Scheffler two shots back in Houston Open

HOUSTON — Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy wanted a final tune-up before the Masters and spent parts of the Thursday at the Houston Open under an umbrella in wind and rain that prevented anyone from getting too far away.

Keith Mitchell made a late eagle and Ryan Gerard let a good start slip away by finishing with two bogeys. They both wound up at 5-under 65, tied for the lead with Alejandro Tosti and Taylor Pendrith when play was suspended by darkness.

Scheffler didn’t dazzle. He just didn’t do much wrong, one of his best attributes. The world’s No. 1 player played bogey-free and made a pair of long birdies on the back nine that added to a 67, leaving him two shots behind.

“Conditions were pretty tough out there today with the rain and the wind, so overall nice to keep a clean card,” Scheffler said.

McIlroy, coming off his second victory of the year at The Players Championship two weeks ago, played in the morning and that was no picnic. The rain was steady as he stood on the 10th tee and it eventually stopped long enough for him to enjoy the end of his round.

He had two birdies (both on par 5s), two bogeys and 14 pars for a 70 that he described as “a little pedestrian.”

“Couldn’t really find the middle of the club face for the first few holes,” McIlroy said. “Once it brightened up and as the conditions got a little better, I felt like I drove it pretty well.”

Tosti contended late in the Houston Open last year. He also played bogey-free, and he made birdie on all three of the par 5s at Memorial Park. Mitchell got his mistakes out of the way early — two bogeys in four holes, and finished strong.

Pendrith had the lead to himself until he found a bunker left of the green on the 18th and missed a 10-foot par putt. Jackson Suber was poised to join the group at 65 until a four-putt double bogey on the 18th. The first putt was 70 feet. The last three putts were from 5 feet.

And then there was Gerard, who was motoring along at 7 under with two holes to play, starting with the par-5 eighth. But his tee shot was so far right he had to take a penalty drop, and his wedge from 124 yards went 50 feet long. He managed to two-putt for a bogey.

On the par-3 ninth, he went into a back lip of the bunker and had to play away from the flag because of water on the other side, leading to another bogey.

The 65 was a solid start. The finish stung.

“I’d be lying to you if I wasn’t a little bit upset,” Gerard said. “But you kind of just got to take a step back. If they said after the morning wave you’d be T-1, everyone in the field would sign up for that starting their round, especially when it was rainy and kind of windy and off and on from different directions. The grind was real out there.”

And it was wet for so much of the day, leading to preferred lies from the short grass. The issue for Gerard was staying dry.

“I’m weird — I don’t like holding the umbrella because I feel like my arms get fatigued and I stand over a shot and I feel like I hit it weird,” he said. “So I wear the rain jacket and try and not get the grips wet. If I can do that and just pick quality targets and try and just make solid swings to the targets, whatever happens from there is kind of up to the skid or the rain or the water droplets or whatever it could be.”

Suber wound up with eight players at 66, a group that included Rasmus Hojgaard, who at one point was tied for the lead until a double bogey. He played in the same group as his Danish twin, Nicolai Hojgaard, who had a 69.

Michael Kim and Ben Griffin opened with a 70. Both are just outside the top 50 in the world and are trying to move inside that number to get into the Masters. The cutoff for the top 50 is after the Houston Open.