Bolstered by the return of the Valero Texas Open to the regular PGA Tour schedule for the first time since 1969, and the Shell Houston Open’s ascension to must-play status among the Tour’s stars who signed up to have a go at Redstone Golf Club in record numbers because of its uncanny ability to almost replicate conditions they would see at Augusta National, the collection of tournaments played within the Lone Star State’s borders has never been better.
Challenging courses like La Canterra Golf Club, TPC Four Seasons Resort and Colonial Country Club produced great champions, none of which was ranked lower than 30th in the Official World Golf Rankings heading into the U.S. Open. This year, the PGA Tour’s best came to Texas and had great success.
Triumph did have to share the stage with tragedy, as fan-favorite Phil Mickelson suspended his schedule prior to the HP Byron Nelson Championship after his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. The circumstances forced Mickelson, who was the defending champion, to pull out of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, as well as the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Mickelson was gone from the field, but he and his wife Amy were not forgotten.
A “Pink Out” at Colonial by fans, players, caddies and announcers honored the Mickelsons and others who were battling breast cancer. Rory Sabbatini started the campaign a week earlier, wearing pink on his way to victory in Irving.
Those are just some of the memories that were made during the four weeks the PGA Tour spent in Texas during 2009.
Shell Houston Open
Playing against a strong international field that included 15 of the top 20 players in the world, England’s Paul Casey survived a playoff against J.B. Holmes to earn his first-ever PGA Tour victory and cement his status as one of the top golfers on the globe. “It’s time to start believing I can be a top 10 player in the world and maybe I can be in the top five,” Casey said. “We’ll see when we get there. Clearly, I just took a little while to sort of get used to things and feel comfortable. Now, I feel comfortable out here.”
Fred Couples thrilled fans in Houston who were poised to witness a
vintage performance by “Boom Boom,” but Couples bogeyed his final three
holes and fell out of contention.
Valero Texas Open
LaCanterra is Zach Johnson Country. The 2007 Masters Champion rebounded from a tough final round at Quail Hollow quite nicely, firing a course-record of 60 on Saturday on his way to back-to-back Valero Texas Open titles.
Again, 72 holes weren’t enough to decide a winner, as Johnson needed a birdie putt on the first extra hole to defeat James Driscoll.
It was the end of an era at LaCanterra, as the Valero Texas Open will relocate to the AT&T Oaks Course, a Greg Norman design, at TPC San Antonio in 2010.
HP Byron Nelson Championship
Playing with a heavy heart because of the rapidly deteriorating condition of a close friend suffering from a form of cancer, the often pugnacious and fiery Rory Sabbatini demonstrated a deft touch on the greens at the TPC Four Seasons in Irving, averaging three fewer putts per round than the field at the HP Byron Nelson Championship on his way to earning a two-shot victory over Brian Davis.
Sabbatini became only the 14th player to pull of the Dallas-Fort Worth Double, following up his previous win at Colonial with a victory at the Byron Nelson.
“Obviously this tournament is very special,” Sabbatini said. “It’s one that I wish I had have been able to win it and look up and see Byron sitting there at the 18th green…What a wonderful name to be associated with now.”
Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
Tim Clark’s misfortune became the opportunity Steve Stricker had been waiting for all season.
Clark let a two-shot lead with five holes to play slip through his fingers, and Stricker was eventually there to capitalize, dropping a birdie putt on the second hole of a three-way playoff. The win was especially sweet for Stricker, who had been close with 5 top 10s in 2009 prior to Colonial, but unable to break through with a victory.