Factoids

• The Houston Golf Association has been conducting PGA TOUR events since 1946, making Houston's tournament the 10th oldest on the schedule. There was no tournament in 1948 and no PGA TOUR event in 1969 when the HGA co-sponsored the U.S. Open at Champions Golf Club.
  
  
• The 2010 Shell Houston Open will be played the week of March 29-April 4 on the Redstone Golf Club -- Tournament Course. This will be the fifth time the SHO has been played on the Tournament Course. Past champions include Stuart Appleby (2006), Adam Scott (2007), Johnson Wagner (2008) and Paul Casey (2009).
  
  
• Paul Casey of England is the first ever European champion at Houston's PGA TOUR event. Casey's 2009 Shell Houston Open win was his first on the PGA TOUR. The last player to win the event in his debut was Mike Heinen in 1994.
  
  
• With his 2009 victory Paul Casey became the 14th player to make Houston's Tour stop his first PGA TOUR victory.
  
  
• In 2008 The Masters Tournament re-instated its policy to invite all PGA TOUR event winners into its field. Johnson Wagner, a native of Amarillo, TX, became the first player to claim a berth in The Masters the next week thanks to his victory Shell Houston Open victory. Wagner was the first native Texan since Mark Brooks of Fort Worth to win the Shell Houston Open.
  
  
• In 2009 a total of 39 players from 16 different countries (excluding the USA) will tee it up in the Shell Houston Open. Of that group, 21 players from 13 countries also played in The Masters. Contestants and their native countries: Stuart Appleby (Australia), Aaron Baddeley (Australia), Angel Cabrera (Argentina), Paul Casey (England), K.J. Choi (South Korea), Luke Donald (England), Ernie Els (South Africa), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Robert Karlsson (Sweden), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Greg Norman (Australia), Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), Andres Romero (Argentina), Justin Rose (England), Jeev Milkha Singh (India), Vijay Singh (Fiji), Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Camilo Villegas (Colombia) and Lee Westwood (England).
  
  
• In 2008 a total of 16 players from nine different countries (excluding the USA) teed it up in the Shell Houston Open and played in The Masters the following week. Contestants and their native countries: Robert Allenby (Australia), Stuart Appleby (Australia), Aaron Baddeley (Australia), Angel Cabrera (Argentina), Michael Campbell (New Zealand), K.J. Choi (South Korea), Anders Hansen (Denmark), Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Trevor Immelman (South Africa), Peter Lonard (Australia), Nick O'Hern (Australia), Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Andres Romero (Argentina), Adam Scott (Australia) and Jeev Milkha Singh (India).
  
  
• In 2007 Shell Houston Open attracted 23 players who played in Augusta, GA the next week. Contestants and their native countries: Stuart Appleby (Australia), Rich Beem, Angel Cabrera (Argentina), Michael Campbell (New Zealand), K.J. Choi (Korea), Tim Clark (South Africa), Lucas Glover, Padraig Harrington (Ireland), David Howell (England), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), Robert Karlsson (Sweden), Bernhard Langer (Germany), Billy Mayfair, Shaun Micheel, Arron Oberholser, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Adam Scott (Australia), Jeev Milkha Singh (India), Jeff Sluman, Steve Stricker, Vaughn Taylor, David Toms and Lee Westwood (England).
  
  
• NBC Sports and The Golf Channel are the homes for the 2010 Shell Houston Open. Thursday's first-round and Friday's second-round action will be televised on The Golf Channel. Saturday's third-round and Sunday's championship round will be televised by NBC Sports.
  
  
• Stuart Appleby, who won the 2006 Shell Houston Open, became the first ever champion to lead wire-to-wire. Appleby shot 66-67-69-67--269. for a 19-under-par total and a six-stroke victory that equaled a tournament record set by Jack Burke in 1952 and matched by Vijay Singh in 2002. Johnson Wagner, 2008 champion who shot 63-69-69-71--272, shared the first-round lead with 2007 winner Adam Scott, then led solo from the second-round on.
  
  
• Also a Shell Houston Open winner in 1999, Stuart Appleby became the ninth player to have won Houston's PGA TOUR event two or more times with his 2006 victory.
  
  
• Vijay Singh (2002,2004,2005) and Curtis Strange (1980,1986, 1988) top the list of Houston champions with three victories each.
  
  
• The list players who have won twice in Houston includes Cary Middlecoff (1950, 1953), Mike Souchak (1955, 1964), Jack Burke (1952, 1959), Arnold Palmer (1957, 1966), Bobby Nichols (1962, 1965) and Bruce Cramption (1973, 1975).
  
  
• Stuart Appleby joins Bruce Crampton as the second Australian to claim multiple Houston TOUR event titles. Golfers from Down Under have fared well in Houston with Bruce Devlin (1972), David Graham (1983) and Robert Allenby (2000) and Adam Scott (2007) also winning titles.
  
  
• Other courses that have hosted Houston Golf Association-promoted PGA TOUR events include River Oaks Country Club (1946), Pine Forest Country Club (1949), Brae-Burn Country Club (1950), Memorial Park Golf Course(1947, 1951-1963), Sharpstown Country Club (1964, 1965), Champions Golf Club (1966-71 with the U.S. Open in 1969), Westwood Country Club (1972), Quail Valley (1973-74), The Woodlands Country Club (1975-84), Tournament Players Course at The Woodlands (1985-2002), Redstone Golf Club Member Course (2003-2005) and Redstone Golf Club -- Tournament Course (2006 to present).
   
• Former University of Houston Cougar John Mahaffey, who now spends a lot of time as an analyst on Champions TOUR telecasts for The Golf Channel, set the record for most career appearances in 1998. Mahaffey played in 26 Houston TOUR stops, eclipsing Lionel Hebert's standard of 25. Hebert played more rounds in Houston than any other, teeing it up 87 times.
  
  
• Despite the number of former University of Houston golfers who have successfully played the PGA TOUR, the first victory by a UH alum in Houston's event didn't come until 2003. Fred Couples ended what many were beginning to call The Cougar Jinx. Couples, who turns 50 in October of 2009, made 16 consecutive cuts in Houston, one shy of the all-time tournament record of 17 by Jimmy Demaret.
   
• Youngest player to win the Houston Open: 1984 winner Corey Pavin -- 24 years, 4 months and 13 days (he was six days younger than 1971 winner Hubert Green).
   
• Oldest player to win the Houston's PGA TOUR event: 1977 winner Gene Littler -- 46 years and 9 months.
  
  
• Byron Nelson won the first Houston TOUR event conducted by the Houston Golf Association in 1946. He bested Ben Hogan and Sam Snead at River Oaks Country Club. Records show that it was the only time those Hall of Fame players ever finished 1-2-3 in a tournament.