Houston Open tees off with Augusta looming
Added: (Mon Apr 06 2009)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
With the US Masters only one week away, many of golf's elite traditionally take the week off to focus on Augusta – not this year.
While there is one glaring absence – world number one Tiger Woods of Nike Golf will prepare on the practice range – a number of the sport's top performers will tee off at the Houston Open, starting tomorrow (Thursday, April 2nd).
Among them are favourite Phil Mickelson of Callaway Golf, along with Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and Cleveland Golf's Vijay Singh, meaning defending champion Johnson Wagner will have a tough time defending the his first and only title on the US PGA Tour.
Wagner's breakthrough victory has boosted his profile stateside and the 29-year-old says that he looking forward to revisiting the scene of his maiden victory at the Redstone Country Club in Texas.
He said ahead of the tournament: "Defending here is very important to me. This is my most important tournament of the year.
"There are some places and some people that just make you feel comfortable. It is just one of those good places."
The occasion will also be the last chance to win entry into the Masters field for some familiar faces not used to an undignified last-minute scrap.
As the Houston Open winner will receive an invitation, Davis Love III and Darren Clarke must take the title in order to pave the way to an Augusta appearance.
Up until his failure to qualify for last year's Masters, Love III – who lost out on automatic qualification by one place in the world rankings – had played in 70 straight majors.
Despite winning last year's KLM Open in Holland, Clarke is down to 78th in the world pecking order and is hoping to pull a win out of the bag.
The upcoming Houston Open will also give the American golfing fraternity another opportunity to drool over rising star Rory McIlroy – the young Ulsterman has signed up for the event in preparation for his debut appearance at a US major.
Across the Atlantic, Gregory Bourdy will defend his Portuguese Open crown up against a somewhat depleted European Tour field.
Many of the continent's leading pros are over in the US in ahead of the year's first major, but 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie and early 2009 winners Estanislao Goya and Anders Hansen will be among the competitors.
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Submitted by:Carl Liver Find out more.