Houston Open draws strong field gearing up for Masters
Tony Finau said on Tuesday that he’s focused on the task at hand, that being continuing his success at Texas Children’s Houston Open, which will have its toughest field in years.
Finau won the event in 2022 and finished tied for second last year, and this week, he will look to record another strong showing at Memorial Park Golf Course while also fine-tuning his game with the Masters fast approaching.
“Anybody that asks me about my schedule, I always make sure they know I’m playing Houston and it’s a good golf course,” Finau said. “I don’t think that there’s a better prep golf course leading up to the Masters than Memorial Park.”
“It’s a big golf course,” he went on. “I think they try to set it up where it’s similar to Augusta National maybe to have guys play. I know that was the case many years ago when it was at other golf courses.”
Star power
The Houston Open got some added star power with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy confirming, making the first time since the world rankings started in 1986 that the top two players in the globe are playing.
Scheffler ended up tied with Finau last year, while McIlroy will play the event for the first time since 2014. The field has 19 of the top 50 in the world rankings and three of the top 10 with Wyndham Clark, who withdrew at The Players because of a neck injury, also signing up.
“But I don’t think that there’s a better course to prepare for something like Augusta National than here.”
Scheffler and Finau finished one stroke behind winner Stephan Jaeger. Finau and Jaeger will be paired with Thomas Detry for the first two rounds.
Finau, 35, admitted on Tuesday that the look of Memorial Park Golf Course is appealing to him.
“I think as a golfer, a lot of us are very visual players and there’s certain golf courses that just look good to our eyes compared to others,” he said. “I would say this is one that, for me to me looks pretty good to our eyes, so I’m able to play it I think consistently, at least over the last couple years.”
“And then having won somewhere, I think that gives you the extra confidence that you need to know that you’ve done it on this golf course before, and no matter your form, this is a place that you’ve won and obviously you should play well at.”
Finau is ranked No. 32 in the world. He owns six career wins on the PGA Tour, most recently the 2023 Mexico Open.
