Off the Tee: Texas Open Recap, Shell Houston Open Preview, Tiger in Augusta, Latest Masters Odds
It was an impressive victory for the first two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, when Jimmy Walker finished off a four-shot triumph at the Texas Open in San Antonio, surviving a late charge from Jordan Spieth. To find out just what the win means with The Masters about a week away, we turn to Joel Harrington from 4 Deep Golf blog in this edition of "Off The Tee":
There's one more tune-up left before the golf world descends on Augusta, it's this week's PGA Tour stop at the Shell Houston Open, a tournament Joel he likes because all of the players are trying to peak heading to The Masters, and because the course is set up to duplicate the conditions at Augusta National:
Even with a tournament yet to be played before The Masters, there is still plenty of attention being paid to North Georgia, especially with news of Tiger Woods' plane arriving in Augusta this week. But Joel says just because the former number one player in the world and four-time Masters champ is in Augusta, doesn't mean we're going to see him in the field:
The current odds to win 2015 Masters have Rory McIlroy at 6-to-1, defending champ Bubba Watson at 10-to-1, Jordan Spieth and Jason Day at 12-to-1, Dustin Johnson at 15-to-1, and Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson at 20-to-1. I asked Joel about whether we should put a question mark next to Stenson's name after he had to withdraw from the Houston Open because of illness: