TOUR Insider: Houston goes from no-SHO to major field

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Last year's champion Johnson Wagner hits out of a fairway bunker on the 18th hole on his way to victory and a Masters berth.

HUMBLE, Texas -- You want pressure?

Just ask your superintendent to do his best to recreate the conditions at Augusta National. On different grass. On a course with what amounts to zero elevation. In a city where humidity slows everything to a crawl -- even traffic.

That's exactly what Steve Timms did last year. He thought it might pull a few more world-class players into the Shell Houston Open field.

It worked.

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Timms got four of the top 10 players and then Redstone superintendent Roger Goettsch made the magic happen. He found a way for Masters-bound players to pick their shots off tight lies, hit out of a first-cut light rough, flirt with shaved banks and putt on near-perfect greens that run 12-plus on the stimpmeter.

This year, despite Hurricane Ike, some gnarly spring thunderstorms and fickle Houston weather -- this morning it was in the 40s -- it worked even better.

As in a positively brilliant field: Four of the top 10 players in FedExCup points, eight of the top 10 players in the world and 15 of the top 25, Presidents Cup captains Greg Norman and Fred Couples. A field filled with guys either playing their way into Augusta or hoping to play their way into that final just-in-case-spot left open for a player who wins here but hasn't yet qualified for the year's first major.

"Strongest field we've had maybe ever,'' Timms said, smiling. "And, again tribute to the golf course and the current dynamic of the world rankings.''

It doesn't get much better unless you're a major or THE PLAYERS. Phil Mickelson. Geoff Ogilvy. Sergio Garcia. Padraig Harrington, who's going for his third consecutive major and the third leg of a Paddy Slam. Teen sensation Rory McIlroy. Freddie and Shark. Lee Westwood. Darren Clarke.

And three-time Shell Houston Open champ Vijay Singh, who won twice on the other Redstone course and once at the old TPC at the Woodlands but didn't really like the course Timms and Goettsch tweaked. Until he played it Tuesday afternoon.

"Surprisingly, I did enjoy the golf course,'' said Singh, who has been battling back problems. "Coming back and looking at it from a different point of view, it's not as bad as I thought. It's a pretty decent setup, and it's fair, and if you hit it good, you're going to score well. And the greens are really fast.''

Look up and down the driving range.

This isn't the old No-SHO -- sandwiched in the no-man's land after the Masters and before the U.S.Open -- anymore.

Timms wanted to replicate, "what's going on at Augusta National, which is the Holy Grail, the Mecca.'' And now he's getting a major field.

He knew it last spring when, weeks after the tournament, he went to a few events. Players came up and talked to him about the course and then started talking it up.

"I've heard very good things about it,'' said Englishman Paul Casey. "(Players) were saying they are some of the best greens we putt on all year.''

He paused and grinned. "And, from Phoenix, I'm halfway (to Augusta).''

Ok. So Casey was teasing about the second part. But the internationals who flew in a week early to get adjusted weren't.

Swede Henrik Stenson, who is working his way onto major short lists, flew over, as did Robert Karlsson. Stenson played the week prior to both the Open Championship and the PGA and tied for third at Birkdale and for fourth at Oakland Hills.

"I just feel I'm more into the game,'' Stenson said. "Instead of practicing, I'm playing. And, I heard the setup was toward what we were going to see.''

Alvaro Quiros, who has moved up to 25th in the world, decided to play after talking to Garcia.

"He told me that Houston is a good tournament for many reasons, but one of the more important ones is the setup, you know,'' Quiros said. "For example, when we arrive to the second shot on the first hole, Sergio told me look, "Can you see the grass is cutting against you? It's typical of The Masters."

"Normally we have the grass cut in our favor or to the green and here it's against. It's a good thing the mowing of the greens and the speed of the greens are very close. It was raining. After three, four days of sunny -- this is very good. The shape of the rough is a little bit lower. I heard about last year -- it was a little bit higher or thicker so, yeah, it's a good test for me especially for this one.''

Norman needs to play, period. He surprised everyone -- even himself -- last year at Birkdale and that put him into next week's field, but he hasn't played much at all in the past few years. He did play at the Cap Cana Championship on the Champions Tour last week, where he tied for 36th.

"I know what happened last July, but you need to play golf, and I haven't played much golf for three years,'' Norman said. "The more I play, the better off I'll be.''

Ernie Els, who's trying to play his way back to the top, and Luke Donald both figured playing here was much better than practicing at home.

Timms knows he got a boost from the PGA TOUR schedule shift that moved the CA Championship back a few weeks and allowed international players to go back home before the Masters. It didn't hurt either, that he had a total of eight exemptions to give -- four restricted, four unrestricted.

The International look has a great feel to it. And, yes, most of next week's short list is right here in Houston.

The only change from last year? As the days wore on, the greens slowed down. So this year, the grounds crew tweaked the way they're preparing the putting surfaces to help maintain firmness and keep the green speeds competitive all day.

So all that's left is, well, to get the tournament underway.

Timms knew going in, he wasn't going to get Tiger Woods in his field. Tiger's only played the week before a major five times in his career. But Timms isn't crying.

'We felt,'' he said, "if we did all the things we could do, we could get a great field.''

Done. As for next year? Don't be surprised if Timms makes it even better.