Who will win the Shell Houston Open? – Golf Feature
While the players are preparing for the Masters Tournament scheduled in the opening week of April, the 2012 Shell Houston Open will serve as the final tune-up for the first major event of the year.
Phil Mickelson, the defending Shell Houston winner, will return to action at the event after taking a few weeks off from the golf schedule.
Mickelson, along with some other big names in the world of golf, including Darren Clarke, Keegan Bradley, Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Retief Goosen and Ernie Els have all confirmed to participate in the event starting from March 29, 2012.
As there will be three of the four reigning major champions in the field of the Houston Open, the event will attract a large crowd to the Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course.
Yet, in a strong field of the former and current major winners, Mickelson has a chance to register another win this year while capitalizing on his recent performances on the PGA Tour.
The left hander made a total of six starts on the PGA Tour this year and recorded two top-10 finishes that include his win and a second place finish.
However, inconsistency is the greatest problem that Mickelson is currently facing while planning to defend his title at the Redstone Golf Club.
He missed the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open after carding 77 and 68 in the opening two rounds of the event in January, 2012.
That was a time when his critics believed that he will not be able to bounce back because of his poor performances in the 2011 golf season.
However, he stunned his critics with a win in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, followed by a tied second place finish at the Northern Trust Open.
Thereafter, he announced his withdrawal from two events, Honda Classic and the first World Golf Championship of the year, Accenture Match Play Championship.
According to him, he wanted to spend more time with his family rather than playing golf. Therefore, he returned to action at the Cadillac Championship and finished tied for the 43rd position.
Looking at his stats, golf analysts sometimes start believing that he may again falter while defending his title.
Oosthuizen can also be a dangerous player and is a must watch at the Houston Open because of his great record so far in the 2012 season.
He won the European Tour’s Africa Open to start his 2012 campaign and stood seventh in the very next event he played, Volvo Golf Champions.
Therefore, he has the ability and class to astound his opponents on the course with his beautiful playing technique.
According to many golf experts, Schwartzel, the reigning Masters Champion, will be the most watched player on the course, as he is set to defend his title at the Augusta National.
As the Masters is scheduled in the very next week of Houston Open, a victory for Schwartzel will boost his morale and confidence to defend his title successfully.
According to Schwartzel, he will practice short putting strokes before entering the greens of the Augusta National.
“You play week in and week out on fast greens, but not nearly as fast as you get at Augusta,” he said.
He added, “The biggest adjustment is to learn to make a little stroke and be consistent with it. I think that’s what helped me”.
Therefore, Mickelson, Oosthuizen and Schwartzel are all aiming to boost their morale, while looking for a win prior to the first major event of the year.
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