Before Masters, golfers choose rest or Shell
As it turns out, different strokes for different folks
What’s the best way to prepare for the Masters? Some prefer rest, while others play in the Shell Houston Open, which begins today.
How best to prepare for a major golf championship? Some play the week before. Some prefer to practice. Most go back and forth, depending on the fluctuating state of their games and/or personal circumstances.
Dustin Johnson, the world’s hottest and topranked golfer, decided he needed rest more than he needed another week of the tournament grind to prepare for next week’s Masters, so he pulled out of the Shell Houston Open on Monday. Back when he’d entered, of course, Johnson hadn’t yet won a third consecutive PGA Tour start, a hat trick he completed Sunday at the Dell Technologies Match Play competition in Austin.
If Johnson wound up playing a round of golf near his home in Palm Beach
Gardens on Wednesday, he did it under partly sunny skies on a lovely spring day. Had he come to the Golf Club of Houston as he’d originally intended, he’d have spent a lot of time staring forlornly out the clubhouse window, watching rain fall in buckets. All things considered — more storms are forecast for Sunday — he likely made the right call to phone in his regrets.
But four other world top-10 players showed up as planned, thinking they would profit from some grinding before going to Augusta, Ga. Among them, only No. 6 Jordan Spieth played in the Dell and he didn’t advance out of group play. None are coming off top-10 finishes, and No. 5 Henrik Stenson missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer event, his most recent start.
Rickie Fowler has tied for 16th and placed 12th in his last two tournaments after winning the Honda Classic. On the strength of his recent form combined with his No. 9 ranking, which effectively reflects how well he has swung his clubs and wielded his putter over the past two years, Fowler seems to be the player to beat this weekend. He replaces Johnson as the designated favorite in what will be the final Shell-sponsored Houston Open.
Except golf really doesn’t work that way, does it? Adam Scott, ranked seventh, wouldn’t even agree that the on-fire Johnson is the man to beat at Augusta National.
“It’s far from that at this point,” Scott said. “The game changes so quickly with this stuff. Back in January everyone would have had Hideki (Matsuyama) and Justin Thomas winning (the Masters). Now clearly Dustin is playing better. (There are) 10, 15 guys who, if they play really well can control the golf tournament.”
Although he was referring to the Masters, Scott could have been speaking of the SHO, too. Here, in fact, it might be 20 or 30 guys, or more. Odds favor journeyman
Spieth suggested, “anybody can win (Houston)” and, as it happens, the last five SHO champions can be described as journeymen. Together, they have collected only 10 other PGA Tour titles, five of those belonging to Hunter Mahan. Of Houston’s winners since 2007, when the tournament became the Masters leadin, just Phil Mickelson and Scott also have major championships on their résumés.
The Aussie Scott humbled the course south of Humble in 2007, returned to shoot a first-round 80 before withdrawing in 2008, then tied for 14th in 2010 before deciding he wanted to start taking the week off before Augusta. This is the first time he has been back since. Why?
“My family has been down in Australia, so I’ve been going back on my off weeks and it’s not that easy to just pop over for a week here and there,” he said. “I’m trying to balance seeing them the best I can. This year the schedule is a little bit funny with my wife being pregnant (with travel restrictions). That made (Houston) very easy to put back on my schedule and change things up.
“It’s part of my plan for the rest of the year to play the week before the majors, something a little different than in the past few years.”
Another factor is that Scott employs two caddies, David Clark and Steve Williams, who became famous carrying Tiger Woods’ bag. Although the Scott-Clark partnership has been reasonably fruitful, Scott always wants Williams at his side while he’s walking Augusta National. Together, they earned Scott a green jacket in 2013.
“I’ve got to make sure where my game is before going to the toughest test in golf,” he said. “It’s important that Steve sees me play this week and doesn’t come in blind going to Augusta.”
Spieth has been loyal to the Houston tournament because of how nicely the Houston Golf Association treated him as a junior. He’s playing the SHO for the fifth spring in a row. Two years ago, he got into a Sunday playoff before faltering, then won the Masters seven days later. A 13th-place tie in Houston in 2016 sent him to Augusta in good enough form to lead through 54 holes before taking a finalround header. Spieth a big proponent
Conceding he “feels more support” at the Texas stops on the PGA Tour “with a big Longhorn contingency,” the Dallas native and former University of Texas golfer sounds as if he intends to continue playing in Houston before heading to Augusta.
“Really, I think (playing a major) the third week in a row might historically be my best (plan),” Spieth said, although he admitted he did win the U.S. Open in 2015 following a week off.
“You get some kinks out,” he said. “I made some ‘rusty-ish’ swings in Austin. I was practicing (the previous week), but the focus wasn’t quite there for me. It gets there after playing the week before. It’s not a tell-all, but (Houston) has been a successful (lead-in) for the Masters, so I’ll keep doing it.”