{"id":354501,"date":"2011-03-31T13:56:05","date_gmt":"2011-03-31T13:56:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/31\/featured-group-westwood-mickelson-and-kim-pgatour-com\/"},"modified":"2011-03-31T13:56:05","modified_gmt":"2011-03-31T13:56:05","slug":"featured-group-westwood-mickelson-and-kim-pgatour-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/31\/featured-group-westwood-mickelson-and-kim-pgatour-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Featured Group: Westwood, Mickelson and Kim (PGATOUR.com)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nAt each PGA TOUR event this season, a featured pairing will be highlighted prior to the first round. Here is the featured group for Thursday and Friday at the Arnold Palmer<\/a> Invitational.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nSHELL HOUSTON OPEN: <\/strong>
\nTOUR Report<\/a>
\n | <\/strong>
\nTee times<\/a> | Expert picks<\/a> | Power Rankings<\/a> | Fantasy Insider<\/a>
\n <\/em><\/p>\n

HOUSTON\u2014This marquee threesome certainly got hot at the right time last year.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Anthony Kim<\/a> is defending his title at the Shell Houston Open this week and Phil Mickelson<\/a> will do the same next week at the Masters.<\/p>\n

In fact, the three men who are paired together in the first two rounds at Redstone Golf Club went on to finish 1-2-3 at Augusta National\u2014with Lee Westwood<\/a> three shots behind Mickelson in second and Anthony Kim another shot further off the pace.<\/p>\n

So they can only hope to conjure up the same kind of good vibes this week.<\/p>\n

Westwood and Mickelson come to Redstone ranked among the top 10 players in the world while Kim clocks in at No. 41. Westwood actually dethroned Tiger Woods<\/a> on Halloween and held down the top spot for 17 weeks before himself being passed by Martin Kaymer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But a year ago, the spotlight was clearly on Kim, who was playing some of the best golf of his career when he beat Vaughn Taylor<\/a> in a playoff at the Shell Houston Open. He had finished solo second at The Honda Classic three weeks earlier, then placed third at the Masters and tied for seventh at the Wells Fargo Championship.<\/p>\n

But Kim opted to have surgery on a partially torn ligament at the base of his left thumb in May and missed the next three months. He\u2019s still on the comeback trail but opened 2011 with three top-20 finishes, including a tie for sixth in San Diego, so there have been positive signs of late.<\/p>\n

Kim\u2019s victory last year at the Shell Houston Open, the third of his career, was an interesting study in contrasts. He struggled off the tee at Redstone\u2014ranking last of the 72 players who made the cut. But he converted the approaches he hit from the rough into birdies 46 percent of the time to keep ahead of the competition.<\/p>\n

Westwood\u2019s 2011 campaign has been a slow-starting one. He has yet to post a top-10 on either side of the Atlantic, although the affable Brit has three of 18th or better this year.<\/p>\n

Westwood should have confidence at Redstone after tying for eighth in 2010 and 11th in 2009. And the last time he played in the United States the week before a major, Westwood won the St. Jude Classic presented by Smith & Nephew last year (although he went on to tie for 16th at the U.S. Open).<\/p>\n

\u201cA win would be good. Seriously,\u201d he said. \u201cTry to win the Shell Houston Open and that would be great and then take a lot of confidence going into next week, to play well, hit a lot of good shots. \u2026 I\u2019ve seen a big improvement since the three weeks I was there last. I\u2019ve taken it to the golf course and played solidly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mickelson is also a work in progress. He didn\u2019t fare as well at Redstone as his playing partners last year, finishing in a tie for 35th in his seventh start there. He opened 2011 on a hot streak, finishing second at the Farmers Insurance Open, but he hasn\u2019t had a top-20 finish in a stroke play event since.<\/p>\n

\nMORE:<\/strong> Westwood interview<\/a> | Kim interview<\/a><\/p>\n

\nEXPERT PREDICTIONS:<\/strong> We asked some of our PGATOUR.COM experts to predict which player will fare best this week at the Shell Houston Open.<\/em><\/p>\n

\nStan Awtrey: <\/strong>Lee Westwood\u2014He\u2019s played well in Houston the last two seasons and needs a good effort to provide momentum headed into Augusta. He\u2019s been solid, but hardly exceptional in three starts this season.<\/p>\n

\nCraig Dolch:<\/strong> This is one of the most difficult weeks to pick, because all three players\u2014while wanting to win any tournament they plan in\u2014also will be looking to conserve energy for next week\u2019s Masters. Phil played better on the weekend at Bay Hill, so I think he\u2019s got some momentum going.<\/p>\n

\nMelanie Hauser:<\/strong> Westwood. Played great last year, was hard at work last Sunday at the course. Like everyone else, working toward Augusta, but also working back to No. 1.<\/p>\n

\nFANTASY INSIDER: <\/strong>Westwood and Mickelson should be in your Yahoo! lineup, but tread lightly with Kim according to this week\u2019s Fantasy Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Continued here:
\nFeatured Group: Westwood, Mickelson and Kim (PGATOUR.com)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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