Rory McIlroy made a sluggish begin to his last PGA Tour occasion forward of The Masters by carding an opening-round 70 on the Texas Kids’s Houston Open.
The FedExCup chief, already a winner on the AT&T Pebble Seashore Professional-Am and The Gamers this season, has opted for a primary Houston look since 2014 to organize for his bid to finish the profession Grand Slam subsequent month at Augusta Nationwide.
McIlroy – enjoying within the morning wave – blended two birdies with as many bogeys on the par-70 format on the Memorial Park Golf Course, with a irritating day on the greens seeing him make simply 49 toes of putts.
McIlroy is trying to full the profession Grand Slam at The Masters subsequent month and declare a primary main title since 2014
The world No 2 – beginning on the again 9 – missed from eight toes to avoid wasting par on the 14th and didn’t make the most of the par-five sixteenth, earlier than undoing his first birdie of the day on the par-five third by dropping a shot on the subsequent.
McIlroy remained over par till a tap-in birdie on the par-five eighth – his penultimate gap of the day – with the 35-year-old needing an improved efficiency on Friday to verify he avoids a primary missed lower since The Open.
“A little pedestrian, I guess is a good way to describe it,” McIlroy stated. “We needed to cope with these situations early on, wet and never too nice to play in.
Rory McIlroy carded a level-par 70 in his opening spherical
“Made just a few par saves early on that I wanted to after which had fairly just a few possibilities on the second 9 there that I did not convert.
“Yeah, sort of tale of two halves. I felt like I was scrambling for the most part on the first nine and then I feel like I left a couple out there on the last nine.”
European Ryder Cup hopefuls Victor Perez and Rasmus Hojgaard each carded opening-round 66s, with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler an additional shot again after a bogey-free begin.
Scheffler – trying to find a maiden win of the season forward of his title defence at Augusta Nationwide subsequent month – registered three birdies to
Scottie Scheffler (proper) is chasing a primary win of the season, whereas Rickie Fowler (left) wants a win to qualify for The Masters
“I felt like I started to play a little bit better on the back nine,” Scheffler stated. “The first nine I was kind of getting it around a little bit but still post a score today. Conditions were pretty tough out there today with the rain and the wind, so overall nice to keep a clean card.”
England’s Harry Corridor posted a two-under 68 and Rickie Fowler – enjoying with Scheffler – sits an additional stroke adrift, whereas defending champion Jaeger is alongside McIlroy on stage par.
Who will win the Texas Kids’s Houston Open? Watch all through the week reside on Sky Sports activities. Early protection continues on Friday from 12.15pm on Sky Sports activities Golf forward of full protection from 8pm. Get Sky Sports activities or stream with no contract on NOW.
