Shell Houston Open 2016 live stream: How to watch online, TV coverage and more

The Shell Houston Open has embraced its position as the lead-in tournament for the Masters. That can be a difficult spot, with most minds already on Augusta and many players not wanting to play competitively the week before the biggest tournament of the year. But the Houston Open understands its role, now attracts a deep field, and uses the Masters to its advantage.

There is relatively little competition for the Houston Open on Sunday. The NCAA Tournament has its day off before the title game. WrestleMania is not until later. More minds are on golf with Masters week here. It’s just a nice and light Sunday that the Houston Open can slot into and help ease you into Masters week.

It’s impossible to make a perfect facsimile of Augusta National, but the Houston Open put a strategy in place about a decade ago that they’d try to add elements of what the players will face next week. The grass is cut down in certain areas and in a certain way that’s comparable to what they do at Augusta. The course conditions may not matter to many players -- some already have their mind made up on whether they want to compete the week before a major. But it doesn’t hurt and the field has gotten deeper and the Houston Open has established its identity.

There are many big names in the field, including Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Rickie Fowler. But the biggest story on Sunday may be the last-second invite two players with almost no major championship history might earn with a win at the Golf Club of Houston. Jamie Lovemark and Jim Herman will play in the final Sunday pairing. Neither has an invite to next week’s Masters. A win would deliver that in the final hour and bump the field to an even 90. DJ and Henrik Stenson are within striking distance, so there are some heavy hitters chasing on what should be a nice little appetizer of a Sunday.

Golf Channel and NBC will have the call on Sunday from Houston, their final event of a six-week stretch in Florida and Texas. CBS and ESPN will take over with their traditional roles broadcasting the Masters, and then Jim Nantz and friends will settle into their Tour season for the rest of the spring and summer. The coverage for the final round is a standard five-hour block, with GC taking the early portion before handing it off to their Comcast sister NBC for the conclusion. There will be no PGA TOUR LIVE stream, rather just the usual simulcast stream of all the TV coverage on LiveExtra.

Here are all your media options for the final round:

1 to 6 p.m. -- Golf Channel/NBC Sports LiveExtra simulcast stream

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