Texas Children's Houston Open Round 1: Four Share the Lead as Darkness Halts a Soggy Thursday

Memorial Park spent Thursday soaking in rain and wind, and by the time darkness shut the gates at 7:28 p.m. local time, nobody had managed to separate from anybody.

Four players share the lead at the Texas Children's Houston Open after a 5-under 65: Taylor Pendrith, Alejandro Tosti, Keith Mitchell and Ryan Gerard. Sixteen players were still on the course when the horn sounded and will finish the opening round Friday morning. Behind the quartet sits a crowd at 66, and the world No. 1 lurks two back with a clean card. On a par-70 layout that was supposed to be gettable, Thursday was a grind.

Four Ways to Shoot 65

The co-leaders got there by very different roads, which tells you how unsettled this board is.

Tosti was the tidiest of the bunch. The Argentine went bogey-free and cashed in on all three par 5s, which is exactly how you are supposed to play Memorial Park when it is soft. Tosti finished tied for second here in his Houston debut a year ago, still his best result on the PGA TOUR, and the course clearly suits the long hitter. With the rough not playing long, Tosti said, the plan is to "tee it up and bomb it."

Pendrith had a chance to sleep on the outright lead and let it slip at the very end. Six birdies against nothing else through 17 holes, then a bunker on the 18th and a 10-foot par putt that stayed out. Still, the 65 is the Canadian's career low in 11 rounds at this event, one better than a 66 in 2023. "I played pretty good," Pendrith said, which is the most Canadian possible review of a share of the lead.

Mitchell's card was louder. Five birdies, two bogeys and an eagle on the par-5 16th that hauled him into the tie late in the day.

Gerard's round was the most dramatic, and not entirely in a good way. Starting on the back nine, Gerard piled up seven birdies and stood at 7 under with two holes left. Then came bogeys on the eighth and ninth, his last two holes, and what had been the outright lead turned into a four-way logjam.

The 18th Bites Back

If one hole defined Thursday, it was the par-4 18th. Pendrith dropped his only shot there. Jackson Suber did far worse.

Suber was 6 under and bogey-free, alone in front and cruising toward the clubhouse, when the green turned on him. A double bogey on the final hole knocked Suber back to 4-under 66 and out of the lead entirely. It was a reminder that this course does not hand anything out, even on a day with soft greens.

Rasmus Højgaard had a similar story on a smaller scale, briefly sharing the lead before a double bogey and settling for 66. Twin Nicolai Højgaard posted 69.

Scheffler Keeps It Clean

Scottie Scheffler did not do anything spectacular on Thursday, and that is sort of the point. The world No. 1 shot a bogey-free 3-under 67, highlighted by long birdie putts on the 13th (19 feet) and the 14th (35 feet), to sit two shots back in a share of 13th. It matched Scheffler's lowest opening round of 2025, in his sixth start of the season.

"Conditions were pretty tough out there today with the rain and the wind, so overall nice to keep a clean card," Scheffler said, per the AP.

Scheffler is a Texan playing a home-state event, and a two-time runner-up in Houston. Two shots is nothing with 54 holes left.

McIlroy Calls It Pedestrian

Rory McIlroy arrived in Houston as the FedExCup leader, a two-time winner this season and fresh off his win at THE PLAYERS Championship two weeks ago. Thursday did not look like that guy.

McIlroy drew the worst of the weather, teeing off in a steady morning downpour, and posted an even-par 70 with two birdies, two bogeys and 14 pars. McIlroy described the round as "a little pedestrian," and said he could not find the clubface with the driver until he stripped off his rain gear. "Sort of a tale of two halves," McIlroy added, scrambling on the front and leaving shots on the back. Even par puts McIlroy in a tie for 57th, which is not panic territory, but Friday needs to be better if he wants a stress-free weekend.

Defending champion Stephan Jaeger also opened with 70, a double bogey at the 14th undoing a pair of birdies.

The Crowd Behind the Leaders

The group at 66 deserves a look, because there is real talent in it. Min Woo Lee, who shared the 36-hole lead at THE PLAYERS two weeks ago, opened with 66 and is one shot back. Eric Cole and Victor Perez are there too, alongside Suber and Højgaard.

Further down, Michael Kim and Ben Griffin both opened with 70, and both are trying to play their way inside the top 50 of the world ranking before the Masters invitations are locked. For them, this week is not just about a trophy.

What Friday Brings

The first order of business is finishing Round 1, with 16 players still out. Then the second round goes off on a course that will still be carrying plenty of Thursday's rain. Four co-leaders, eight players one back and the world No. 1 lurking two shots off the pace: that is a leaderboard with zero separation and plenty of firepower.

Nobody owns this tournament yet. Friday will start sorting out who wants it.

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 1 recap, Scheffler and McIlroy story, leaderboard), AP, Field Level Media. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.