Houston Open

Shell Houston Open

Tournament information
Location	near Humble, Texas, U.S.
Established	1946,[1] 71 years ago
Course(s)	Golf Club of Houston
Par	72
Length	7,457 yards (6,819 m)
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	$7.0 million
Month played	March/April
Tournament record score
Aggregate	266 Curtis Strange (1980) 266 Lee Trevino (1980) 266 Vijay Singh (2002)
To par	−22 Vijay Singh (2002)
Current champion
Russell Henley

Houston

Location in the United States

Golf Club  
of Houston

Location in Texas

The Shell Houston Open is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, currently played in late March or early April. It is held at the Golf Club of Houston (formerly named Redstone Golf Club) in unincorparted Harris County near Humble, northeast of Houston.

Shell Oil Company and the Houston Golf Association are its main sponsors. The purse was $6.8 million in 2016, with a winner's share of $1.244 million.

History

The event was played at several Houston venues until the 1970s, starting 71 years ago at River Oaks Country Club in 1946 before moving to Memorial Park Golf Course in 1947 and, after a year off, moving again to Pine Forest Country Club in 1949 and BraeBurn Country Club in 1950. After this period of wandering, the tournament settled in at Memorial Park from 1951 through 1963. It was at Sharpstown Country Club in 1964 and 1965, moved to Champions Golf Club in 1966 for six years, and then to Westwood Country Club in 1972.

The tournament ventured outside of the city limits in 1973 and 1974 at Quail Valley Country Club in Missouri City, a southwest suburb.^[2] It relocated north to The Woodlands in 1975, at Woodlands Country Club until 1984, then at the TPC at The Woodlands through 2002. It moved to its current location near Humble in 2003; initially played at the Members Course, it changed to the Tournament Course in 2006. The facility was known as Redstone Golf Club until December 2013, and is now The Golf Club of Houston.^[3][4]

Previously held weeks later in mid-spring, the Houston Open has been played the week before the Masters Tournament since 2007, and is the last chance to get into the field at Augusta through a win. The tournament also has up to four additional sponsor exemptions to enable nonmember Masters-qualified professionals from the top 100 of the OWGR to compete in the U.S. in the week prior to the Masters.^[5]

In 2016, Shell announced on June 8 that it was not renewing its sponsorship of the Houston Open after 2017. In response, the PGA Tour announced it would seek a new sponsor for 2018.^[6] Shell has sponsored the event since 1992.

Course layout

Tournament Course

Source:^[7]

Winners

Year	Player	Country	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Winner's share ($)	Purse ($)
Shell Houston Open
2017	Russell Henley	United States	268	−20	3 strokes	Kang Sung-hoon	1,260,000	7,000,000
2016	Jim Herman	United States	273	−15	1 stroke	Henrik Stenson	1,224,000	6,800,000
2015	J. B. Holmes	United States	272	−16	Playoff	Jordan Spieth Johnson Wagner	1,188,000	6,600,000
2014	Matt Jones	Australia	273	−15	Playoff	Matt Kuchar	1,152,000	6,400,000
2013	D. A. Points	United States	272	−16	1 stroke	Billy Horschel Henrik Stenson	1,116,000	6,200,000
2012	Hunter Mahan	United States	272	−16	1 stroke	Carl Pettersson	1,080,000	6,000,000
2011	Phil Mickelson	United States	268	−20	3 strokes	Chris Kirk Scott Verplank	1,062,000	5,900,000
2010	Anthony Kim	United States	276	−12	Playoff	Vaughn Taylor	1,044,000	5,800,000
2009	Paul Casey	England	277	−11	Playoff	J. B. Holmes	1,026,000	5,700,000
2008	Johnson Wagner	United States	272	−16	2 strokes	Chad Campbell Geoff Ogilvy	1,008,000	5,600,000
2007	Adam Scott	Australia	271	−17	3 strokes	Stuart Appleby Bubba Watson	990,000	5,500,000
2006	Stuart Appleby (2)	Australia	269	−19	6 strokes	Bob Estes	990,000	5,500,000
2005	Vijay Singh (3)	Fiji	275	−13	Playoff	John Daly	900,000	5,000,000
2004	Vijay Singh (2)	Fiji	277	−11	2 strokes	Scott Hoch	900,000	5,000,000
2003	Fred Couples	United States	267	−21	4 strokes	Stuart Appleby Mark Calcavecchia Hank Kuehne	810,000	4,500,000
2002	Vijay Singh	Fiji	266	−22	6 strokes	Darren Clarke	720,000	4,000,000
2001	Hal Sutton	United States	278	−10	3 strokes	Joe Durant Lee Janzen	612,000	3,400,000
2000	Robert Allenby	Australia	275	−13	Playoff	Craig Stadler	504,000	2,800,000
1999	Stuart Appleby	Australia	279	−9	1 stroke	John Cook Hal Sutton	450,000	2,500,000
1998	David Duval	United States	276	−12	1 stroke	Jeff Maggert	360,000	2,000,000
1997	Phil Blackmar	United States	276	−12	Playoff	Kevin Sutherland	288,000	1,600,000
1996	Mark Brooks	United States	274	−14	Playoff	Jeff Maggert	270,000	1,500,000
1995	Payne Stewart	United States	276	−12	Playoff	Scott Hoch	252,000	1,400,000
1994	Mike Heinen	United States	272	−16	3 strokes	Tom Kite Jeff Maggert Hal Sutton	234,000	1,300,000
1993	Jim McGovern	United States	199^	−17	Playoff	John Huston	234,000	1,300,000
1992	Fred Funk	United States	272	−16	2 strokes	Kirk Triplett	216,000	1,200,000
Independent Insurance Agent Open
1991	Fulton Allem	South Africa	273	−15	1 stroke	Billy Ray Brown Mike Hulbert Tom Kite	144,000	800,000
1990	Tony Sills	United States	204^	−12	Playoff	Gil Morgan	180,000	1,000,000
1989	Mike Sullivan	United States	280	−8	1 stroke	Craig Stadler	144,000	800,000
1988	Curtis Strange (3)	United States	270	−18	Playoff	Greg Norman	126,000	700,000
Big "I" Houston Open
1987	Jay Haas	United States	276	−12	Playoff	Buddy Gardner	108,000	600,000
Houston Open
1986	Curtis Strange (2)	United States	274	−14	Playoff	Calvin Peete	90,000	500,000
1985	Raymond Floyd	United States	277	−11	1 stroke	David Frost Bob Lohr	90,000	500,000
Houston Coca-Cola Open
1984	Corey Pavin	United States	274	−10	1 stroke	Buddy Gardner	90,000	500,000
1983	David Graham	Australia	275	−9	5 strokes	Lee Elder Jim Thorpe Lee Trevino	72,000	400,000
Michelob-Houston Open
1982	Ed Sneed	United States	275	−9	Playoff	Bob Shearer	63,000	350,000
1981	Ron Streck	United States	198^	−15	3 strokes	Hale Irwin Jerry Pate	47,250	262,500
1980	Curtis Strange	United States	266	−18	Playoff	Lee Trevino	63,000	350,000
Houston Open
1979	Wayne Levi	United States	268	−16	2 strokes	Mike Brannan	54,000	300,000
1978	Gary Player	South Africa	270	−18	1 stroke	Andy Bean	40,000	200,000
1977	Gene Littler	United States	276	−12	3 strokes	Lanny Wadkins	40,000	200,000
1976	Lee Elder	United States	278	−10	1 stroke	Forrest Fezler	40,000	200,000
1975	Bruce Crampton (2)	Australia	273	−15	2 strokes	Gil Morgan	30,000	150,000
1974	Dave Hill	United States	276	−12	1 stroke	Rod Curl Steve Melnyk Andy North	30,000	150,000
1973	Bruce Crampton	Australia	277	−11	1 stroke	Dave Stockton	41,000	205,000
1972	Bruce Devlin	Australia	278	−10	2 strokes	Tommy Aaron Lou Graham Doug Sanders	25,000	125,000
Houston Champions International
1971	Hubert Green	United States	280	−4	Playoff	Don January	25,000	125,000
1970	Gibby Gilbert	United States	282	−2	Playoff	Bruce Crampton	23,000	115,000
1969	No tournament - club hosted the 1969 U.S. Open
1968	Roberto De Vicenzo	Argentina	274	−10	1 stroke	Lee Trevino	20,000	100,000
1967	Frank Beard	United States	274	−10	1 stroke	Arnold Palmer	23,000	115,000
1966	Arnold Palmer (2)	United States	275	−9	1 stroke	Gardner Dickinson	21,000	110,000
Houston Classic
1965	Bobby Nichols (2)	United States	273	−11	1 stroke	Bruce Devlin Chi-Chi Rodríguez	12,000	75,000
1964	Mike Souchak (2)	United States	278	−6	1 stroke	Jack Nicklaus	7,500	50,000
1963	Bob Charles	New Zealand	268	−12	1 stroke	Fred Hawkins	10,000	50,000
1962	Bobby Nichols	United States	278	−2	Playoff	Jack Nicklaus Dan Sikes	9,000	50,000
1961	Jay Hebert	United States	276	−4	Playoff	Ken Venturi	7,000	40,000
1960	Bill Collins	United States	280	−8	Playoff	Arnold Palmer	5,300	35,000
1959	Jack Burke, Jr. (2)	United States	277	−11	Playoff	Julius Boros	4,300	30,000
Houston Open
1958	Ed Oliver	United States	281	−7	1 stroke	Roberto De Vicenzo Jay Hebert	4,300	30,000
1957	Arnold Palmer	United States	279	−9	1 stroke	Doug Ford	7,500	36,000
1956	Ted Kroll	United States	277	−11	3 strokes	Jack Burke, Jr. Dave Douglas	6,000	30,000
1955	Mike Souchak	United States	273	−15	2 strokes	Jerry Barber	6,000	30,000
1954	Dave Douglas	United States	277	−11	2 strokes	Cary Middlecoff	6,000	30,000
1953	Cary Middlecoff (2)	United States	283	−5	Playoff	Jim Ferrier Shelley Mayfield	4,000	20,000
1952	Jack Burke, Jr.	United States	277	−11	6 strokes	Frank Stranahan	2,000	10,000
1951	Marty Furgol	United States	277	−11	1 stroke	Jack Burke, Jr.	2,000	10,000
1950	Cary Middlecoff	United States	277	−11	3 strokes	Pete Cooper	2,000	10,000
1949	Johnny Palmer	United States	272	−16	1 stroke	Cary Middlecoff	2,000	10,000
1948	No tournament
1947	Bobby Locke	South Africa	277	−11	5 strokes	Johnny Palmer Ellsworth Vines	2,000	10,000
1946	Byron Nelson	United States	274	−10	2 strokes	Ben Hogan	2,000	10,000

^Weather-shortened to 54 holes
Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Main sources^[8][9][10]

Multiple winners

Nine men have won this tournament more than once through 2016.

• 3 wins
  • Curtis Strange: 1980, 1986, 1988
  • Vijay Singh: 2002, 2004, 2005
• 2 wins
  • Cary Middlecoff: 1950, 1953
  • Jack Burke, Jr.: 1952, 1959
  • Mike Souchak: 1955, 1964
  • Bobby Nichols: 1962, 1965
  • Arnold Palmer: 1957, 1966
  • Bruce Crampton: 1973, 1975
  • Stuart Appleby: 1999, 2006

See also

• Houston Open (early PGA Tour), an earlier Houston event recognized by the PGA Tour

References

External links

• Official website
• Coverage on the PGA Tour's official site

Coordinates: 29°55′26″N 95°15′40″W / 29.924°N 95.261°W / 29.924; -95.261