Scottie Scheffler’s bid to turn into the primary participant to win three consecutive PGA Tour occasions for seven years began impressively with a bogey-free 65 through the opening spherical on the Texas Kids’s Houston Open.
The in-form world No 1 has received on his final two appearances, on the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Gamers Championship, and is aiming to turn into the primary participant since Dustin Johnson in 2017 to win on three consecutive appearances on the tour in his remaining outing earlier than The Masters, dwell from April 11-14 on Sky Sports activities.
Scheffler, who had shaved off his beard since his Sawgrass triumph, began on the tenth and missed his first three greens, however picked up pictures on the thirteenth and seventeenth to succeed in the flip at two underneath.
A birdie on the par-three second was adopted by two extra within the subsequent three holes as Scheffler completed at 5 underneath, one shot behind clubhouse chief Taylor Moore who set the tempo amongst these out early.
“I had a solid round. Bogey-free is always nice, especially around a golf course like this,” Scheffler informed reporters. “It is nice to be able to keep the card clean.”
It was the American’s twenty eighth consecutive spherical underneath par to begin the yr, which the PGA Tour has confirmed is essentially the most on document since 1983.
Scheffler hits out of the bunker on the 18th inexperienced throughout his opening spherical
Scheffler had been fighting a neck drawback at Sawgrass, the place a closing 64 noticed him take the title by one stroke, however hopes he’s now on the mend.
“(The) neck is feeling better, body feels good. The off week was good for me to get some rest, get some rehab,” he mentioned.
“I took a couple more days off than I typically would last week, so it was some good recovery time.”
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Padraig Harrington hit an unimaginable shot whereas on his knees when his ball discovered a tree on the par-5 sixteenth gap on the Texas Kids’s Houston Open.
Moore, defending champion final week on the Valspar Championship, had began his spherical with a bogey, however quickly constructed some momentum following an eagle on the par-five third to show in 31. A pair extra birdies noticed him house at six underneath and into the clubhouse lead.
“After the first hole, just tried to see how many greens I could hit,” Moore mentioned. “Got off to a little bit of a jump start there on 3, chipped in for eagle and birdied 4. Just got into the round.”
Davis Riley and Joe Highsmith additionally sat alongside Scheffler in a tie for second, whereas England’s Aaron Rai was amongst a gaggle of gamers from the early starters at 4 underneath.
Watch the Texas Kids’s Houston Open all dwell on Sky Sports activities. Early protection of the second spherical begins on Friday from 12.30pm on Sky Sports activities Golf, forward of full protection from 8pm. The Masters is then completely dwell from April 11-14 completely on Sky Sports activities. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, majors and extra with NOW.
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