It was a wind fueled week in Bermuda over the weekend with Brian Gay coming out on top.  He finished third at this event back in 2019 and now it is the site of his fifth PGA Tour victory.  We saw a surprising performance from Wyndham Clark pushing Gay to a playoff.  He’s a player I love because of his skill set, just needs to be more consistent with his iron play.  Glad to see Doc Redman and Denny McCarthy finish in the Top 5 alongside Stewart Cink who continues his fantastic run of late.  There were two names I was glad to see back in the Top 15 of a PGA Tour event, Anirban Lahiri and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.  Both have been absent from the leaderboard, it was good to see them bounce back on the island. 

I'll freely admit that it's hard for me not to look past this week but I'm going to really try. I can already hear Jim Nantz saying, "A tradition like no other," which give me goosebumps every time.  Yes, I’m talking about the Masters which are next week in Augusta, Georgia.  I mean even hearing the Masters music played on CBS gives me a sense of calm.  I know, I’ve heard it a million times, especially from my wife this time of year, but yes, I know I have a serious problem and I should seek help. I am going to do my best to take Georgia off my mind long enough to focus on putting together a terrific playbook for this week’s Vivint Houston Open.

This event between 2007 and 2018 had been the lead up tournament to the Masters.  It was played on a course that golfers could work out the kinks in their game before heading to Augusta.  The Golf Club of Houston and Augusta National do have similar characteristics.  That won’t be the case this year because they are moving to Memorial Park Golf Course which is just a few miles west of downtown Houston.  

This public course is a Par 70 and measures out 7,432 yards.  That is a similar distance to the Golf Club of Houston but where it differs is the layout.  This course features five par 3s and five par 5s which is similar to what we saw at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD.  Sherwood was not even 7100 yards, so the players will have to take out the driver much more this weekend.  Three of the par 5s are longer than 570 yards (holes number 8 stretches 625 yards) which will make those holes more difficult to make birdies.  The longest par 3 tips at about 237 yards.  The par 4s are all over the map from a driveable par 4 13th to four others stretching out longer than 450 yards including a 502 yard finishing hole.  The rough is reportedly a little over two inches thick which will put emphasis on accuracy off the tee but length will be needed as well.  The greens are Bermuda grass but they are known for their bumps, hills and mounds.  That movement will cause balls to fall off the greens into tough collection areas similarly to Augusta.  Players' short game will be tested at Memorial.  We need players who can get the ball close and deal with tough pin placements. 

The weather looks to be ideal this weekend with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s throughout the tournament.  There looks to be no rain in the forecast.  One note being that this event is played in Texas is the wind.  There is just something about those Texas winds that seem different than what you see on the coastline or on an island.  I will have a few players in my playbook who have experience and success in Texas.  The winds look to be in the single digits Thursday and Friday but ramping up over the weekend.

One last piece of advice, try to watch this tournament closely as players who perform well this weekend, should be put on our radar for the Masters next week.  There are 37 golfers teeing it up this weekend that will be playing in next week’s major.  There I go again, I just can’t get it out of my mind.

Good Luck this week and I’ll be back next week with a FULL Master’s Breakdown.

KEY STATS: Strokes Gained: Off The Tee, Strokes Gained: Approach, Strokes Gained: Putting, Strokes Gained: Around the Green/Scrambling, and Greens in Regulation.

ONE & DONE SELECTION: Doc Redman

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