Last Week

The lead during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard was fumbled around by Martin Laird and Steve Marino until the former finally pulled through. Laird entered Sunday with a three-shot lead only to give it all back to a hard charging Marino, who remains winless on Tour.

Bay Hill was unkind to many in the field, including my picks. Kevin Na was the best of the selections, finishing T30. My Must Start, Hunter Mahan, opened with a pair of 69s to enter Saturday T4. However, he went 7-over on the weekend to finish T38. Chris Couch finished T60 while Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland and Webb Simpson all missed the cut. Ouch.

This Week

With one week to go until The Masters, the Shell Houston Open will serve as a final tune-up or punch a ticket to Augusta National. The event will be played on the Tournament Course at Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas. During the design phase, David Toms served as a course consultant but he has not competed in the Shell Houston Open since 2009.

Lee Westwood

In the last two starts at Redstone, Westwood has finished T8 and T11 with only one round over par. In his four stroke play events of 2011, Westwood has two top-20 finishes but has yet to finish better than 15th. While Westwood has yet to shine since becoming and eventually losing the No. 1 player in the world tag this is a course that could offer everyone a reminder of how he got there.

Matt Kuchar – Must Start

In six stroke play starts this season, Kuchar has five finishes of seventh or better. Despite a lack of pop off the tee, Kuchar is accurate and excellent in all other phases. He ranks fourth in scoring average, eighth in birdies, 10th in putting and second in All-Around Ranking. After missing four cuts in a span of five years at Redstone, Kuchar finished T8 last year.

Francesco Molinari

He’s never played in this event, but Molinari has finished T15 and T3 in his two stroke play tournaments while on Tour in 2011. On the European Tour, Molinari ranks first in greens, fourth in scoring and sixth in driving accuracy. In the WGC-Cadillac Championship, Molinari tied for first in greens and was second in fairways.

Charl Schwartzel

After shooting an opening round of 4-over at Bay Hill, Schwartzel settled in with a combined 2-under over the remaining three days. His best stateside finish this season came in The Honda Classic, T14th. Last year at Redstone he finished T3 thanks to a pair of 5-under 67s on the weekend. Like Molinari, Schwartzel is a European Tour ace that is likely to play a limited number of starts in the US. Cease the opportunities when you can.

J.B. Holmes

During month of February, Holmes was on fire. He opened and closed the month with T5 in both the Waste Management Phoenix Open and WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. In between, Holmes finished T13 and T12 in two stroke play events. He struggled last week at Bay Hill, but could rebound quickly. In 2009, Holmes finished as the runner-up at Redstone while ranking second in driving distance and T13 in putting.

Fred Couples

In two Tour starts this season, Couples has only one round over par and finished T7 his last time out. While he sunk to T55 at Redstone last year, Couples finished T3 in 2009 and T4 in 2008. Budget-minded managers should look to Boom Boom this week and perhaps at Augusta National.

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