Texas Children's Houston Open

Memorial Park Golf Course



The Loop

Houston's missing link

March 30, 2009

The Shell Houston Open this week should provide an interesting contrast between Tiger Woods' singular appeal and the collective appeal of the rest of the golf world.

Houston's field is inordinately strong -- eight of the top-10 ranked players in the world (missing only Woods and Kenny Perry), 15 of the top 20 and 21 of the top 30. In addition, it has Fred Couples, who played college golf at Houston, and Greg Norman.

Woods' final-round charge at the Arnold Palmer Invitational was a ratings boon to NBC. The Shell Houston Open, featuring virtually everyone but Tiger, will, in all likelihood, be largely overlooked.

-- John Strege