Houston Open
The Putters are back folks. Tyler and I decided to take last week off, given the fact that there wasn’t a big event and we wanted to prepare for the next two weeks on tour. The next two weeks on the PGA will be crucial. This week the tour heads to The Lone Star state for the Houston Open. The Houston Open is played at the Memorial Park Golf Course. This course is pretty well known in the golf community on account that it is the nation’s most visited municipal golf course. On average over 60,000 people visit the course to play and enjoy everything the course has to offer. The Houston open is a crucial week because it’s the event right before the Masters. This year it's especially crucial on account of how crazy the schedule has been this past eight months. However, before I get into the Houston Open there is one thing I want to talk about that happened during last week’s Tour Event.
Many Golf fans know the household name, Fred Funk. Fred Funk made history last week at the Bermuda Championship. Fred Funk entered the week with little to no expectations. The only thing that made Fred happy was that he got the chance to play with his son Taylor Funk. Any father and son can attest that sharing a moment like that would be unforgettable. However the week was far from over for Fred. Fred went on to chip in on his last hole on Friday to make the cut on the number. This is where history was made. Fred is 64 years old and four other players to make a cut on the PGA Tour when over the age of 60. That list includes Tom Whatson, Jack Nicklaus, Sam Snead and now their newest member Fred Funk. This is an elite group that not many players can say they are a part of. Huge congrats to Fred Funk and his family. Golf fans everywhere are hoping for more history to be made this week in Houston.
The field in Houston this week is star studded as to be expected. More specifically this week fans will have the chance to watch Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau, Jason Day, Tyrell Hatton, Adam Scott Sergio Garcia, and finally Dustin Johnson who has ultimately recovered from his Covid-19 diagnosis. Like I said before this week is so crucial headed into The Masters next week. This gives a lot of players the opportunity to shake off the final bit of rust and really dial in on their games. Some notables that are skipping this week to no surprise are Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Bryson Dechambeau. This is to be expected of course, Tiger with his physical ailments, Rory and JT use the week to rest and prepare physically and mentally, and Bryson of course who planned on Putting 10 extra pounds of mass on before the event. Nevertheless this week will be filled with low numbers, highlight reels and a fantastic lead up to every golf fan’s favorite week at Augusta. Let’s see what Tyler has to say about this week. (Mike)
While it is easy to look ahead to next week and the tournament, we have all been looking forward to, this week provides us with a great field to prepare us for what Augusta will bring us next week. The Houston open usually provides a very solid field as it is the week before The Master’s. This year’s field especially is stacked for a tournament that is not often considered in the upper echelon of events in a normal tour year. In years past we have seen people qualify for The Master’s by winning The Houston Open and since the field at Augusta is limited this year that will not be the case, but it will not take away from the high level of golf I expect to see this week. There are big names all over the field this week, but I am going outside of the traditional big names for my picks this week. Another big thing about this week is that fans in limited numbers will be allowed back. This is huge for golf and while there will not be loud roars, there will be at least more people on the course and making the big moments seem like big moments. I am sure many golfers will welcome the fans back, especially since there will not be that many of them. This is a good step towards the tour events returning to all of their glory. It will be nice to see players get applauded for good play rather than only having a bunch of journalists and tv guys out there. (Tyler)
Pick’s of the Week:
Mike: Once again we are back to my favorite part of the blog, Pick for the Week!
With a field as stacked as this it's difficult to choose between so many good players, however im going to go with Tony Finau as my winning pick of the week. Finau is coming off a solid T-11 finish at the ZOZO Championship two weeks ago. This bodes well for him considering he had to withdraw two weeks in a row due to his positive Covid-19 test. Since then he hasn't missed a beat. It’s also a strong indicator that he is poised to win this week coming in with 20-1 odds to win. He has three other players with better odds but nobody is a huge standout this week.
My notable to miss the cut this week goes to Brooks Koepka. I'm still not confident in his game right now. This year alone he's only played once at The CJ Cup and finished T-28. He hasn’t shown much promise of improvement. However there have been reports that Brooks was back in the gym, focusing more on his physical health and strength which could prove to be extremely valuable. Despite what I think his odds this week are coming in at 20-1 which doesn’t totally align with his play as of late, but its golf anything can happen.
Finally my sleeper of the week goes to Wyndham Clark. Clark is coming off a string week last week in Bermuda, Although he ultimately lost in a playoff he is showing great promise. Despite a rocky finish last week, his putter was working really well which is a huge advantage for him. Clark’s odds this week aren’t great, I'll be honest coming in at 70-1 but confidence is everything in this game and can be a huge difference maker. (Mike)
Tyler: My pick for this week is Adam Scott. I picked Adam a few weeks ago to win and unfortunately the day before the tournament he had to withdraw because of COVID. He is back from that and I have a lot of confidence in him this week to be right there in contention on Sunday afternoon. He has one of the best swings I have ever seen and puts himself in great positions around the course, but his putter has let him down way too many times over the years. He does not need a great putting display this week, he just needs to be above average to be right there if the rest of his game his firing. I think we will see him comeback pretty strong from his time away due to COVID and have a strong finish this week as he prepares to head to Augusta next week to chase another green jacket.
My dark horse for this week is Lanto Griffin. He has been playing exceptionally well lately so maybe he is not as big of a dark horse as maybe he would have been a few weeks ago, but certainly not a guy many would pick this week. His game is trending in the right direction and I expect a high finish for him this week. It is a bummer he cannot play himself into The Master’s next week, but he can continue to build momentum for this extremely long tour season. There is a lot to like about Lanto’s game and I am anticipating he will be a name we hear a lot more of in the coming years as he establishes himself on the tour. He is a grinder and now that he had his breakthrough on tour I like his chances to get hot this week and be right there with some big names on Sunday.
The other thing I wanted to touch on this week was the semi revival that Stewart Cink is enjoying on the tour right now. A once prominent name near the tops of leaderboards he has found form again and shown he can still compete at a very high level. He has a recent win at the Safeway Open and some other solid finishes in his last few starts. Recently, we have seen other guys that have had a nice revival as well and it is a testament to the state of the PGA Tour right now. There are so many young guys playing well, so many older guys finding form again and you add that to the extensive list of superstars right now on tour I think it leads us to the strongest the tour has ever been. This will continue to show as this packed season goes on. I am excited to see what other guys find form in the coming months. Maybe Tiger Woods will be the next guy to find form again next week in Augusta..