Scottie Scheffler & Nelly Korda’s Star Turns Help Make Greater Houston the New Pro Golf Epicenter of Texas — How Jim Crane and The Woodlands Made It Happen

Scottie Scheffler missed his putt (for once these days) — and Nelly Korda made all her big ones. But the Houston region emerged as the real champion. That’s the truth of the Texas professional golf season, which essentially ends with rain washing out the final round of the Insperity Invitational in The Woodlands and Taylor Pendrith winning the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in North Texas on Sunday. (The Colonial in Fort Worth is more of a postscript at this point.) With the Houston Open’s extremely successful return to the spring, Korda’s history making moment at the Chevron Championship (which deserved more Caitlin Clark vibes) and the hospitable resiliency shown at the Insperity through monumental storms in the area, it’s clear that the greater Houston area has emerged as the new professional golf epicenter of Texas in many ways.

And it’s no longer all that close. Even with the PGA of America now headquartered in Frisco.

For no region in Texas can match the Houston area’s run of tournaments with the Houston Open turning into a big name pre-Masters lure, an LPGA Major and a Champions Tour event that Jack Nicklaus graces with his presence every year. It’s been quite a pro golf run for the Houston area and it should only be getting better.

“It couldn’t have been a better week for us,” Astros Golf Foundation president Giles Kibbe tells PaperCity of the Houston Open’s spring return and NBC network TV moment. “Everybody was so complimentary on the broadcast. I listened to a little bit of the telecast and the praise of the golf course was so great to hear. Made everything special for us. Crowds were huge.

“That 18th hole with Scottie Scheffler having a chance with fans lined up on both sides of 18, it was so great. Couldn’t have asked for a better weekend.”

One could say the same about the Chevron, which has brought one of the more high-profile events in women’s sports to a community truly eager to host it. Nelly Korda winning her fifth straight tournament, tying an all-time LPGA record held by arguably the two greatest women golfers ever (Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam) is heady stuff. Having it happen in The Woodlands, a land that’s long embraced women’s sports on the high school and youth level with a fever, producing a former No. 1 golfer in the world in Stacy Lewis along the way, makes it resonate even more.

No other region in the world can boast star turns from Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda in such close succession as the greater Houston area. Scheffler hitting a killer approach shot on 18, only to miss the putt and see Stephan Jaeger end his win streak is near Kendrick Lamar and Drake level drama. And it’s great for men’s golf to have drama actually on the course as opposed to all the seemingly never-ending PGA Tour and LIV Golf maneuvering.

“You want to create some drama and make some action coming down the stretch,” Astros owner and Houston Open savior Jim Crane tells PaperCity. “You thought that maybe Scottie would have tied it.

“He hit an unbelievable shot in there and missed the putt. But that’s golf. The players like the course. They know it’s hard and they’ve got to hit good shots.”

Crane and The Woodlands’ unmatched community connectivity deserve a huge share of the credit for making this Houston area professional golf nirvana happen (with a major assist to Texas Children’s Hospital for fueling the Houston Open’s new spring life and Chevron for bringing a Major to the area). Houston almost lost its PGA Tour tournament just six years ago before Crane, a former country club caddy turned self-made billionaire who understands the power of golf, stepped in. Crane and the Astros staff essentially created the Astros Golf Foundation from scratch and now have one of the PGA Tour’s fastest rising events. One which has donating more than $16 million to Houston charities since Crane and the Astros Foundation brought the Houston Open back to life in 2019, most of that in the post COVID Tournaments (that includes more than $5 million raised in this year’s tournament).

“It’s extremely important,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan says when I ask about the PGA Tour keeping its presence in Houston. “The sides, the scale, the important of the impact of this community — a global city — and for us to be here since 1946. We’re always going to be here.

“There was never — you get to a point and time where you don’t have a sponsor and there isn’t a clear answer on how you’re going to move forward — but as I said when I talked to Jim, it was very clear the PGA Tour was going to be in Houston. And it’s going to be here a long time with a new partner at this magnificent public facility.

“So history, tradition, the names on that trophy and the fact that legacy is being protected and enhanced by Jim is something that I’m very proud of. And grateful for.”

The Astros Golf Foundation team even came up with a new event that other PGA Tour tournaments are sure to adopt in the coming years. With an assist from Daniel Berger’s caddy. That’d be the player caddie scramble (with the Tour players and their caddies teaming up) at East River 9, the showcase lighted par 3 course at Midway’s East River development. Twenty two players in the Houston Open field played in the event with Monahan and other PGA Tour officials taking in the lively scene.

“They had an absolute blast,” Kibbe says of the Tour players and their caddies. “Something that’s never been done on the Tour.”

The Astros innovated baseball in many ways under Jim Crane. You didn’t think the Astros’ golf arm would have a few things up its sleeve?

In The Woodlands at The Chevron Championship, the innovation includes treating the women golf stars with the respect these stars deserve. Including guaranteeing every player in the field at least $10,000 even if they miss the cut. After all, playing in a Major shouldn’t cost the best female golfers in the world money. The Chevron’s pumped up $10K guarantee ensures that it doesn’t in Texas.

And no other women’s tournament does this (at least not yet). That means something.

So does having Nelly Korda as your defending champion. Women’s golf seems poised to have a moment — and The Woodlands and the greater Houston region should be right there for it.

“It’s trending in the right direction, not just American golf, but women’s golf in general,” Korda says.

“It was very clear the PGA Tour was going to be in Houston. And it’s going to be here a long time with a new partner at this magnificent public facility.” — PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan

Scottie Scheffler’s Ultra Successful Houston Masters Prep

In many ways, this year’s Houston Open set the stage for Scheffler’s Masters win, both preparing and fueling the best male golfer in the world today. There is no motivating butt kick quite like finishing second. But Houston’s Memorial Park did what Augusta National could not. It kept Scottie Scheffler in check. With seemingly under-researched golf commentators on TV predicting 20 under scores at the Houston Open, Tom Doak’s design stands strong and only allows a winning minus 12.

Memorial Park stands up — and looks great in a spring overseed.

“A number of players said they really like the conditions and word will spread,” Crane says. “. . . And I think and they said one of the best conditioned courses they played this year. And that’s really saying something. That’s what we can do in the spring. I think we’ll get a better (star player) turnout next year because of the course product.”

The Chevron already draws the very best golfers in the world due to its Major status. But having the first major of the year in Texas every season should pay off for the LPGA in terms of publicity and renewed respect. Two years into its Texas journey, the Chevron Championship already has been extended till at least 2029. If NBC gets pushed into putting more resources into the telecast and the clear enthusiasm for the LPGA stars in The Woodlands can grow into more of a wider regional thing, this could be a game changer for women’s golf.

It should be a game changer for women’s golf.

One of Jim Crane’s ultimate goals is bring a men’s Major (a US Open of PGA Championship) to Memorial Park, a muni with the goods to serve as that type of championship stage. Until then, the Houston Open will be a pre-Masters showcase, perfect for testing and pushing the world’s next level best like Scottie Scheffler.

“I think people are really catching on now and this tournament will get bigger,” Crane says. “And our goal is to make it one of the best on the Tour.”

The Chevron Championship is already as big of an event as there is in women’s golf. Now, it just needs to help women’s golf itself get even bigger and grab more of the attention stars like Nelly Korda warrant.

Of course, it should all play out in greater Houston, the new professional golf epicenter of Texas.