The 13th hole at Redstone Golf Club © Peter Corden
Dustin Johnson 14/1 © Keith Allison
Rees Jones designed the Tournament course at Redstone Golf Club, where during construction artifacts belonging to the Atakapa Indians were found all around the grounds of the Redstone Golf Club. That history has been incorporated into the design of Redstone’s logo with a reflection of a green over water within an Indian Arrowhead outline.
The 7,457 yard par-72 layout has been carved out of woodlands lush with oak, pine and cypress trees. The course also has wetlands that are filled with native plants and flowers. Past Shell Houston Open champions at Redstone Golf Club include Fred Couples, Vijay Singh, Stuart Appleby, Adam Scott, Johnson Wagner and Paul Casey.
Henrik Stenson 16/1 © Keith Allison
My Tips to Win:
Dustin Johnson 14/1 currently sits third on the FedEx Cup rankings and 10th place in the world, with two runners-up finishes. Dustin has only been outside the Top 10 once this year from the five events he has played in and that was in the WGC Match-play Championship. I feel this is the year Dustin steps up to the plate in the majors and what better way to start your preparation for the Masters than to win here this week.
Another player who is looking to add major championships to his FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai wins is Henrik Stenson 16/1. Henrik had a runners-up finish here last year and went on to have a Top 20 finish at the Masters. I am sure the big Swede is hoping to go into next week with a win to his name and bounce down Magnolia drive in confident mood.
I am going to stick with Jordan Spieth 25/1 this week, I felt only his first round 75 at last week’s Texas Open kept him from challenging. In fact it was his front nine 42 which was six over at the time that really did the damage and he showed great mental strength to come back and shoot three under on the back nine. I think he will want to prove to himself that he can play in front of his home state crowd and I think he will be in one of the final pairings on Sunday.
Steve Stricker 50/1 © Keith Allison
My each-way tips:
This is a bit of a make or break week for Louis Oosthuizen 66/1 after his recent injuries but the South African does have a good record here, in the last three years of the event he has not been outside of the Top 20 with two of those, Top 10 placings. Louis just missed out lifting a green jacket to Bubba Watson two years ago and will want to be in good shape going into the Masters, so look for him to be challenging if his injured back holds up.
Slightly stuck between going for Steve Stricker 50/1 or Lee Westwood 66/1 – both haven’t had great years, but Steve has only played in two events and both will want to do well here going into next week’s Masters. I have decided I am going to plummet on the side of Stricker as he has the short game to get out of trouble. You are probably thinking why go for any of them when there are others in form, but I think a week before the Masters these two will want to start to peak at this point, and both have the game and mentality to lift themselves to do that.
My outside tip:
I must admit I was surprised to see Daniel Summerhays 100/1 this far down the betting odds this week after his joint runner-up finish at last week’s Texas Open. Daniel has never really done well on this track, but with five Top 25 finishes this season, and laying in twenty-ninth position on the FedEx Cup rankings I think he makes a great outside bet this week.
For up to date betting odds during the tournament go to planetgolfreview.com
The Rees Jones designed Tournament course at Redstone Golf Club
