It rained for the better part of Rory McIlroy’s opening round in the Texas Children’s Houston Open. It was an overcast, soggy and dreary Thursday morning at Memorial Park Golf Course — a pretty good representation of McIlroy’s scoring as well.
With preferred lies in place, McIlroy made two birdies, two bogeys and shot even-par 70 in his final start before the Masters Tournament in two weeks.
“Yeah, a little pedestrian, I guess is a good way to describe it. We sort of had to deal with those conditions early on, rainy and not too pleasant to play in,” McIlroy said. “Made a few par saves early on that I needed to and then had quite a few chances on the second nine there that I didn’t convert.”
McIlroy said prior to the start of play that he spent the week following his Players Championship triumph trying “to poke holes” in the parts of his game with which he wasn’t overly pleased.
Thursday, he hit eight of 13 fairways (five par 3s on the course), and 12 of 18 greens in regulation. He gained 0.79 strokes off the tee but lost 1.89 strokes on the green. With the rain momentarily halting midway through his second nine, McIlroy was six off the early lead when he signed his card.
“I drove it better once I got my rain gear off. Couldn’t really find the middle of the club face for the first few holes,” he said. “Yeah, once it brightened up and as the conditions got a little better, I felt like I drove it pretty well.”
McIlroy posted just as world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was teeing off. The two will switch tee times on Friday, with McIlroy going off at 2:03 p.m. EDT. More rain is in the forecast but, unlike Thursday, thunderstorms are on the horizon.
