PGA TOUR stars have converged at a public municipal course near downtown for the Vivint Houston Open. It's the first time since 1963 the long running tournament, which began in 1946, is back in the heart of the city.

Lanto Griffin defends his title amongst a plethora of stars like Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka (he helped redesign the course!) and Phil Mickelson has decided to try to beat the young guys again instead of maintaining PGA TOUR Champions dominance.

Here’s a closer look at the Featured Groups for the Vivint Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course.

RELATED:Tee times

HOW TO FOLLOW

Television: Thursday-Sunday, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:50 a.m. – 6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. ET (Featured Groups)

Radio: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. ET (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

FEATURED GROUPS

Dustin Johnson, Tyrrell Hatton, Adam Scott
• Johnson and Scott return for the first time after bouts with COVID-19 looking to gain peak form quickly.
• The FedExCup champion Johnson was third at the Vivint Houston Open in 2016 and T4 in 2013. Current form line reads T6-Win-P2-Win-T2.
• Scott is a former champion, winning in 2007, and has had plenty of success in Texas – capturing the so-called Texas Slam by also winning the Valero Texas Open and AT&T Byron Nelson.
• Hatton recently won the BMW PGA Championship on the European Tour before finishing third at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK. In his last two TOUR starts averages 65 on Thursday, 68 on Friday and 65.5 on Sunday but 74.5 in the third round.

Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Viktor Hovland,
• Mickelson could have gone for a third straight win on PGA TOUR Champions this week but opted to test his game against the top brass in a tournament he won in 2011.
• Day is a 12-time TOUR winner looking to rebound after a neck injury knocked him out of the final round while in contention at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK.
• Hovland is a former U.S. Amateur champion looking for a second TOUR win. Already two top 15s this season.

Lanto Griffin, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth
• Defending champion Griffin comes back with recent form having finished T7 at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK and T11 at The ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP at Sherwood.
• Koepka was the player advisor to Tom Doak in the redesign of Memorial Park Golf Course and looks to shake off his injury rust.
• Spieth is a Texas native who has a T2 and T3 result in years past in Houston. The 11-time TOUR winner is looking to triumph for first time since 2017.

Brian Gay, Sergio Garcia, Tony Finau
• The 48-year-old Gay notched up a fifth TOUR win last week at the Bermuda Championship, his first since 2013.
• Garcia also broke a TOUR win drought with his success at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
• Finau opened season with T8 at U.S. Open and then returned from COVID-19 bout with T11 at ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP.