FanHouse Johnson Wagner

This week's Wyndham Championship is the last tournament of the year for players to earn a little more cash, and jump a few more spots in the FedEx Cup point standings, hoping to make their way into the playoffs that kick off next week. Basically, it is the best shot for people that aren't having their best year to do a little more to make sure they aren't left out when the Barclays begins and only the top-125 on the FedEx Cup point list are invited.

On a weather-shortened Thursday at Sedgefield Country Club, a few players did just that. Chez Reavie, who won the Canadian Open last season but has struggled mightily in '09, shot a 6-under 64, his best round of the year, to tie Brandt Snedeker and Ryan Moore atop of the leaderboard. All three leaders have had lackluster years, but Reavie is the one that needs the biggest boost.

If this had happened three weeks ago at Memorial, it wouldn't even have merited a mention in the clubhouse after the practice round. But because Lucas Glover is now introduced as "2009 U.S. Open champion," whatever he does (or is done to him) is news. Even on a Wednesday prior to a tournament most people don't care about.

That was the case yesterday at the Travelers Championship, two days after his improbable victory at Bethpage Black. Following his introduction on the first tee to start his practice round, and amid polite applause from the gallery, Lucas teed up his golf ball, stepped back to begin his pre-shot routine, and promptly took a pie to the face, courtesy of PGA Tour buddy Johnson Wagner. (Click the photo above to see the video.)

This weekend, FanHouse will be out at the FBR Open, a tournament known more for its party atmosphere than its golf.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- You need to understand something. That headline? Yeah, it is all relative to the FBR Open.

No, the wind isn't blowing hats off of the golfers, but it is a little brisk for this part of the country. And after walking the course a little bit, I noticed a few things.

Johnson Wagner was the wire to wire winner of the Shell Houston Open, and by doing so, he gets his first tour win, an automatic spot in the Masters and a two year tour exemption. (For more about Wagner, check out this nice article).

He was tied at the beginning of the tournament with Adam Scott for first, but Scott had to withdraw early because of flu-like symptoms that he suffered from since the beginning of the tournament.

Fred Couples ended tied for 4th, his highest finish since tying for third at the 2006 Masters.

In other SHO news, Phil Mickelson says that he plans to be at the tournament next year. He liked the way that the course was set up to help prep shots for Augusta, and the support of the fans in the community.

By the way, for golf fans who want to get a better sense of what the high profile players have to say than is usually in the newspaper sites, you can check out ASAP Sports-Golf link that has transcripts of various sporting events. The extremely cordial media relations people at the SHO said that their tournament was the first golf tournament to employ transcribers. There are ASAP Sports transcripts for other sports, but the golf one probably the most thorough.

Notes from on site at the Shell Houston Open:

On day 1 of the Shell Houston Open, Adam Scott, the defending champion and later Johnson Wagner shot a 63, tyingfor the course record. Scott obviously has an eye for the course, and Wagner had a share of the previous course record of 64. For more info, check out the SHO website, leaderboard, and Ed Fowler's recap of Day 1.

After the date of the SHO was changed to the week before the Masters, the SHO decided to try to create course conditions that force players to make shots similar to what they will make next week. The elevation changes and green undulations can't be the same, but there are other ways that you can prepare the course to make it similar. Roger Groettsch, Director of Agronomy at Redstone explains how they set the course up in the above video.