2010 SHELL HOUSTON OPEN. Contact: Mark Williams Media Official

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2010 SHELL HOUSTON OPEN Contact: Mark Williams Media Official 904-655-5380 markwilliams@pgatourhq.

$1,044,000 Format: 72-hole stroke play Defending champion: Paul Casey Last year: Paul Casey earned his first PGA TOUR victory when he defeated J.B.

1 2010 SHELL HOUSTON OPEN Contact: Mark Williams Media Official Dates: March 29 April 4, 2010 Where: Redstone Golf Club, Tournament Course, Humble, TX Par/Yards: (72/7,457) Field: 144 FedExCup points: 500 to the winner Purse: $5,800,000 Winner s Share: $1,044,000 Format: 72-hole stroke play Defending champion: Paul Casey Last year: Paul Casey earned his first PGA TOUR victory when he defeated J.B. Holmes to win the 2009 Shell Houston Open on the first sudden-death playoff hole with a bogey. Holmes hit his tee-shot into the hazard and made double bogey on the par-4 18 th hole, the first playoff hole. KEY STORYLINES Star Power A great international field that features defending Masters champion Angel Cabrera, Paul Casey, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Andres Romero, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Jeev Milka Singh and Lee Westwood. Strong U.S. backing as well with Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Rickie Fowler, Lucas Glover, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III and Hunter Mahan. Defending champion Paul Casey When Paul Casey won the 2009 Shell Houston Open he promised to make a donation to local charity during the trophy presentation ceremonies on the 18 th green. When Casey returned for Media Day recently (February 22) he announced that he and his wife Jocelyn are making a $100,000 donation to local charity through the Houston Golf Association. On Tuesday of tournament week the Englishman will announce the recipients of the funding. Paul Casey s win last year came in his first appearance in Houston. He is the first player since Mike Heinen (1994) to win this tournament in his first appearance. He is the first player from England and the first European player to win the Shell Houston Open in the tournament s 63-year history. Casey has four top-10s in four starts in 2010: o T10 SBS Championship o 2 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship o T4 The Honda Classic o T6 WGC-CA Championship Houston Golf Association Houston Golf Association and tournament title sponsor Shell Oil Company share great pride in the impact HGA's fundraising efforts have on the local community. The 2009 Shell Houston open generated more than $2.395 million for local worthy causes.

2 Since 1974 HGA volunteers have helped generate more than $51.6 million for local worthy causes through golf promotion. In addition to the charity dollars derived from the Shell Houston Open, the Houston Golf Association also funds other programs that reach out into the community. The HGA's Patrons of Junior Golf program has awarded more than $375,000 in academic scholarships since Nine youngsters are currently on grants from this program. These scholarships are awarded based on need and academics. Playing ability does not enter into the selection process. HGA's most recent community service project is The First Tee Houston/Redstone Chapter. With support from The Redstone Companies and title sponsor Shell Oil Company, the HGA is steadily establishing one of the finest facilities in the country for this no-cost program. Four school districts -- Humble, Aldine, Galena Park and Clear Creek -- now teach The First Tee Nine Core Values program in selected elementary school physical education classes. More than 50,000 youngsters will be impacted by the program in the school year. HGA Core Charities Acres Home Youth Association Boys and Girls Harbor, Inc. Cenikor Foundation, Inc. Chinquapin School Interfaith Center of The Woodlands Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Texas Golf Coast & Louisiana Mike & Mike in the Morning ESPN sportscasters Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic have again teamed with the HGA and the Shell Houston Open to generate a substantial donation to the V-Foundation for Cancer Research. Lew Peters and his wife Pauline bid $28,500 to tee it up with the Mikes and defending U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover in the pro-am on Wednesday, March 31. Shell Oil Company kicked in another $20,000, making a $48,500 total contribution. Peters and his wife will also receive airfare, hotel accommodations and VIP treatment during tournament week. Mike & Mike in the Morning will air from 5-9 a.m. CT Wednesday, March 31 from the Champions Pavilion. FedExCup Fore!Ever -- As many of the world s best golfers converge on Houston to compete in the Shell Houston Open, preparations have been underway by some of the tournament and PGA TOUR sponsors -- including FedEx, Shell with Waste Management -- to make the fairways and greens a bit greener this year. Through the FedExCup Fore!Ever sustainable golf program, more than 100 junior golfers from The First Tee of Greater Houston and dozens of volunteers from FedEx and Shell recently worked together to make eco-friendly improvements to the The First Tee s David Shindeldecker Campus at Redstone Golf Club, a three-hole practice course used by organization that is part of the Redstone Golf Course, host of the Shell Houston Open. Together with guidance from Audubon International, junior golfers and volunteers planted trees, shrubs, flowers and native grasses to improve the courses eco footprint while beautifying it for tournament spectators. The First Tee Course media opportunity: Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 Time: TBA What: PGA TOUR player and First Tee participants will play a hole to showcase the new and improved First Tee facility at Redstone Golf Club PGA TOUR Notes The Shell Houston Open is the 15 th event of the season and there has not been a multiple winner yet. This is the longest stretch to start a season since 2004 when Phil Mickelson won for the second time in the 15 th event. This has been a good year for rookies with 13 of the 20 newcomers among the Top 125 in the current FedExCup standings. All 20 have earned FedExCup points through the season s first 13 events.

3 With basically one-third of the PGA TOUR Regular Season complete, 25 players are within a victory of potentially taking over the top spot in the FedExCup standings. The second reshuffle of the season will take place after the Shell Houston Open. Five different players in their 20s have won on the PGA TOUR in Date Tournament Winner Age won 1/25 Bob Hope Classic Bill Haas 27 years, 8 months, 1 day 2/14 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Dustin Johnson 25 years, 7 months, 23 days 2/28 Waste Management Phoenix Open Hunter Mahan 27 years, 9 months, 11 days 3/7 The Honda Classic Camilo Villegas 28 years, 2 months 3/15 Puerto Rico Open Derek Lamely 29 years, 8 months, 3 days The Shell Houston Open is Davis Love III s last opportunity to earn an exemption into the Masters. Love had played in 70 consecutive majors until missing the Masters in Phil Mickelson has returned to playing two drivers, as he did in 2006 when he won the BellSouth Classic by 13 strokes and one week later, won in Augusta. There are four players under the age of 30 with three or more PGA TOUR wins Adam Scott (6), Dustin Johnson (3), Camilo Villegas (3) and Sean O Hair (3). Currently, 14 players in the top-30 in the FedExCup standings are under the age of 30. Five players have won the week prior to the Masters and won in Augusta: Year Masters Champion Previous week s win 1939 Ralph Guldahl Greater Greensboro Open 1949 Sam Snead Greater Greensboro Open 1959 Art Wall Azalea Open 1988 Sandy Lyle Greater Greensboro Open 2006 Phil Mickelson BellSouth Classic Player Spotlights Angel Cabrera The defending Masters champion will be playing as he prepares to defend his title the following week. A long hitter, this course should be well suited to his game. Phil Mickelson Lefty is looking for his first win of the year and to head into the Masters next week with a full head of steam. Only player in the last 20 years to win the week before the Masters, and then go on to win the Masters (2006 BellSouth Classic). The only others to do are Sandy Lyle (1988), Art Wall (1959) and Ralph Guldahl (1939). Sam Snead also won the last event prior to the Masters and the Masters, but there was a break in between. Fred Couples Attended the University of Houston, Couples won this tournament back in 2003 and it remains his last PGA TOUR win. Couples has torn up the Champions Tour this year finishing in his first three starts. Ernie Els Broke through into the winners circle for the first time since 2008 with his victory at the WGC- CA Championship. He hasn t had a multiple win season on the PGA TOUR since capturing three titles in Lucas Glover The current U.S. Open champion is off to a somewhat slow start in 2010 with a T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open being his only Top 10. He is playing Wednesday as the pro in the Mike & Mike Pro-Am pairing. Padraig Harrington The three-time major champion is looking for his first win since the 2008 PGA Championship and is coming off a T3 at the WGC-CA Championship. Spent time recently at the White House as the guest of President Obama on St. Patrick s Day. Rory McIlroy

4 Looks to break through with his first win in America. He has started slowly this year after suffering some early season back problems. Adam Scott Won here in Struggled last year with only one Top-10 finish and is looking to return to top form here this week. Looked to regain his stride during the off season with a win at the Australian Open. K.J. Choi After struggling last year missing five of his last eight cuts, The Woodlands resident appears to be back on track. He s 6 for 6 in cuts made this year and last week he finished second at the Transitions Championship for his first Top-10 in over a year. His last one came in a T3 at the 2009 Northern Trust Open. Miscellaneous International champions -- The Shell Houston Open has a history of international winners going all the way back to Bobby Locke (South Africa) winning in Since then winners have come from New Zealand, Argentina, Australia, Fiji and England. International winners -- 8 of the last 11 winners of the Shell Houston Open have hailed from outside the U.S. Fourteen Hall of Famers Vijay Singh, a three-time winner of the Shell Houston Open (2002, 04, 05), is the last World Golf Hall of Fame member to win here. Singh is one of 14 Hall of Fame members to have won the Shell Houston Open. Shell Oil Company is a Founding Partner of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Major connections A pair of 2009 major championship winners are set to play in the Shell Houston Open. Masters champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina returns for the fourth consecutive time and U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover will make his seventh Shell start in a row. Cabrera is coached by local teaching professional Charlie Epps while Glover took lessons from the late Dick Harmon, for whom The First Tee of Greater Houston Learning Center is named at Redstone Golf Club. Four rounds in the 60s rare -- In the last three years, no players have managed to record all four rounds in the 60s at the Shell Houston Open. Throughout the last 16 years of the tournament (dating to 1994), just four players have achieved the feat, each winning the tournament that year Mike Heinen/1994, Vijay Singh/2002, Fred Couples/2003 and Stuart Appelby/2006. Australian success -- Australians have a particular affinity for this event. Aussie winners include Bruce Devlin (1972), Bruce Crampton (1973, 1975), David Graham (1983), Stuart Appleby (1999, 2006), Robert Allenby (2000) and Adam Scott (2007). Aussies in the field this week include Appleby, Greg Chalmers, Jason Day, Steve Elkington, Mathew Goggin, Nathan Green, Matt Jones, Marc Leishman, David Lutterus, James Nitties, Nick O Hern, Scott and John Senden. Kodak Challenge -- The difficult 488-yard, par-4 18 th hole will be this week s Kodak Challenge Hole. It was the most difficult hole on the course last year playing to a stroke average of Kevin Streelman won last year s inaugural Kodak Challenge and is in the field this week. Redstone Golf Club Course Information The Big Ball Washer The eight-acre lake running adjacent to the par-four, 18th hole at Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course was dubbed the Big Ball Washer by a caddie, after his player deposited a tee shot in the lake in rounds one, two and three of the 2006 Shell Houston Open, the first year the tournament was played at the Redstone Tournament Course. That same year, the lake claimed 59 balls, according to ShotLink. In 2007, 53 balls were rinsed, including one by eventual champion, Adam Scott, who hit his tee shot into the lake at the 72nd hole. In 2008, 41 balls found the lake. Last year, 59 balls sank below the depths, not including J.B. Holmes miscue in the sudden-death playoff, making it a total of 212 balls in the big ball washer over the last four years.

5 Course changes Small changes were made to Redstone by Superintendent Randy Samoff and his staff after last year s event with the goal being to give the players the same type of shots they will see at Augusta National for The Masters the following week. The changes include expanding short cut areas around most greens, widening collar cuts around the greens including areas between greens and bunkers, and extending shaved banks on the lake holes. Redstone stats -- The cumulative scoring average at the par-72 Redstone Golf Club's Tournament Course was in The par-4 18th hole ranked as the toughest all week with an average of 4.336, making it the fourth-toughest finishing hole on TOUR in 2009 (1 st -Doral Golf Resort & Spa, 2 nd - Quail Hollow Club, 3 rd -Muirfield Village GC). Of the 918 total holes on TOUR in 2009, No. 18 at Redstone was the 23 rd most difficult. The par-5 13 th hole was the easiest of the week at

2009 SHELL HOUSTON OPEN. Contact: Mark Williams Media Official

2009 SHELL HOUSTON OPEN. Contact: Mark Williams Media Official 2009 SHELL HOUSTON OPEN Contact: Mark Williams Media Official 904-655-5380 markwilliams@pgatourhq.com Dates: March 30 April 5, 2009 Where: Redstone Golf Club, Tournament Course, Humble, TX Par/Yards: (72/7,457)