Parts of Thursday at the Texas Children’s Houston Open were spent under an umbrella in wind and rain that made it impossible for anyone to go far on the field ; including Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, who wanted a final warm-up before the Masters.
Ryan Gerard lost a strong start with two bogeys, and Keith Mitchell made a late eagle. When play was halted due to darkness, they both finished at 5-under 65, tied for the lead with Alejandro Tosti and Taylor Pendrith.
Scheffler was unimpressive. One of his best qualities is that he simply didn’t do anything wrong. The top-ranked golfer in the world played without making any bogeys and finished with a 67, 2 strokes behind him, after making 2 long birdies on the back nine.
“Overall, it was good to maintain a clean card because the weather was really difficult today due to the wind and rain.” Scheffler said.
Two weeks ago, McIlroy played in the morning, and it wasn’t easy. He had just won his second title of the year at THE PLAYERS Championship. As he stood on the 10th tee, the rain continued steadily until it finally stopped long enough for him to relish the conclusion of his round.
His 70 was “a little pedestrian,” with two birdies (both on par 5s), two bogeys, and 14 pars.
“For the first few holes, it was difficult to locate the centre of the club face. I thought I drove it rather well once it brightened up and the weather improved a bit.” McIlroy said.
Last year, Tosti participated late in the Texas Children’s Houston Open. He scored birdie on all three of the Memorial Park Golf Course’s par-5s and went bogey-free. Mitchell ended well after clearing his mistakes early, including two bogeys.
On the 18th, Pendrith had the lead all to himself until he missed a 10-foot par putt after discovering a bunker to the left of the green. Before making a four-putt double bogey on the 18th, Jackson Suber was on the verge of joining the group at 65. Seventy feet was the first putt. Three of the final putts were made from five feet.
Gerard, on the other hand, was cruising at 7 under with two holes remaining, beginning with the par-5 eighth. However, he had to take a penalty drop since his tee shot was so far right, and his 124-yard wedge was 50 feet long. He was able to make a bogey by two-putting.
He made another bogey on the par-3 ninth after he went into the back lip of the bunker and had to play away from the flag due to water on the opposite side.
The 65 was a good beginning. It hurt to end.
“If I say I wasn’t a little upset, I would be lying to you. However, you simply need to step back. Everyone in the field would sign up for that at the beginning of their round if they were told they would be T-1 after the morning wave, particularly if it was raining, windy and intermittent from all angles. Out there, the grind was genuine.” Gerard said.
Additionally, the short grass produced favourable lying because it was soggy for a large portion of the day. Gerard’s problem was staying dry.
“I’m strange ; I don’t enjoy holding the umbrella because I feel like my arms become exhausted and I stand over a shot and I feel like I hit it funny. I try not to get the grips wet by wearing the rain jacket. Any further events are largely dependent on the skid, the rain, the water droplets, or anything else may occur if I can accomplish that and simply choose high-quality targets and attempt to make solid swings towards them.” he said.
At 66, Suber had eight players, including Rasmus Højgaard, who was tied for the lead at one point before a double bogey. He was in the same group as Nicolai Højgaard, his Danish twin, who scored 69.
Ben Griffin and Michael Kim got off to a 70. Both are attempting to move into the top 50 in order to qualify for the Masters, but they are currently slightly outside of it. Following the Houston Open, there is a cutoff for the top 50.
