Golf Channel
Third Round - Saturday, April 4 - 3:00pm EST on NBC
Final Round - Sunday, April 5 - 3:00pm EST on NBC

The Course

Redstone Golf Club - Tournament Course
Course Par Value: 72
Course Yardage: 7,457

Designed by the iconic hand of Rees Jones, the Redstone Tournament Course was constructed specifically for PGA competition. Laid within a natural woodland thick with pine, oak, and cypress trees, the course stands as one of the longer tracks the professionals will play this season. Wetlands surround areas of the track and provide natural obstacles that will challenge the best golfers on the planet. As a result, you will find portions of this course that resemble swamp, laid in the midst of sweeping trees that can mask wind conditions that flurry in the heights above.

Typically speaking, the Houston Open (while hosted by the Redstone Golf Club) has offered a distinct advantage to those that go long off the tee. Fairways are tight yet forgiving and greens are as challenging as most PGA courses, but there are opportunities hidden for those that can shape their drives off the tee and carry longer distances. Low scores can be found for those that fail to go long as well, but the leaderboards produced at Redstone have shown an uncanny lean towards the big hitters of the PGA Tour.

Holes to Watch

Hole 8 (Par 5, 557 yds): There will be more than a few that target eagles on this hole. The fairway welcomes long drives but accuracy is a must as the landing area gets thin for those that reach big yardage off the tee. Hit your spot out of the box and you'll find a long iron out of the bag on the approach, but a deep and forgiving green can be managed despite the length. Those that fail to place their drive correctly will find obstructed views into the green as trees come into play, making the approach to a green lined by water on the right rather daunting. You can card a birdie or eagle at No. 8, but bogey (or worse) is all too easy to achieve as well.

Hole 18 (Par 4, 488 yds): Golfers must complete two long and challenging par-4 offerings before they find the end of the round, capped by an 18th that offers nothing but water along the length of the left side of this hole. The tee will test your knowledge of the clubs in the bag as a shot over water can be attacked from several angles. The more water you can clear the better heading into an approach that shows sand on the right and continued lakefront property on the left. The green is deep and narrows toward the back where very little room between the edge of the green and water can be found. On Sunday, the pin will lie in those far reaches, asking golfers to commit to what may be the toughest shot of the week made to the tightest of quarters with little room for error.

2008 Review

PLACE / PLAYER / FINAL
1 Johnson Wagner -16 (272)
T2 Geoff Ogilvy -14 (274)
T2 Chad Campbell -14 (274)
T4 Billy Mayfair -13 (275)
T4 Fred Couples -13 (275)
T6 Bob Estes -12 (276)
T6 Charley Hoffman -12 (276)
T8 Pat Perez -10 (278)
T8 Jason Day -10 (278)
T8 Kevin Sutherland -10 (278)
T11 K.J. Choi -9 (279)
T11 Bart Bryant -9 (279)
T11 Steve Stricker -9 (279)
T14 Kevin Streelman -8 (280)
T14 Jeff Quinney -8 (280)
T14 Steve Elkington -8 (280)
T14 Aaron Baddeley -8 (280)
T14 Lucas Glover -8 (280)
T14 Ryan Armour -8 (280)

2007 Review

PLACE / PLAYER / FINAL
1 Adam Scott -17 (271)
T2 Bubba Watson -14 (274)
T2 Stuart Appleby -14 (274)
4 Tommy Armour III -13 (275)
T5 Robert Garrigus -12 (276)
T5 Anthony Kim -12 (276)
T5 Hunter Mahan -12 (276)
8 D.J. Trahan -11 (277)
T9 Steve Stricker -10 (278)
T9 Arron Oberholser -10 (278)
T9 Johnson Wagner -10 (278)
T9 Bob Estes -10 (278)
T9 Bernhard Langer -10 (278)
T14 Paul Stankowski -9 (279)
T14 Jeff Maggert -9 (279)
T14 Tom Byrum -9 (279)
T14 Bo Van Pelt -9 (279)
T14 Sean O'Hair -9 (279)

The Field

Lying in close proximity to the first major of the season, the Shell Houston Open has always enjoyed fields that rank among the best of the early PGA season. Many of the world's top hitters target this event as a moment of preparation with hopes of building momentum towards rounds at Augusta National, and this year is no different.

Defending champion Johnson Wagner failed to turn his win at Redstone last season into a launching pad for a rising PGA career, but he has steadily improved and will be on hand to protect this reign as golf's King of Houston. This season he will be chased by a bevy of talents from all over the world, a list that includes Aaron Baddeley, Anthony Kim, Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington, K.J. Choi, Henrik Stenson, Justin Leonard, Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald, Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Karlsson, Stuart Appleby, Angel Cabrera, Steve Stricker, Justin Rose, Hunter Mahan, Ernie Els, Brian Gay, Phil Mickelson, Camilo Villegas, Davis Love III, Sergio Garcia, Ben Curtis, Lee Westwood, Fred Couples, Jeev M. Singh, David Toms, Paul Casey and teen sensation Rory McIlroy.

As usual, the PGA regulars will be represented as well, a field that includes Dean Wilson, Steve Marino, Ben Crane, Kevin Na, Bo Van Pelt, Kevin Sutherland, John Merrick, Brendon de Jonge, Lucas Glover, Kevin Streelman, Charles Howell III, Nick O'Hern, John Rollins, Chad Campbell, Andres Romero, Dustin Johnson, James Nitties, Alvaro Quiros, Colt Knost, Scott Piercy, Jonathan Byrd, J.B. Holmes, Briny Baird, Tom Pernice, Jr., Bill Haas, Rich Beem, Bart Bryant, Daniel Chopra, Jonathan Kaye, Billy Mayfair, Mathew Goggin, Charlie Wi, Troy Matteson, Scott Verplank, Steve Elkington, Webb Simpson, and Ryan Moore.

To view the entire field, visit this link:
http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r020/field.html

Enjoy.