With the following breathless description of the additional player commitments for next week’s Shell Houston Open, the Chronicle continues to put the best face on an increasingly troubling situation for the local tournament:
SHO update
The Shell Houston Open fortified its field with commitments from David Howell of England (No. 19 in the world), Robert Karlsson of Sweden (No. 29), Jeev Singh of India (No. 46) and 2006 U.S. Ryder Cup team member Vaughn Taylor.
The SHO has commitments from two of the world’s top-10 players, Adam Scott (No. 4) and Padraig Harrington (No. 10). Among the other top-50 players who have made plans to be at the Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course next week are David Toms, K.J. Choi, Jose Maria-Olazabal, defending champion Stuart Appleby, Tim Clark, Michael Campbell, Lucas Glover, Arron Oberholser, Rory Sabbatini and Steve Stricker.
The SHO also received a commitment from a rejuvenated Rocco Mediate, a five-time winner whose second-place finish Sunday at Bay Hill was his best in 74 starts. Lee Westwood, Justin Leonard, Bernhard Langer, Charley Hoffman, Jeff Quinney and Boo Weekley also have committed.
“Fortified” its field with two two players from the top 10 of the World Rankings, only four from the top 20 and a smattering from the top 50? Leave it to longtime Tour player Brad Faxon to sum up how most Tour professionals are thinking about the Shell Houston Open these days. After failing to qualify for Doral this week and The Masters the week after the Houston Open, Faxon observed about his upcoming schedule:
“Week off, then I’ll go to Houston, then another week off. I’ll be playing all the unimportant tournaments,” Faxon said. “I’m not mad at any anybody but myself. I knew the rules.”
Shell’s sponsorship deal with the Houston Open runs through 2012. But given the Tour’s questionable policies toward tournaments such as the Houston Open, a course that is unfriendly to fans and neither convenient nor noteworthy for the players, and some very bad decisions by the Houston Golf Association, is Shell going to continue an expensive association with what is increasingly appearing to be an afterthought on the PGA Tour?