Golf FanHouse

Johnson Wagner Wins the Shell Houston Open, Gets Masters Bid

Stephanie Stradley — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:43:00 EST

Johnson Wagner was the wire to wire winner of the Shell Houston Open, and by doing so, he gets his first tour win, an automatic spot in the Masters and a two year tour exemption. (For more about Wagner, check out this nice article).

He was tied at the beginning of the tournament with Adam Scott for first, but Scott had to withdraw early because of flu-like symptoms that he suffered from since the beginning of the tournament.

Fred Couples ended tied for 4th, his highest finish since tying for third at the 2006 Masters.

In other SHO news, Phil Mickelson says that he plans to be at the tournament next year. He liked the way that the course was set up to help prep shots for Augusta, and the support of the fans in the community.

By the way, for golf fans who want to get a better sense of what the high profile players have to say than is usually in the newspaper sites, you can check out ASAP Sports-Golf link that has transcripts of various sporting events. The extremely cordial media relations people at the SHO said that their tournament was the first golf tournament to employ transcribers. There are ASAP Sports transcripts for other sports, but the golf one probably the most thorough.

Johnson Wagner Wins the Shell Houston Open, Gets Masters Bid originally appeared on Golf FanHouse on Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:43:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Tom Lehman Cares About Your Heart Health Even If You Don't

Stephanie Stradley — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Houston, Golf, FanHouse TV, PGA

Notes from on site at the Shell Houston Open:

Where are you likely to find a lot of people with heart disease? A PGA Tour event is likely a good place. Or maybe you peoples out there, just sitting there like a blob, reading about sports and licking your Cheese Doodled-stained fingers.

So Merck partnered up with PGA great Tom Lehman and asked him to be their spokesman for a heart disease educational program. He wants people to learn more about their cholesterol numbers, what they mean, and things they can do to prevent heart disease. On Thursday, he was signing autographs at the Shell Houston Open and giving away educational information. I asked him to say a few words in a video to you about why he cares about heart disease education.

You can find more detailed information at triplethreatchallenge.com. (autoplay audio in link). Some people may not like drug companies using sports figures to educate people about diseases, but if folks are more likely to listen to their favorite athlete over their doctor, I'm okay with whatever works.

You don't need eat mass quantities of Cheese Doodles to have heart disease. The problem with heart disease is that you can have really high cholesterol and not look or feel bad at all, until uh, your heart says screw it . So get your cholesterol checked regularly, and you can use that website to learn more about what your test results mean.

Though it isn't in the video, we talked about what blogs are all about and the different ways they can be used. I told him about FanHouse. I told him how much I liked the writers here, and that it was especially good for sports fans who travel a lot and want to keep up with what is happening with sports in general and their favorite players and teams. He said he'd check it out.

So if you are reading this, I'll say "Hi Tom!" See, that's one of the differences between a blog and traditional media.

In a newspaper article about this subject, the writer likely won't say "hi" to you. Who cares if that isn't terribly professional, whatever that means in modern journalism?

Hello Tom Lehman. Thanks for the nice conversation, and educating people about stuff that most people want to stay willfully ignorant about so they don't have to think about how poorly they are eating and how little physical exertion they get. And maybe helping those people who do eat well and exercise, but have genetic risk factors for heart disease.

If you want to have a nice chat with him too, not just about heart disease or the blogosphere, please check out his schedule of upcoming appearances. If you would like to know how his golf game is going, check out this link.

Tom Lehman Cares About Your Heart Health Even If You Don't originally appeared on Golf FanHouse on Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

This Guy Knows What is In Every PGA Golfer's Bag

Stephanie Stradley — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:02:00 EST

Filed under: Houston, Golf, PGA

Notes from on site at the Shell Houston Open:

How do golf manufacturers know whether players are actually using the equipment that they are endorsing? John Minkley (pictured right), and his staff from Darrell Survey Company check each player's golf bags on the Thursdays prior to play.

His staff and he have white books where they mark off what type of clubs, balls, grips are in the tour players' bags and from what manufacture. They also look at apparel, shoes and spikes. His company has been providing similar services since 1932 through founder Eddie Darrell. Minkley says they have good data about the equipment and players since probably the late1950s.

They provide this service not just for the PGA, but for every major golf tour.

The Darrell Survey effects what consumers tend to buy because equipment companies can use their data to say that their products are the most popular on tour. They also have personnel that watches every tournament broadcast to check out logo visability which I have to say would be a particularly strange way to watch golf.

This Guy Knows What is In Every PGA Golfer's Bag originally appeared on Golf FanHouse on Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:02:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

The Shell Houston Open as Preparation for The Masters

Stephanie Stradley — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:05:00 EST

Filed under: Houston, Golf, FanHouse TV, PGA

Notes from on site at the Shell Houston Open:

On day 1 of the Shell Houston Open, Adam Scott, the defending champion and later Johnson Wagner shot a 63, tyingfor the course record. Scott obviously has an eye for the course, and Wagner had a share of the previous course record of 64. For more info, check out the SHO website, leaderboard, and Ed Fowler's recap of Day 1.

After the date of the SHO was changed to the week before the Masters, the SHO decided to try to create course conditions that force players to make shots similar to what they will make next week. The elevation changes and green undulations can't be the same, but there are other ways that you can prepare the course to make it similar. Roger Groettsch, Director of Agronomy at Redstone explains how they set the course up in the above video.

Last year, a number of players skipped the Shell Houston Open because they mistakenly believed that the conditions in Houston wouldn't be a good preparation for the Masters. However, it turned out that 20 out of 23 players who played both tournaments made the cut at the Masters.

The word got out about what they were doing in Houston, and the quality of the field improved. According to Briny Baird who shot -5 on Thursday:

"Going through the locker room and stuff, you should hear what the guys are saying about the condition of the golf course. Best they've ever seen. That's saying a lot coming from guys playing what we think are perfect conditions every week. The golf course is great."

Clearly golfers won't be shooting as low in Augusta, but as Phil Mickelson notes, the SHO makes the players use a lot of the same shots they will need next week. Conditions are expected to be wet tomorrow, which may lead to more low scores, but is expected to be dry for the weekend.

The Shell Houston Open as Preparation for The Masters originally appeared on Golf FanHouse on Fri, 04 Apr 2008 01:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Followup: About John Daly's Chest Massage....

Stephanie Stradley — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:15:00 EST

Filed under: Houston, Golf, PGA

Notes from on site at the Shell Houston Open:

Okay, stop snickering momentarily, (like you know you are here and here) about my Tuesday story on John Daly needing physical therapy on his back and chest. (video above). You might be wondering what that was all about.

Yesterday, I was told that the therapist twisted and wiggled Daly's chest because of a rib problem. Probably the same one he suffered after trying to stop mid-swing when a fan took his picture at the Honda Classic last March. It was explained to me that the injury can become a chronic one, and it is likely to get worse unless Daly can lose weight.

Hooters has salads, I understand, but those are tough to order when faced with everything else on their menu.

There are some who question that whether Daly really has a rib injury, but that would be some kind of show for Daly to put on having a man with large arms waggle Daly's chest just to fake people out.

Previously at FanHouse:
John Daly is Working Hard, Needs Chest Massage From Trainer With Huge Arms

Followup: About John Daly's Chest Massage.... originally appeared on Golf FanHouse on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Phil Mickelson's Exit Strategy: Jet Pack

Stephanie Stradley — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:15:00 EST

Filed under: Houston, Golf, FanHouse TV, PGA

Notes from on site at the Shell Houston Open:

"You wouldn't happen to have a jet pack, by any chance?"

That's the question Phil Mickelson asked when he saw the impossibly long line of people gathered to get autographs from him after Tuesday's pro-am round. (at :07 in the video)

The crowds on Tuesdays are usually fairly light relative to the weekends and most golfers were able to easily leave the 18th hole. When you watch on TV, and even with this video, you don't have a sense of the crushing group of people trying to get Phil's attention to sign autographs.

It was an ordeal getting him off the course. First, he signed autographs for his pro-am partners. Then tournament officials chatted with him for about 5 minutes talking about how they were going to get him through the rope line to talk to the media.

After he slowly went through the rope line signing autographs, instead of going to the media center, he did an open air interview in a media scrum that was pressing uncomfortably close to him and each other. Here is my viewpoint of the media orgy press conference:

(I was not a part of the media horde as I was shorter than everyone else. And well, I'm not writing any AP kinds of stories so it wasn't like I was going to get any cogent quotes. And more centrally to the point, it is gross to be smushed up against 15-20 photogs and assorted media guys, I don't care who they are interviewing. No offense, media dudes, but that had to be smelly and repulsive in every respect. Ew.)

The hordes of people around Mickelson on the rope line and the media session made me feel panicky for him just watching it. I don't know how the high profile golfers do it.

Then he went to the media center, and was requested to do a promo for an event in August. He politely asked if he could postpone it, but they really wanted him to do it then. So he memorized a script, and did the promo, and kept goofing up the takes. He's played a round of golf, there's about 20 people milling about, and he is doing a blooper real of outtakes.

Finally he finishes that, and some more journalists want to get more interviews from him. He declines, explaining that he is just tapped. Finally, he gets on a cart and rides away.

I know that some folks believe that Phil Mickelson's public persona is a little phony, but I have to say I was impressed with how cordial and professional he was in dealing with people screaming at him.

Tuesday's conventional media story of the Shell Houston Open is how much Phil Mickelson and others are complementary about the condition of the course, and how it sets up for a Masters prep for next week.

(By the way, here's a "hi" to Gary, the boy who got the autographed glove from Phil in the video. Hope you like the video memento, my friend).

Phil Mickelson's Exit Strategy: Jet Pack originally appeared on Golf FanHouse on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 09:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

John Daly Is Working Hard, Needs Chest Massage From Trainer With Huge Arms

Stephanie Stradley — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:48:00 EST

Filed under: Houston, Golf, FanHouse TV, PGA

Notes from on site at the Shell Houston Open:

At the Shell Houson Open, John Daly is working hard. Hard enough that he needed a trainer to massage his back and uh er chest at :08 in the video link above.

I heard he spent six hours practicing on Sunday, before official practice rounds started. He showed up early before playing in the pro-am on Monday, and then practiced three hours after the round. Yesterday, he was practicing before I got to the range, and was there for at least four hours in the on and off rain showers.

Those who have seen him through the years at the SHO said it is the most they have ever seen him work, and the earliest they have seen him at the course

The practicing and pro-am habits of a PGA golfer shouldn't be news, but it is with Daly. Recently, in a 48 hour period, he got dumped publicly by his instructor Butch Harmon and was disqualified from the Arnold Palmer Invitational for missing his pro-am tee time. I guess Daly is trying to make amends one day at a time, and I figure it was worth mentioning the mundane details of the work he is doing.

People wonder why tournament directors keep giving him sponsor exemptions despite his repeated problems, and if you are at the course it is easy to see why.

Other than Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, John Daly is probably the most recognizable and hounded players on the tour. And despite (and maybe partially because of) his faults, people just love him.

They love him so much that out of the guys on the range yesterday, he had the most people trying to interrupt what he was doing to talk to him or ask for interviews. While he was hitting, he was all business. He did his work on the range, then he signed autographs before he left with a police escort that most of the other players did not need.

The SHO has been kind to Daly in the past. He is the 8th highest money winner in the tournament's history with a career $950,821 in earnings. His best result was in 2005, a playoff loss that he finished second. The Tournament Course that they are using now probably doesn't suit his game as much as the one that was used at the SHO in 2005.

Update on FanHouse:
Followup: About John Daly's Chest Massage.....

John Daly Is Working Hard, Needs Chest Massage From Trainer With Huge Arms originally appeared on Golf FanHouse on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:48:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Phil Mickelson to Play in Shell Houston Open as Masters Prep

Stephanie Stradley — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:35:00 EST

Filed under: Atlanta, Houston, Golf

Phil Mickelson likes to play the week before the Masters as part of his preparation. In contrast, like some other elite golfers, Tiger Woods enjoys going to his Fortress of Solitude, Bat Cave, or whatever secret preparation he does the week before.

Last year, Mickelson skipped playing the tournament before the Masters because it was held at the Shell Houston Open instead of the AT&T Classic (formerly the BellSouth). Some observers suggested last year that the SHO wasn't a good prep for the hilly, fast greens of Augusta.

Well they would be wrong. As I noted last year after the Masters, the players who prepped at the SHO did very well at the Masters. Out of the 23 golfers who played both tournaments, 20 of them made the cut at Augusta. Five who played both tournaments made the top 16 at the Masters, even though the SHO last year didn't have an abundance of highly ranked players.

Just something to keep in mind for those of you who do Masters pools. And perhaps something that Phil Mickelson noticed too.

WIth no pre-Masters prep tournament, Mickelson finished last year tied for 24th, his lowest showing at the Masters in a decade. This year, he has stated that he is planning to play at the SHO. Other early commitments include the world golf ranked #3 Ernie Els, #4 Adam Scott, #6 KJ Choi, and #10 Padraig Harrington.

By the way, a ton of news articles say that the SHO greens are bermuda grass. Actually at the time of the tournament, the bermuda is dormant and the greens are overseeded with a bent and poa trivialis mix which keeps them consistent and fast.
%Gallery-2727%

Phil Mickelson to Play in Shell Houston Open as Masters Prep originally appeared on Golf FanHouse on Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Another Winner of the 2007 Masters: The Shell Houston Open

Stephanie Stradley — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 22:30:00 EST

Filed under: Houston, Golf

There's two basic ways to prep for the Masters: 1. Show up early and get prepared for its unique challenges; or 2. Play a tournament the week before because the best preparation to play tournament golf is to play under pressure.

This year for the first time, the tournament the week before the Masters was the Shell Houston Open. Though the SHO had a large overseas contigent of players, the field had only 23 players who were also going to be playing at Augusta. Even so, the SHO tried to sell the tournament to the players as a Masters prep, and tried to replicate those conditions the best they could even though Houston is mostly flat and the greens at the SHO are bermuda.

It turns out that if you look at the top 16 including ties at the 2007 Masters, 5 of those players also played at the SHO: Padraig Harrington, Stuart Appleby, David Toms, Vaughn Taylor, and Tim Clark. By my count, 15 other SHO players also made the Masters cut. Seems to me that 20 out of 23 making the weekend at Augusta ain't bad.

Another benefit to the Shell Houston Open is Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne's announcement that they were reinstating the long-standing policy that allows tour winners to receive automatic invitations to the Masters. This will encourage good players not already in the Masters field to give it one last shot to qualify for it at the SHO.

Correction: Please see the comment from the SHO tournament director here. He says in part: "We cannot stress enough that the green surfaces at this time of year are NOT bermuda grass. At this time of year in our area bernuda grass is dormant. We have heavily overseeded greens with a bent and poa trivialis mix which allows us to maintain more consistency and faster green speeds (weather permitting)." Well, apparently, their hard work paid off for the players who played both the SHO and the Masters.

Another Winner of the 2007 Masters: The Shell Houston Open originally appeared on Golf FanHouse on Sun, 08 Apr 2007 22:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments