Stuart Appleby led from wire-to-wire in winning his second Shell Houston Open golf tournament Sunday at the new Tournament Course at Redstone Golf Club. The final leaderboard is here, local golf writer Ed Fowler’s report on the tournament is here, and GolfWorld senior columnist John Hawkins’ analysis of Appleby’s remarkable performance is here.
Appleby lapped the rest of the SHO field as his 19-under-par performance was six shots better than second-place finisher, University of Texas alum Bob Estes. Appleby posted seven birdies in his closing round as he shot 66-67-69-67 for the tournament on the par-72, 7,500 yard Tournament Course layout. Inasmuch as the tournament was played under near-perfect weather conditions, the field scored well on the new course — better than two thirds of the 70-player field on the final two days finished under par.
On a personal note, Houston clearly has a special place in Appleby’s heart. His first win at the SHO came in 2002, about a year after his wife, Renay, had been hit by a car at the airport in London and killed. Everyone at that tournament will recall the tears in Appleby’s eyes as he accepted the trophy and spoke of carrying on. He has since remarried, is now the proud father of a 1-year-old daughter and is enjoying his best season on the PGA Tour.
The verdict on the new Tournament Course — the foundation of the SHO’s effort to elevate its presence on the PGA Tour — was decidedly mixed. The tree-lined course looked gorgeous on television and several players in the field complimented the design over the weekend. Jesper Parnevik, playing in his first Shell Houston Open, shot a 71 Sunday to shoot a one-under par 287 for the tournament, liked the course:
ìI think it was very nice for a brand new golf course. Thereís no funkiness about it. Very fair.”
Parnevik also thinks the move to a new date next year the week before The Masters Tournament will help the SHO:
“It seems like Phil [Mickelson is] going to be here. Thereís pros and cons playing the week before a major. Some guys love to play. A guy like Tiger never plays. I think itís going to be a fairly good field. I like to play before the majors. The only thing about Atlanta is you could drive to Augusta. Now you have a 2 Ω-hour flight.”
That won’t be much of a problem as I’m reasonably sure that the SHO will charter a flight after the tournament next year to transport those players who are playing in The Masters directly from Houston to Augusta. Second-place finisher Estes also thinks the SHO field will improve with the new date:
ìOverall, itís going to help. Youíll get a lot more foreign players. Youíll definitely have a stronger field and get more of the top players.î
A couple of other players expressed optimism that the Tournament Course will help players prepare for Augusta:
ìI think itís a nice warmup for the Masters,î said Ted Purdy. ìWith the big greens (here), Iím sure theyíll be in perfect condition. Itís a very similar green design, with the big undulations. It will be fun for Houston to have a lot more of the international players here. I think youíre going to have a real strong field.î
ìIf they can find a way to get the greens good and fast, with the undulations, I think they can draw a good field here,î said Lucas Glover. ìTheyíll have to find a way to get the greens fast so everyone will want to come before the Masters. This is as good a tuneup for the Masters as anything because of the iron shots, hitting it into the right areas on the greens.î
However, a couple of key players — neither of whom played particularly well on the new course — expressed reservations about coming back next year:
“The golf course did not grow on me,” said three-time SHO winner Vijay Singh, who shot 2-under for the tournament. “Normally the more you play one, the more it grows on you. For some reason, it didn’t do that. I hope they go back to the old golf course next year. I think a lot of the players feel the same way.”
“Every hole is pretty similar. I wish they had used more trees instead of lakes. It’s a modern golf course. It’s not a bad golf course. I prefer the other one.”
Asked whether he will return to the tournament next year during its new date before The Masters, Singh didn’t sound enthusiastic:
“That’s something to be thought about. I don’t know. If we play the other golf course, I’d play.”
Meanwhile, crowd favorite John Daly, who finished in the top 10 in the last three SHO tournaments, but shot 1-over par to finish 59th, also was not happy:
“Every hole is different. Every day, you’ve got to sit there and decide what you’ve got to hit off the tee. That one (the Member Course), it’s driver. You know it’s driver. This one, there are too many certain shots you’ve got to think about each tee, depending on the wind. It makes it a lot harder.”
And will Daly return to play the Tournament Course again?
“Probably not. It doesn’t set up for me at all.”
Meanwhile, SHO tournament director Steve Timms said he heard much more positive than negative feedback about the Tournament Course during the week.
“You’re not going to get a 100 percent vote of confidence.”
Any changes in the course anticipated?:
“It’s also 11 months away, so we’ll see. Some things can change.”
Any chance that one of those changes would be a move back to the old Redstone Course:?
“None at all.”
Finally, kudos to the CBS Golf Television crew for their fine tribute to the late Dick Harmon during coverage of the tournament. On Saturday, CBS ran a moving segment on Dick in connection with reporting on the opening of the new Dick Harmon Learning Center at Redstone this week. CBS color commentator Lanny Wadkins, on old friend of Dick’s, gave a particularly tender testimonial on his friendship with Dick and his appreciation for Dick working with Wadkins’ sons on their golf games. It was a wonderful expression of admiration for a great ambassador for Houston, who is sorely missed.