Week 13 Approach Shots: Shell Houston Open

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Heading into the final round of the 2009 Shell Houston Open, six players were tied for the lead with 18 holes left. Paul Casey was one of the six, and his final-round 72 allowed J.B. Holmes to catch him at the end of regulation to force a sudden-death playoff. Casey picked up his first PGA TOUR title when he defeated Holmes on the first playoff hole.

TV/Radio (all times ET)

TV: GOLF CHANNEL (Thu.-Fri., 4-7 p.m.) NBC (Sat. 1-5 p.m.; Sun. 3-6 p.m.) RADIO: PGA TOUR NETWORK - Sirius 209, XM 146, PGATOUR.COM (Thu.-Fri. 1-7 p.m.; Sat. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., 12-6 p.m.)

Weather

The forecast calls for thunderstorms on Friday and Sunday. The weather should otherwise be sunny and in the high 70s, low 80s. Winds should be between 5-15 mph. Updated weather info

Key links

• Expert picks | Tee times • Rankings | Fantasy Insider • Inside the Field | Course

This week, Redstone Golf Club's Tournament Course is again the site of the Shell Houston Open, the fifth time the course has hosted the event and eighth time overall. Redstone's Member Course was the host site from 2003 to 2005.

Casey's win last year came in his first Houston appearance. He is the first player since Mike Heinen (1994) to win this tournament in his debut. Casey is also the first European player to win the Shell Houston Open in the tournament's 63-year history. This season, Casey has made four starts -- with top-10 showings in all of them. His best finish was a runner-up performance at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, and he also added a tie for fourth at The Honda Classic, a tie for sixth at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship and a tie for 10th at the season-opening SBS Championship.

INTERNATIONAL FIELD: A strong international field will be at Redstone Golf Club's Tournament Course this week. Among those from outside the U.S. playing are Argentina's Angel Cabrera and Andres Romero, England's Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, South Africa's Ernie Els and Charl Schwartzel, Ireland's Padraig Harrington, Germany's Martin Kaymer, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, Australia's Adam Scott and India's Jeev Milkha Singh.

Australians have a particular affinity for this event. Aussie winners include Bruce Devlin (1972), Bruce Crampton (1973 and 1975), David Graham (1983), Stuart Appleby (1999 and 2006), Robert Allenby (2000) and Adam Scott (2007). Aussies in the field this week include Appleby, Scott, Greg Chalmers, Jason Day, Steve Elkington, Mathew Goggin, Nathan Green, Matt Jones, Marc Leishman, David Lutterus, James Nitties, Nick O'Hern and John Senden.

MAJOR PLAYERS: A pair of 2009 major championship winners are set to play in the Shell Houston Open. Masters champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina returns for the fourth consecutive time, and U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover will make his seventh Shell Houston Open start in a row. Cabrera is coached by local teaching professional Charlie Epps, while Glover took lessons from the late Dick Harmon, for whom The First Tee of Greater Houston Learning Center is named at Redstone Golf Club.

DOUBLING UP: Phil Mickelson has returned to playing two drivers, as he did in 2006 when he won the BellSouth Classic by 13 strokes and one week later, won in the Masters Tournament. Lefty is looking for his first win of the year and to head into the Masters next week with a full head of steam.

Bolton's Yahoo! selections

Fantasy columnist Rob Bolton will provide his Yahoo! picks as a starting point for you every week. Use the advice and opinion from his Power Rankings and Fantasy Insider to assist in determining lineups changes throughout each tournament. Group Starters Bench Group A Ernie Els Phil Mickelson Group B Padraig Harrington, Hunter Mahan Fred Couples, Rory McIlroy Group C Paul Casey Martin Kaymer

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Columnists' predictions

Each week, PGATOUR.COM columnists will predict the winner. Here are their picks for the Shell Houston Open. Columnist Pick Comment Stan AWTREY FRED COUPLES: Couples has dominated the Champions Tour with wins in his last three starts and loves Redstone. He won there in 2003 and has gone T4 and T3 there the last two years. Craig DOLCH FRED COUPLES: Couples has re-discovered the art of winning on the Champions Tour. Not a stretch to pick someone who has been third and fourth at this event the last two years. John MAGINNES FRED COUPLES: There may be one guy on the planet playing better golf than Ernie right now. It's not Phil and it's probably not Tiger, it is Freddy Couples. Champions Tour or not, Freddy has found that winning feeling. Melanie HAUSER LEE WESTWOOD: So many hot players. So many choices. Like his attitude, way he's playing. And his top 11 last year. But, just a warning. This could be an all-bets-off week with a Davis Love III or Rickie Fowler heading to Augusta.

Did you know?

Only one player in the last 20 years (Phil Mickelson, 2006) won the week before the Masters and then went on to win the Masters. The only others to do are Sandy Lyle (1988), Art Wall (1959) and Ralph Guldahl (1939). Sam Snead also won the last event prior to the Masters and the Masters, but there was a break in between.

What the winner gets

A win this week at the Shell Houston Open will earn the following benefits: • Fully Exempt for the remainder of 2010 and all of 2011 and 2012. • 500 FedExCup points. It took 354 points to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup in 2009 and 494 to reach the Deutsche Bank Championship. • A spot in the following events in order of play: 2010 Masters, 2010 PLAYERS Championship, 2010 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, 2010 Memorial, 2010 AT&T National, 2010 PGA Championship, 2010 WGC-Bridgestone Inv. • A spot in the 2011 SBS Championship. • If a U.S. player, 1,044,000 points towards making the 2011 Presidents Cup team. • If it is a second victory for a player since last June 4, a spot in the U.S. Open.