As the Houston stop on the PGA Tour, the Shell Houston Open dates back to 1946, debuting as the Tournament of Champions, and with Texans Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan finishing first and second, with Nelson winning by two strokes. The Houston Open is now played at Redstone Golf Club in the Houston suburb of Humble.
The Redstone Golf Club is a private club, as is its Member Course that hosted the Shell Houston Open from 2003-2005, while the club's public Tournament Course opened in 2006 and first hosted the tournament that same year. Other Houston/Houston area courses which have hosted the Shell Houston Open include the River Oaks Country Club, Memorial Park Golf Course, Pine Forest Country Club, BraeBurn Country Club, Sharpstown CC, Champions Golf Club, Westwood CC, Quail Valley Golf Club in Missouri City, the Woodlands Country Club and TPC Woodlands – both in The Woodlands, Texas.
When Stuart Appleby won the Shell Houston Open in 2006, he became the first winner to have led from beginning to end in the Open's history. Appleby's six-shot victory also matched the tournament record for largest margin of victory, previously set by Vijay Singh (2002) and Jack Burke Jr. (1952).
Sharing the Shell Houston Open record for most wins are Curtis Strange and Vijay Singh, with three victories each; Strange 1980, 1986 and 1988, and Singh in 2002, 2004, 2005.
Roberto De Vicenzo's win at the 1968 Houston Open came just three weeks after that year's Masters Tournament and his infamous mistake where he signed an incorrect scorecard, a penalty which cost him a spot in a playoff.
