Rory McIlroy stood out in his final game before the Masters, his final game started before his putt failed to open the Texas Children's Houston Open at the rainy Memorial Park.
Instead of shooting on all cylinders, the world's second place hit 70 with 70 shots in shower conditions, playing a round with his clothes (gray and undescriptive) and finding his lead with five shots.
“I think a little pedestrian is a great way to describe it,” McIlroy said, who occasionally struggled to beat with iron and lost the fields on the green. “We had to deal with these conditions earlier; the weather was clear and not very pleasant.
“I made some standard savings early on and then had a lot of opportunities on the second ninth chance that I didn’t switch.
“So it's a story with two and a half. I feel like I've been in the first nine stories most of the time, and then I feel like I've been there for the last nine games.”
The world ranked second, starting at the tenth time, after the iron shot sailed to the left, at the 11th foot of the 11th foot, at the 12th foot.
He then dropped a shot on the 14th and lost five feet of pole position eight feet after exceeding the green. But as the rain slowed down and the umbrella dropped, he created more opportunities, but didn't make anything happen to the middle distance from the putter.
“Once I put on my gear, I did it better,” he said. “I really couldn't find the middle of the club with the first few holes. But once it got brighter, once things got better, I felt like I was driving very well.”
He might have been the 17th-short fourth after firing the short iron to five feet, but he misread the birdie putt, missing the second-foot bird again and again, and then he finally eliminated his birdie four on the third time with a longer third.
After failing to hit the green with another short iron, he will shoot straight on the fourth, but almost cut one-third on the eighth, making the modification.
McIlroy didn't have to kick off the ball in the rain in recent years, but he was unwavering in his first round score, with his votes of 30 putts.
“It's been a while,” he said. “Think we had a year of downpour at the Tour Championship in Atlanta. I remember teeing there, but, yeah, it's heavy.”
This is McIlroy's first visit to the venue, and he acknowledges his lack of knowledge of the courses has its advantages and disadvantages. He was very happy to study.
“It's a double-edged sword,” he said. “It's always a pleasure to come to a place you don't know, and have to learn a new golf course, and I don't do it all too often anymore, so it's great to be able to do it again.
“But then, you know that many years of courses have inherent advantages, just knowing where to miss it, especially in courses like this, and especially in courses like this, the green complex is totally…you have to know them and know where to miss it.
“I don’t think some of the experiences in this lesson are a bad thing, and I just want to learn.”
Alejandro Tosti, Keith Mitchell, Taylor Pendrith and Ryan Gerard hit five shots under 65 in an eight-man group shot, when the game was suspended due to the dark players of 16 players, including Min Woo Lee, Victor Perez and Victor Perez and Victor Perez and Amgen Irish champion Rasmus Højgaard.
McIlroy tied for 57th in the standard class, while Seamus Power maintained his master's qualifying hopes as Scottie Scheffler lurked two shots with a bogey-free 67.
The West Waterford man needs to win at Memorial Park to ensure his third appearance at Augusta National, where he still has a chance to be under 69 in wet and windy conditions in Texas.
The power starts from the back nine and spins at the level level, then earns three birdies and two bogeys on the way home, sharing No. 36.
World No. 1, Ruler Champion Scheffler is his pace in his third bogey-free game this season, and his pace is second only to two shots since the first season that opened on February 23.
“I feel like I started to perform better in the last nine games,” Scheffler said. Scheffler said he saved seven times in the first 11 holes with six saves.
“The first nine, I got a little bit, but today I still posted a score. The rain and wind are tough today, and overall, keep a clean card.”
The Texan hasn't reached this form yet, leaving him with 28 shots in a row under 28 games before he finished with a second round of 70 in Houston 12 months ago.
Last year, he won the invitational and player for Arnold Palmer and finished second in Houston before winning the Masters and next week's RCMP legacy.
He has two top 10 and three top 25 in five games so far this year and he is happy to see positive signs under yesterday's harsh conditions.
“Well, I've always wanted some good golf balls around the corner, but I think I've done a great job today, and it's always really good to keep a clean card and posted a solid number.”
“Obviously, I think in every round you always feel like you can do more, but overall, three bogey-free is bogey-free and a good start to a good week.”
He added: “Overall, I think challenging conditions are especially rain in and out, rainwater and wind can be challenging, but overall, it's done a good job of keeping the card clean.”
Senior Pádraig Harrington (53) had just one birdie in his three bogey matches, ranking 16th in a quarter of 74.
On the DP World Tour, Conor Purcell became a victim of DLF golf and country clubs in the Indian Heroes Open New Delhi.
The former Walker Cup star made five birdies, but four bogeys and two double bogeys, the last of which was his 18th time, seeing his cards above 75, put him at No. 80.
He trailed seven shots from Nicolas Colsaerts, Marcus Armitage and Marcus Kinhult, and their 68 gave them a lead in a six-man chase group.
“It’s a tough golf course and anyone who will shoot under PAR today will be very happy,” said senior Colsalter (42) after seven birdies rounds.
“The roughness this year is high, green and thick, kind of like a mini US Open. It’s a hard course.”
Meanwhile, Leona Maguire fought back in two games after six holes, opening with a 70-shot and cross-country cross-country shot in Arizona’s Ford Championship.
Hull led Hull to make nine birdies in a bogey-free 63 of the Qattail course in Whirlwind in a shot at the club in Denmark in Denmark.
Once after two holes, Co Cavan Star (29) double ships ranked third and sixth in sixth before getting a hat trick in 11th.
