Factoids

• The 2008 Shell Houston Open will again serve as the lead-in tournament before The Masters. Houston's PGA TOUR stop will be played played the week of March 31-April 6 on the Redstone Golf Club -- Tournament Course.
  
  
• With its new pre-Masters date the 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 2008 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.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Vijay Singh (2002,2004,2005) and Curtis Strange (1980,1986, 1988) top the list of 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) also winning titles.
  
   
• 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 tournament in 1969 when the HGA co-sponsored the U.S. Open at Champions Golf club.
  
    
• 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) and Redstone Golf Club Member Course (2003-2005).
  
   
• Former University of Houston Cougar John Mahaffey, who now represents Augusta Pines Golf Club and plays on the Champions TOUR, 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.
   
   
• 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.