Paul Casey captured his first victory on the PGA Tour, winning the Shell Houston Open over J.B. Holmes in a playoff. Mr. Holmes posted a 11 under par score almost three hours before Mr. Casey finished his day with a bogey on the 72nd hole to force the playoff. The players went back to the 18th tee, a 465yd par 4 that was playing to a stroke average of over 5 for the day thanks to a brutal headwind. Mr. Holmes hooked his tee shot into the water on the left allowing Mr. Casey the opportunity to again bogey the hole and take home the trophy. “It was rough,” Holmes said. “I posted that three hours before they were done. That was an advantage I thought I had, but when you get into a playoff after waiting three hours, it turns out to be a bit of a disadvantage. I hit a bad shot and didn’t deserve to win.”
Honesty is so refreshing in these troubled times. Mr. Holmes needed the victory to qualify for the Masters. “It’s my favorite major,” Holmes said. “That hurts a little bit but, you know, I’ve had many chances and just didn’t pull them off.”
The weather was a major factor all week, forcing suspension of the first round due to high winds. The second round wasn’t completed until Saturday, and the third round was wrapped up until Sunday afternoon. Most players needed to play 54 holes in two days. Sunday’s winds were 25-35mph making for some interesting scoring. Greg Norman and Sergio Garcia didn’t break 80 on the day.
For the second week in a row an old guy provided the crowds with the possibility of turning back the clock and becoming a winner again. This week is was Fred Couples, who had the lead alone at 12 under par standing on the 16th tee, needing to par in to stay alone atop the leaders. Unsurprisingly he bogeyed the final three holes to finish tied for third place.
The third round began with six players tied for the lead at 11 under par. None of them broke par, and only Mr. Casey matched par in what seemed at times to be a 3 or 4 club wind. According to tour officials this was the most leaders after 54 holes since they began keeping records in 1970.
A tip of the cap to Mr. Casey, who heads to Augusta as the number 6 player in the world. “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.” If he can indeed start believing that it can only mean good things for the Englishman. At last years Masters he was in contention until a double bogey at the 4th hole on Sunday and a self called penalty for the ball moving on the green on the 6th hole led to a 79. “I don’t feel like I’ve got something to prove and I’ve got to go back and rid the demons on Monday, or something like that,” he said. “It will be the Masters 2009 and it’s a new tournament. I can’t step on the first tee with any sort of dash and any thoughts of last year.” With three top 11 finishes in four career starts, it seems he likes playing Augusta National and playing it well.
