Redstone provides perfect tuneup

The Shell Houston Open sets up like an appetizer before next week's main course: The Masters. Even so, there are several interesting story lines to consider as play begins today on the Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course in Humble, Texas.

Ernie Els will be trying to win for the third time in three starts, Fred Couples will carry a three-tournament win streak on the Champions Tour into his third test with the flat-bellies this season and defending champion Paul Casey will be trying to earn his second PGA Tour victory.

Some were wondering if time had passed Els by until he won twice in three weeks on the tour's Florida swing. His victories in the CA Championship at Doral and last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill have put that notion to rest. Just because one turns 40 doesn't mean the victory parades are over. Vijay Singh won 22 of his 34 PGA Tour events after turning 40 and it's possible the same thing will happen with Els.

During a Golf Channel interview earlier this week, Tom Watson said Couples still has enough game to win the Masters. That notion will be put to test at Redstone, where an effort to make course conditions resemble those of August National has resulted in seven of the top 11 players in the world rankings deciding to play this week.

One of those, Phil Mickelson, will be going into the Masters without a win for the first time since 1999 unless he can put four good rounds together. Mickelson shot 75-77 in the closing rounds at Bay Hill last week and might have his mind on more important issues, like his wife, Amy, and mother fighting breast cancer. When asked if that was the case by Jimmy Roberts of NBC last Saturday, Mickelson said he didn't want to go into it.

Mickelson is the last player to have won on the PGA Tour the week before posting a Masters victory. He did it in 2006 when he won the defunct BellSouth Classic before earning his second green jacket.

Playing in four events on the PGA Tour this year, Casey has finished in the top 10 all four times. He is averaging just under 290 yards a drive and ranks third on the tour in greens in regulation (71 percent) and 10th in putts per greens in regulation (1.703). Before Casey won last year while ranking 22nd in greens hit, the previous nine Shell Houston Open winners ranked 10th or better.

Players are effusive in their praise of Redstone. Hunter Mahan has called it the best-conditioned course outside of the majors they play all year. Johnson Wagner, the 2008 Shell Houston Open champion, said Muirfield Village, host of Jack Nicklaus's Memorial Tournament, and Redstone should share that honor. It should be noted that the last two Masters champions -- Trevor Immelman and Angel Cabrera -- played at Redstone the week before.



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Information from PGATOUR.com, Golf Channel.com and Golfobserver.com contributed to this post.