This article is part of our PGA Tour Stats Review series.
PGA TOUR STATS: Houston Open
Each week we'll list the statistical breakdown of the upcoming PGA Tour event. Below are the results of last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational and the top finishers from last year's Houston Open. For last year's full-season results, go here.
2012 PGA Tour Events
| EVENT | WINNER | DRIVE | DRIVE | DRIVE | DRIVE | GIR | GIR | STK GN | PUTTS | EAGLES | BIRDIE | BOGEY | DBL BOG |
| %of56 | RNK | DIS | DIS RNK | %of72 | RNK | /PUTT | RNK | ||||||
| TOC | Stricker -23 | 66.7 | 11 | 268.3 | 15 | 81.9 | 13 | 1.25 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 3 | 1 |
| Sony | Wagner -13 | 41.1 | 56 | 276.4 | 68 | 70.8 | 10 | 1.58 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 8 | 0 |
| Humana | M. Wilson -24 | 74.1 | 18 | 279.3 | 69 | 80.6 | 73 | 1.04 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 4 | 0 |
| Farmers | Snedeker -16 P1 | 58.9 | 13 | 284.8 | 47 | 70.8 | 33 | 1.03 | 12 | 0 | 24 | 8 | 0 |
| Phoenix | K. Stanley -15 | 60.7 | 24 | 287.5 | 70 | 79.2 | 3 | 1.14 | 11 | 2 | 18 | 7 | 0 |
| Pebble Bch | Mickelson -17 | 61.8 | 62 | 272.8 | 58 | 75.0 | 3 | 3.33 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 4 | 0 |
| Nor. Trust | Haas -7 P1 | 55.4 | 50 | 279.8 | 30 | 50.0 | 58 | 2.25 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 10 | 0 |
| Mayakoba | Huh -13 P1 | 73.2 | 8 | 279.3 | 44 | 81.9 | 1 | N/A | 28 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 1 |
| Honda | McIlroy -12 | 60.7 | 37 | 297.6 | 8 | 66.7 | 10 | 1.57 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 5 | 0 |
| WGC-Cad. | Rose -16 | 57.1 | 78 | 290.0 | 28 | 65.3 | 17 | 0.11 | 33 | 0 | 23 | 7 | 0 |
| Transitions | Donald -13 P1 | 73.1 | 9 | 261.1 | 75 | 66.7 | 43 | 2.59 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 6 | 0 |
| Arnold Palmer | Woods |
PGA TOUR STATS: Houston Open
Each week we'll list the statistical breakdown of the upcoming PGA Tour event. Below are the results of last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational and the top finishers from last year's Houston Open. For last year's full-season results, go here.
2012 PGA Tour Events
| EVENT | WINNER | DRIVE | DRIVE | DRIVE | DRIVE | GIR | GIR | STK GN | PUTTS | EAGLES | BIRDIE | BOGEY | DBL BOG |
| %of56 | RNK | DIS | DIS RNK | %of72 | RNK | /PUTT | RNK | ||||||
| TOC | Stricker -23 | 66.7 | 11 | 268.3 | 15 | 81.9 | 13 | 1.25 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 3 | 1 |
| Sony | Wagner -13 | 41.1 | 56 | 276.4 | 68 | 70.8 | 10 | 1.58 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 8 | 0 |
| Humana | M. Wilson -24 | 74.1 | 18 | 279.3 | 69 | 80.6 | 73 | 1.04 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 4 | 0 |
| Farmers | Snedeker -16 P1 | 58.9 | 13 | 284.8 | 47 | 70.8 | 33 | 1.03 | 12 | 0 | 24 | 8 | 0 |
| Phoenix | K. Stanley -15 | 60.7 | 24 | 287.5 | 70 | 79.2 | 3 | 1.14 | 11 | 2 | 18 | 7 | 0 |
| Pebble Bch | Mickelson -17 | 61.8 | 62 | 272.8 | 58 | 75.0 | 3 | 3.33 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 4 | 0 |
| Nor. Trust | Haas -7 P1 | 55.4 | 50 | 279.8 | 30 | 50.0 | 58 | 2.25 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 10 | 0 |
| Mayakoba | Huh -13 P1 | 73.2 | 8 | 279.3 | 44 | 81.9 | 1 | N/A | 28 | 1 | 18 | 5 | 1 |
| Honda | McIlroy -12 | 60.7 | 37 | 297.6 | 8 | 66.7 | 10 | 1.57 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 5 | 0 |
| WGC-Cad. | Rose -16 | 57.1 | 78 | 290.0 | 28 | 65.3 | 17 | 0.11 | 33 | 0 | 23 | 7 | 0 |
| Transitions | Donald -13 P1 | 73.1 | 9 | 261.1 | 75 | 66.7 | 43 | 2.59 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 6 | 0 |
| Arnold Palmer | Woods -13 | 64.3 | 29 | 294.6 | 11 | 79.2 | 1 | 1.45 | 4.0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 1 |
| AVERAGE | 62.3 | 32.9 | 281.0 | 43.6 | 72.3 | 22.1 | 1.58 | 9.0 | 0.9 | 19.8 | 6.3 | 0.2 |
Last Week's Arnold Palmer Invitational
Wind and more wind took its tolls as expected with the closing round suffering the most. The top-30 players in the fourth round had 10 players under par, five at even par and 15 over par with six of the top 10 over par for the day.
Tiger Woods' course management paid off with only five bogeys and a double bogey out-of-bounds buried by 20 birdies. His overall shots gained-putting ranked fourth at 1.445, a somewhat low number reflecting the difficulty experienced by the entire field. Woods gave himself plenty of birdie looks, averaging 14.25 greens in regulation, which ranked first for the week.
This Week's Houston Open
| EVENT | WINNER | DRIVE | DRIVE | DRIVE | DRIVE | GIR | GIR | PUTTS | PUTTS | EAGLE/ | BOGEY/ | ||
| %of56 | RNK | DIS | DIS RNK | %of72 | RNK | Per GIR | RNK | RND | RNK | BIRDIE | DBL | ||
| 2011 Houston | Mickelson -20 | 53.6 | 67 | 314.6 | 6 | 77.8 | 11 | 1.64 | 3 | 28.0 | 11 | 1/27 | 7/1 |
| Kirk -17 | 60.7 | 41 | 301.6 | 18 | 87.5 | 1 | 1.70 | 16 | 29.5 | 35 | 0/23 | 4/1 | |
| Verplank -17 | 73.2 | 7 | 277.8 | 72 | 76.4 | 17 | 1.58 | 1 | 26.8 | 1 | 1/23 | 6/1 | |
| Stricker -13 | 62.5 | 35 | 288.5 | 52 | 76.4 | 17 | 1.71 | 20 | 28.8 | 17 | 0/20 | 7/0 | |
| Baddeley -13 | 53.6 | 67 | 316.8 | 5 | 68.1 | 59 | 1.69 | 14 | 27.5 | 6 | 0/22 | 9/0 | |
| AVERAGE | 60.7 | 43.4 | 299.9 | 30.6 | 77.2 | 21.0 | 1.67 | 10.8 | 28.1 | 14.0 |
Birdies come easy here compared to the Arnold Palmer Invitational. While the Palmer favors the long-ball hitters, Redstone Golf Club in Houston favors mid-length hitters who are good ball strikers. Redstone has been used since 2003 with the TPC Woodlands used in 1973 through 2002 for the Houston Open.
Redstone offers some holes that resemble some of the holes at Augusta National. This move by management was instituted three years ago with players recognizing the opportunity to experience similarities to Augusta - the fields recently have been upgraded as a result. As one would expect, there are some difficult holes with the 17th and 18th being examples of tough closing holes.
Phil Mickelson's first two rounds last year were so-so, but his birdie machine was in high gear in rounds three and four when he shot the low rounds of the day. In his third-round 63 and closing-round 65, he nailed 18 birdies with only two bogeys. The 63 tied the course record. Look for the troops to go low.
Attributes needed this week: Total driving, GIR, keep ball in play, bogey avoidance, scrambling and taking advantage on the par-4s.
