Rory McIlroy is cast in the role of pursuer of world number one Scottie Scheffler headed into the weekend of the weather-disrupted Texas Children’s Houston Open after salvaging his second round by birdieing three of his final four holes for a 66 (for four-under-par 136), seven adrift of Scheffler.
“I think I just have to play my own tournament and stay in my own little world, try to get the best out of myself. Whether that’s good enough or not, that’s not really up to me at this point, that’s up to the guys that are in front of me on the leader board.
“But if I can go out there and shoot a couple of good scores over the weekend, I’ll be happy with my week’s work,” said McIlroy, who took advantage of softer scoring conditions on resuming his second round.
With the second round due to be completed Saturday, Séamus Power faced an anxious wait to see if he would survive into the final two rounds.
Power added another 69 to his opening 69 for two-under-par 138 and was well inside the cut mark when he finished, only for player after player to leapfrog him, leaving the Waterford man to play the waiting game.
Over 50 players were scheduled to complete their second rounds on Saturday with the third round being played off two tees in three balls in a bid to catch up following over two hours of disruption on Friday.
Pádraig Harrington, however, missed the cut. The 53-year-old, playing on a sponsor’s exemption as he juggles tour life between the main circuit and the Champions Tour, improved with a 71 for five-over-par 145 which left him outside the cut mark.
Scheffler was back to doing Scheffler things, like a well-oiled machine with every part clicking into gear and working smoothly: a second round 62, equalling the course record at the Memorial Park course in downtown Houston, saw the world number one – without a win so far this season – move ominously towards the head of affairs, two weeks out from his defence of the Masters.
Scheffler had eight birdies in another bogey-free round, posting a 62 for a midway total of 11-under-par 129 to assume the clubhouse lead, a shot clear of Canadian Taylor Pendrith and Colombia’s Nico Echavarria.
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For Scheffler, who had a delayed start to the season after suffering a hand injury over the Christmas period which required surgery, it was a case of returning to his dominant self with a masterclass in which he hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation and required just 23 putts in a second round where he was in total control tee to green.
Scheffler started his round birdie-birdie and just kept on rolling, only regretting not actually holing more birdies.
“[It] was a day where I felt like my ball-striking could have been a bit better and I was able to hole some putts. I hit a lot of greens but I felt like my irons were just barely off, and I felt like I could have been hitting them a little bit closer to the hole, but overall kept it on the green, kept giving myself looks.
“The way I was putting, I didn’t feel I had to force ‘em there by many pins if I wasn’t totally comfortable with the shot,” said Scheffler.
