Houston Open Power Rankings: Top ten players at Golf Club of Houston

The Houston Open presents the last opportunity for PGA TOUR players to prepare for the Masters – or punch their ticket to Augusta National. Who will top this week’s Power Rankings?

The Houston Open, by all accounts, is a solid PGA Tour event, but it holds the unfortunate distinction of being “that tournament before the Masters”.

After the WGC-Match Play, the majority of golf chatter will assuredly jump ahead to Augusta. More time will be spent discussing Tiger’s outfit scripting than whoever wins this week at the Golf Club of Houston.

While the casual fan may not be paying a lot of attention this week, that’s really unfair to one of the longest-running events on the TOUR schedule. As a primer, here’s a quick, bird’s-eye look at some of the tournament’s potential plot points this week.

First, a large majority of the field are on the outside looking in at Augusta, and will be going all-out for the win. Last year provided a great story with a former Georgia Bulldog, Russell Henley, winning in Houston to earn a final hour invitation.

Some lucky ones are already in the Masters field and use this is as a tuneup. Phil Mickelson has flat out admitted in years past that he’s practicing shots he’ll need for next week in these tournament rounds. That’s peak Phil.

Here’s the best part of this week. When the Houston Open shifted to its current spot on the schedule in 2006, the tournament leaned in as best it could into a sticky situation. The Golf Club of Houston changed up its aesthetics to better resemble Augusta National. The club switched to rye/bentgrass and is filled with closely mown areas around the green. The greens and overall test are much easier, but the value of being on the right side of the fairway, for example, is a constant both weeks.

There’s always going to be a decent contingent of players who prefer to compete the week before a major. This week gives us Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler, among other household names.

Not bad for “that tournament before the Masters”, huh?

This week is shaping up to be yet another outstanding TOUR event, and a fitting lead-in to the first major of 2018. Let’s dive into the rankings.