Anthony Kim looking to retain Shell Houston Open– PGA Tour News
The Shell Houston Open will be starting on Thusrday at the par-72, Redstone Golf Club in Texas. Shell is the main sponsor of the four-day event which has sanctioned total prize money of US$5.9 million for the tournament.
This tournament has already attracted players of top rankings. These players will be looking forward to play well in this event before next week’s major Masters tournament commences. Already, the course looks in a great shape and the
participants are hoping to grab the trophy and the winner’s cheque.
Youngster Anthony Kim will be defending his title this year. He won this tournament last year in a playoff against Vaughn Taylor; it was his third PGA Tour victory early in his career. The 25-year-old became the fifth player in more
than three decades to have won three PGA Tour titles before turning 25.
A painful thumb injury meant the defending champion failed to make it to the Ryder Cup team of the USA.
This year, the story will be entirely different with some players looking to return to form and some hoping to improve their rankings to qualify for the Masters.
The highlight of the tournament will be Lee Westwood of England who is currently ranked at the second spot in world rankings. He overtook the number one spot held by Tiger Woods last year and remained there at the top for a few weeks.
Westwood, who has loads of experience, is going to play his first round with Phil Mickelson.
Both these players will attract a large number of galleries as it will be Westwood, Mickelson and Kim paired on the first day. The three players are long hitters and certainly look excited while playing.
Westwood is just a few points behind World no.1 German Martin Kaymer. The Englishman only needs to finish among the top-3 in this tournament to regain his number one spot before the Masters.
The 37-year-old Westwood has also not won a single tournament this year. He won the St.Jude Classic last year and has not had success this season. In his recent interview, the veteran said, “I feel like I am playing well - my game's in good shape. All of
it seems pretty sharp. This is generally the time of year I start playing fairly well and hitting a bit of form. It's a good time of year to start playing well.”
Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal and American Davis Love will also be playing with each other. The two players will be facing off each other in September, 2012 when Europe faces USA in the Ryder Cup.
Olazabal will be playing in this championship after a time span of two years.
Conditions of the course are great as the greens look to be challenging for the players. Major championship winner Padraig Harrington, who has not performed well since the past few weeks, will be hoping to regain his form in this tournament.
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