WAM Golf

Shell Houston Open Preview & Groups To Watch

Between Tiger Woods win last week and The Masters next week it's easy to overlook the Shell Houston Open. The final event before the first major of the season gives players one last chance to tune up before taking on Augusta National. Phil Mickelson will look to defend his 2011 against a strong field. 

(Can Mickelson Defend His 2011 Title? Photo Credit)

Mickelson is one of six players in the field this week with a win in 2012. He's joined by Steve Stricker, Johnson Wagner, Kyle Stanley, John Huh, and Hunter Mahan as players who look to secure a second win before heading to Augusta next week. Wagner joins Mickelson and five other players in the field who have won the Shell Houston Open before. The players are Anthony Kim (2010), Paul Casey (2009), Fred Couples (2003), Robert Allenby (2000) and Stuart Appleby who has won the event twice (1999 & 2006).

 

Mickelson looking to defend his title is just one story but most of the focus is on Ernie Els who needs to win this week in order to qualify for The Masters. Els has been in The Masters field every year since 1994 and needs a win to keep his streak alive. He's played great golf of late, finishing in the top 5 in his last two tournaments. 

Three Groups To Watch At The Shell Houston Open

3. Keegan Bradley, Lee Westwood & Graeme McDowell: Westwood is the top ranked player in the field and finished in the top 10 here in 2010. He's joined by two major championship winners in Bradley and McDowell. Bradley has finished in the top 25 in every start this season while McDowell finished second to Tiger last week.

2. Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples & Charl Schwartzel: I'm curious to see if Schwartzel will play well or if he has The Masters champions dinner on his mind. The real reason I want to watch this group is the pairing of Mickelson and Couples. They are two great golfers who have both won here before and it's going to be fun to watch them play golf together.

1. Kyle Stanley, Ernie Els & Anthony Kim: Stanley has a win in 2012 and Kim has won here before but the story of the 2012 Shell Houston Open is Ernie Els. Can he play well enough to win and qualify for The Masters? I hope so because he's my pick to win this week.

 

@WAMGolfs Pick to Win: Ernie Els

Tiger Woods Wins The 2012 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill

Tiger Woods earned his first PGA Tour victory in 2012 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. It's the first PGA Tour victory for Woods since the 2009 BMW Championship. Woods held a share of the lead after 36-holes and was the outright leader after 54-holes before sealing the deal on Sunday. 

(Tiger Woods has won 72 times on the PGA Tour. Photo Yahoo!)

Tiger earned PGA Tour career victory #72 by holding off his Sunday playing partner, Graeme McDowell, along with Ian Poulter and The Big Easy, Ernie Els. He made 20 birdies throughout the tournament, inlcuding four during the front nine of his final round. His back nine was much less eventful as he made eight pars and a bogey to finish the event at 13-under, five strokes ahead of McDowell.

The win ended a stretch of 923 days and 27 PGA Tour events without a victory and he earned $1,080,000 for the win. The winner of the 2007 and 2009 FedEx Cup's, Tiger received 500 FedEx Cup points and moved into 7th place in the standings. 

The PGA Tour moves to it's final event before The Masters, the Shell Houston Open. Phil Mickelson is the defending champion. 

Tiger Woods Shares The Lead at Arnold Palmer Invitational After 36-Holes

After Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) withdrew from the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship a few weeks ago many wondered when we would see him again. When Tiger announced he would return to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, we wondered how he would hold up. Now we know. 

(Tiger Woods will be in the last group on Saturday. Photo The Telegraph)

Tiger made four birdies and just one bogey during the first round on his way to shooting a 3-under, 69. The solid round left him just a few strokes behind the leaders heading into round two. When he would really impress us.

No one could have predicted the treat golf fans were in for Friday afternoon. Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) was a man on a mission and shot a 9-under, 63, to head into the weekend at 9-under. His bogey free second round included seven birdies and an eagle to move him to the top of the leaderboard. Just when it looked like McDowell would be the leader heading into the weekend, Tiger put on his own show.

Tiger made seven birdies during the second round to shoot a 7-under, 65 and 10-under for the tournament. The highlight of the bogey free round came on holes 4 to 7 when Tiger made four consecutive birdies. It's the first time in over two years that Tiger has had the 36-hole lead on the PGA Tour. 

Tiger will be paired with co-leader Charlie Wi on Saturday. Their tee time is scheduled for 1:50pm EST. 

Luke Donald Wins The Transitions Championship

In what was one of the most exciting PGA Tour finishes of the 2012 season, Luke Donald (@LukeDonald) won Transitions Championship in a four-man playoff. The win is Donald's first of the season and moves him back to the number one spot in the Offical World Golf Rankings. 

(Luke Donald reclaimed the #1 spot in the Official World Golf Rankings)

Donald finished the tournament at 13-under, tied with Robert Garrigus, Jim Furyk, and Sang-Moon Bae. In what many thought would be a long playoff, Donald made quick work of his three opponents by making birdie on the first playoff hole while everyone else made par. Donald's approach from the rough just cleared the bunker and came to rest about six feet away. Furyk's approach left him about 40 feet while Bae was just inside the 20 foot mark and Garrigus was just outside of Donald at 7 feet.

It was no surprise when Furyk and Bae couldn't convert their difficult birdie putts. After missing their attempts it was on to Garrigus who narrowly missed, leaving the door open for Donald to win.

The win was Donald's first since the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic in October of last year. He earned $990,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points while reclaiming the top spot in the OWGR from Rory McIlroy. 

Outside Looking In

It looked as though Ernie Els was going to steal the show as he entered the 17th up by one stroke. An errant tee shot on the par 3 forced him to make bogey, joining the rest of the group at 13-under. Els carried on to the 18th where it look like he would finish tied with the pack but a missed par putt from inside 5 feet dropped Els to 12-under and outside of the playoff.

Els made just seven bogies all week and played the 17th hole at 3-over par. Three of his bogies  came on the 17th during the first, second, and final rounds. The back to back bogies on the 17th and 18th were the only two bogies of the final round for Els as he finished in a four way tie for 5th. 

The PGA Tour moves to Orlando, Florida for the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard. Martin Laird is the defending champion. 

Transition Championship Preview & Groups To Watch

The PGA Tour is at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida for the Transitions Championship. Gary Woodland (@garywoodland) looks to defend his 2011 title against six former Transitions champions and four of the top 10 players in the world.  

(Can Luke Donald earn his first victory of 2012 this week?)

 Luke Donald (@LukeDonald), the #2 ranked player in the world, is joined by Webb Simpson (6), Jason Day (7) and Charl Schwartzel (9) as players in the top 10 looking for their first win of 2012. Donald is coming off a 6th place finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship while Simpson (@webbsimpson1) and Schwartzel have each earned two top 10 finishes in 2012. 

Joining Woodland as former champions playing in this event are Vijay Singh (2004), Carl Petterson (2005), Sean O'Hair (2008), and Jim Furyk (2010). Two additional players in the field have won this event twice: K.J. Choi (2002 & 2006) and Retief Goosen (2003 & 2009). All will be looking for their first win of the 2012 season. 

Three Groups To Watch at the Transitions Championship

3. Matt Kuchar, Jason Day & Ernie Els: Kuchar is my pick to win this week. In five events he missed the top 25 only once and finished tied for 8th last week. We were all expecting big things from Jason Day but 2012 hasn't been kind to him so far, is this the week he cracks the top 10? Every time Els (@elsforautism) is in the field I enjoy watching him play. He's made the cut in all of his starts and I'd like to see him win one more time. 

2. Brandt Snedeker, Charl Schwartzel & Sergio Garcia: This looked like it could be the year of Sergio (@TheSergioGarcia) when he finished tied for 4th in his first event. Last week was a minor bump in the road where he finished tied for 60th. Now it's time to see how he can recover from a tough showing and maybe earn a victory. Schwartzel is reminding everyone his green jacket wasn't a mistake. The 9th ranked player in the world, he has finished in the top five in both stroke play starts this season. Brandt Snedeker has not cracked the top 10 since his win in January but there is a lot of golf left in 2012. He's a guy to watch every time he is in the field. 

1. Luke Donald, K.J. Choi & Justin Rose: The focus of 2012 was whether or not Donald would win a major. As the #2 ranked player in the world, we now just want to see him win. An impressive WGC event last week has him ready to go this week and headed into Augusta. Choi, a two time winner of this event, has only one top 10 finish in 2012 and that was a tie for 5th in week one. A familiar course could be the place he turns it around this season. Justin Rose (@JustinRose99) is off to a great start in 2012. A win last week was preceded by a 5th place finish at The Honda Classic and a 13th place finish at the Northern Trust Open. Winning back to back isn't easy but maybe Rose is ready to take his game to the next level. 

@WAMGolfs pick to win: Matt Kuchar