A two-hour weather delay to the opening round of the Houston Open meant that 33 players were unable to complete their first 18 holes on Thursday due to darkness.
One of those was players was PGA Tour Rookie Sam Ryder who was 8-under par through 15 holes when play was suspended for the day.
The PGA Tour rookie has a bogey-free round going with eight birdies, including gains on his final two holes (of Nos. 14 and 15) before play was suspended.
Two back of Ryder is Lucas Glover and Kevin Tway, who share the clubhouse lead at 7-under par.
Both Glover and Tway finished with identical bogey-free scorecards comprised of seven birdies and 11 pars.
Starting his round on No. 10, Glover’s day was highlighted by five-straight gains on Nos. 15-1.
“Kind of a slow start, I had a bunch of ops early and didn’t cash in on a few of them. But I made four in a row to close the back, birdied 1 for five in a row,” said Glover.
“Kind of got in a little lull, had a bunch of more birdie putts, didn’t make anything, no bogeys. Hit a bunch of fairways, hit a bunch of greens and made some, so that was a good start.”
Beau Hossler was also at 7 under but still has two holes to play (par-5 8th and par-3 9th) when round one resumes at 7:20 a.m. CT Friday morning.
One further back was Rickie Fowler, who posted a first-round 6-under 66. The 29 year-old Oklahoma State product finished his first day with just one bogey offset by seven birdies.
Fowler sits T5 alongside Rod Pampling, Ryan Armour, and Julian Suri. Paul Dunne was also 6 under but has four holes to finish.
A logam of 16 players are T10 at 5-under 67, headlined by Steve Stricker and Brandt Snedeker.
Phil Mickelson was 6 under at the turn and appeared headed for a record day, but finished with eight pars and a double bogey to post a 4 under.
“I played well today and I certainly, the back nine, didn’t make a birdie, played 2 over and that’s disappointing,” said Mickelson.
“But I’m playing well. I got off to a good start. My goal is not to win on Thursday, my goal is to try to get in contention for the weekend. So I didn’t hurt myself there, but I didn’t help myself as much as I could have.”
Tied with Mickelson, among others, were three tournament headliners in Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose.
TOP 10
1 Sam Ryder -8 (15)
2 Lucas Glover -7
2 Kevin Tway -7
2 Beau Hossler -7 (16)
5 Rickie Fowler -6
5 Rod Pampling -6
5 Julian Suri -6
5 Ryan Armour -6
5 Paul Dunne -6 (14)
10 16 Players Tied
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“Yeah, I thought today was a very positive day for me, and certainly excited about what the rest of the week holds now. This golf course, though, I’ve shot under par and missed the cut; I’ve shot under par on the first round. This course can get anything out of you if you don’t stay committed off the tee on a lot of these holes.”
– Jordan Spieth
