Previewing the HP Byron Nelson Championship

This week, the PGA Tour heads to Texas for the HP Byron Nelson Championship. The event, named after the late great Byron Nelson, is played on a course with a similar set up to last week’s Players Championship.

The TPC Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas is a par 70 course designed originally by Jay Morrish and opened in 1983. The course underwent a major overhaul in 2007 by D.A. Weibring and Steve Wolfard. The course features large greens but also has runoffs and closely mown areas just off the green that will penalize poor shots.

While the field is missing some of the big names that were present at last week’s Players, the field is still a tough one that features many local golfers from our area.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Louis Oosthuizen is highest ranked player in the 156 player field. The Old Palm resident is the seventh ranked player in the world and is coming off a 19^th place finish last week. He has three top 20 finishes in his last four starts.

Oosthuzien’s neighbor in Old Palm, Charl Schwartzel is making his TPC Four Season debut this week. He is coming into this week fresh off a 55^th place finish at the TPC Sawgrass last week which ended his run of consecutive top 25 finishes at 13.

Keegan Bradley won the event in 2011. The Tequesta resident went on to win Rookie of the Year honors that year. He finished in a tie for 24^th in his title defense last year and has five top 10 finishes already this year. He has missed his last two cuts but will look to turn that around on a TPC Four Seasons course that he has had success on.

Dustin Johnson has had an enormous amount of success at this event over the years. The Loxahatchee River resident is 4-for-4 at the TPC Four Seasons finishing in a tie for 20^th, a tie for seventh and a tie for fourth in the last three years. Injuries to his left wrist and lower back have caused him to withdraw or pull out of tournaments over the past two weeks, so his health will play a big factor in his success this week.

The HP Byron Nelson Championship takes place Thursday through Sunday and can be seen on the Golf Channel and CBS. For complete coverage on the event, visit www.pgatour.com.