Power rankings: Shell Houston Open
This is it. This week’s Shell Houston Open is the final PGA Tour event before the Masters, and, for 110 players in the 144-person field, they’re playing for the final Augusta National invite offered to this week’s winner.
However, for the likes of Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Phil Mickelson, Dusitn Johnson and Rickie Fowler, this week is about playing a host course setup to mirror the home of the Masters and prepare them for the year’s first men’s major.
Here are our top five players for this week:
1. Henrik Stenson — The best ballstriker in the field with massive distance on a course that favors it. Was T-3 at Bay Hill and had a nice week off while skipping the Match Play.
2. Phil Mickelson — Mickelson is pretty much automatic in the top 15 here and a winner in 2011. He’s so much better to par here than any other player in the last five years.
3. J.B. Holmes — The defending champion has three top-15 finishes here in the last five years. Wasn’t great at the Match Play, but sometimes showing up to friendly turf is fix enough.
4. Louis Oosthuizen — This may not be Louis’ week (mortgage your home on him at Augusta), but a quality ballstriker with length who got to the Match Play final deserves consideration this week.
5. Patrick Reed — Reed buzzsawed his group at the Match Play before meeting his demise on the weekend in Austin. He’s consistent from week to week, becoming the new Matt Kuchar of sorts.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
LISTEN TO OUR WEEKLY GOLF PODCAST! This week: Golf ball maker Dean Snell of Snell Golf
