Shell Houston Open is Last Chance Saloon for the Masters

There is only one more way to get into next week’s Masters: win the Shell Houston Open.

The final PGA Tour event before the season’s first major, the Shell Houston Open plays like a Masters Lite, with the host Golf Club of Houston set up to mimic expected conditions at Augusta National Golf Club. That’s what makes the event an attractive stop on the road to Augusta for many players who are already in the Masters. A total of 34 players who are already in the Masters are in the field in Houston.

Were one of the 110 players in the field not already in the Masters to win in Houston this week, that player would bring the expected total number of players in the Augusta field to 90. (If Tiger Woods chooses to play, then that number would go up to 91.)

However, history has proven that’s unlikely to happen, though Matt Jones, who won in 2014 in a playoff over Matt Kuchar, did punch his Masters ticket through this event.

Then again, winning the week before the Masters is typically a curse at Augusta National itself. Only Sandy Lyle in 1988 and Phil Mickelson in 2006 won the week prior the Masters and slipped on a green jacket the next Sunday.

What is likely is a playoff in Houston. In each of the last two years, the Shell Houston Open has gone to a sudden-death playoff, and the SHO has had more playoffs (23) in its history than any other PGA Tour event other than the U.S. Open.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

Follow @RyanBallengee

LISTEN TO OUR WEEKLY GOLF PODCAST! This week: Golf ball maker Dean Snell of Snell Golf

Devil Ball Golf – Golf – Yahoo Sports