The Live Report: Shell Houston Open, Round 1
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
PERCY, STADLER SHARE LEAD (7:50 p.m.): Cameron Percy missed a 15-footer on his final hole of the day -- the par-3 ninth -- but he still ends the day in good position with a share of the lead with Kevin Stadler.
Both players were bogey-free Thursday, making five birdies apiece, and both hit a ton of greens -- Percy hit 16 greens in regulation, Stadler hit 15. Neither player missed a putt from inside 10 feet.
That's the good news. The bad news for the two players trying to win on the PGA TOUR for the first time is that only two players all year have turned first-round leads into victories. -- Brian Wacker
PERCY PULLS EVEN (7:44 p.m.): Cameron Percy just birdied the par-5 eighth hole -- his 17th of the day -- for his fifth birdie of the opening round. That has him tied for the lead with Kevin Stadler, though Percy could take the lead if he can roll in the 15-footer he's facing on the par-3 ninth hole. Stay tuned. -- Brian Wacker
OPENING ROUND WINDING DOWN (7:04 p.m.): The opening round is winding down in Houston, where Cameron Percy still has a chance to overtake the lead. Of course, that's easier said than done. Though the Aussie still has a par-5 left to play -- No. 8 -- the ninth hole ranks as the second-toughest on the course, right behind the 18th. In other words, the finish isn't easy no matter what side players started on Thursday. Percy is one shot back with three holes to play. -- Brian Wacker
NOT-SO-FANTASTIC FINISH (6:40 p.m.): The 18th hole at Redstone has not been kind. The water down the left side of the fairway on the par-4 finishing hole just claimed Anthony Kim's tee shot -- the 12th ball in the water there today.
In other words, nearly 10 percent of the field rinsed their tee shots there. In all, just seven birdies have been on No. 18 -- compared to 71 pars, 34 bogeys and 10 double bogeys. -- Brian Wacker
LOVE HURTS (6:27 p.m.): A week after making more birdies, eagles and bogeys combined than pars, Davis Love III is again not making pars very often.
Unfortunately for Love, whose only hope of getting into this year's Masters is a win in Houston, he's not making nearly the same number of birdies. He has just two today -- to go with four bogeys, three double bogeys and seven pars -- as he finishes up an opening round in which he's 8 over. That has him one spot out of last place at the moment. -- Brian Wacker
PERCY MAKING A MOVE (6 p.m.): Thanks to birdies on four of his last eight holes, Cameron Percy is within one shot of the lead at 4 under through 11 holes. Percy also has two par-5s ahead as he plays the front nine at Redstone.
Percy spent last season on the Nationwide Tour, where he had a pair of runner-up finishes and finished eighth on the money list. This year, he's played in seven TOUR events with a season-best finish of T46 at Pebble Beach -- one of two cuts he's made this year. -- Brian Wacker
AFTERNOON O.K. FOR A.K. (5:07 p.m.): Add Anthony Kim's name, along with Ernie Els', to the list of those who are playing well this afternoon in Houston -- despite increased winds.
Kim, playing for the first time since the World Golf Championships-CA Championship, is 3 under through 11 with birdies on three of his last four holes. Els, who is in Kim's group, is 3 under as well. Click here to follow their group live with Shot Tracker. -- Brian Wacker
YOU TWEET, WE ANSWER (4:38 p.m.): "Who is on the bag for Ernie this week?" -- @PaulBequette
Ernie Els' longtime caddie, Ricci Roberts, is back on the bag this week. Roberts has been on the bag for both of Els' wins this season, but, surprisingly, he'll be on the bench next week when Els goes to the Masters. That was the plan prior to the start of the season, though, with Roberts handling the U.S. Open and British Open and Quinn back on the bag for the PGA Championship.
"I know a lot of guys said I should take Ricci [to Augusta], but we have made a decision," Els said last week. "I've spoken to Ricci and Dan about it, and they are happy and we'll stick with it. I don't think anybody can tell me anything more about Augusta than I already know. I've had local caddies take me through there. I've had everybody take me through there. So I know exactly where everything goes." -- Brian Wacker
SINGH WDS (4:28 p.m.): Add Vijay Singh's name to the list of withdrawals. The Fijian just pulled out of the Shell Houston Open with a bad back after playing nine holes. Singh had three bogeys, two double bogeys and was 7 over at the time. -- Brian Wacker
TOUGH SCORING (4:25 p.m.): How hard is Redstone playing? Well, the scoring average for the morning wave was 72.25. That number is already up to 73.132 for the day thanks to the late morning/early afternoon groups.
Of course, tough conditions aren't really affecting Ernie Els. He's already 3 under through his first eight holes. -- Brian Wacker
MORE FROM MICKELSON (4:20 p.m.): How important was Phil Mickelson's 69?
"The biggest thing for me is putting a number on the board. Maybe last week I had some penalty shots, maybe the week before that I wasn't putting well, whatever," Mickelson said. "I wasn't shooting the number and today I was able to post a pretty good number."
The question, of course is if Mickelson will be consistent the rest of the week.
"To finish up a round that got progressively more difficult with the wind, shoot 3 under, I was pleased with the way the round went," he said. "I liked the finish."
Wonder if he'll be saying that Sunday? -- Brian Wacker
GROUP OF THE DAY (4:10 p.m.): The best group of the day, far and away, was the one that consisted of Kevin Stadler, Vaughn Taylor and James Driscoll -- the top three names on the leaderboard.
For Driscoll, his 68 was the lowest round of his year a season after he posted just one top-10 in all of 2009 (a playoff loss at the Valero Texas Open).
"I just kind of did my thing and hung in there and made some putts, which I haven't been doing the last couple months," Driscoll said. "The course is in the best condition I've ever played in my life. The greens are unbelievable."
The greens, of course, have been cut and Stimped to look and feel like Augusta National's. From the sound it, they're playing like it, too. -- Brian Wacker
INSIDE THE NUMBERS (3:55 p.m.): Kevin Stadler has previously held the lead/co-lead after 18 holes just once in his career (at the 2004 Buick Invitational, where he shot 64 to hold the outright lead, eventually finishing T59).
Only two of 13 first-round leaders/co-leaders, though, have gone on to win in 2010 (Ryan Palmer/Sony Open in Hawaii, Dustin Johnson/AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am).
Stadler's 67 also equals his third-best opening round this season and it's his lowest opening round in five appearances at the Shell Houston Open (see below). -- Mark Williams
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AFTERNOON WAVE (3:35 p.m.): After winning last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, Ernie Els joked that he might have to come up with a bad knee excuse to miss this week's event in Houston because of how draining back-to-back victories were.
Els was of course kidding, and it's a good thing. He continues to play well and is 2 under through his first six holes in Houston. Els has yet to miss green in regulation and has taken solid but not spectacular 10 putts so far.
Can he win for a third straight start? Click here to follow his round live with Shot Tracker.
As for the rest of the afternoon wave, keep an eye on scoring. The weather is warm and sunny but the wind has picked up some. -- Brian Wacker
MORNING MOVERS (3:02 p.m.): Don't expect there to be a lot of low scores this afternoon at Redstone. The wind was already blowing when Vaughn Taylor shot his 5-under 67 to take a one-shot lead, and it's only going to blow harder as the day wears on.
"The last five, six holes it was picking up," Taylor said. "The wind is mostly blowing here all the time. It's good to get out early."
As for whether or not the Masters is on the mind of Taylor, a resident of Augusta, Ga., and former Augusta State star, he said, "Trying not to think about it, but it's hard not to. I got to stay in the present and try to take them one at a time." -- Brian Wacker
TOUGH FINISH (2:33 p.m.): How hard is the 488-yard, par-4 18th hole at Redstone playing today? Just ask Padraig Harrington, and 20 other guys. Harrington became the latest player to make bogey on the difficult finishing hole. As a result, he finished with a 69 and is two shots off the lead instead of just one.
Harrington wasn't the only player to struggle on No. 18, though. So fair, it's yielded 15 bogeys and six double bogeys -- compared to 35 pars and just one birdie. That adds up to a stroke average of 4.456 and it being easily the most-difficult hole on the golf course. -- Brian Wacker
YOU TWEET, WE ANSWER (2:16 p.m.): What is the weather/wind like? -- @swestfall
That's a relevant question, especially since the wind is blowing at a solid 16 mph right now with gusts up to 27 mph and increasing winds through the afternoon. Because of that, we're not seeing a lot of low scores on an otherwise fairly benign golf course. There are, however, isolated thunderstorms in the forecast for Friday and Sunday. -- Brian Wacker
SCOTT SHOOTS 69 (2:06 p.m.): Less than a year removed from the worst season of his career, Adam Scott seems to slowly be making his way back to form. For one, he's missed just one cut this year (the Northern Trust Open). For another, he shot a 3-under 69 Thursday to sit just two shots back of the lead in Houston.
Scott's opening round marks just the third time he's broken 70 on the PGA TOUR this season, but he's also played in just four stroke-play events with a season-best finish of a tie for 28th at the Transitions Championship.
Here's what's more promising: Scott had just one bogey in his round Thursday, and he hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation. The Aussie also has a history of playing well in Texas. He owns the course record at Redstone -- a 63 in 2008 -- and he won the EDS Byron Nelson Championship in 2008. -- Brian Wacker
MICKELSON RALLIES (1:50 p.m.): How do you salvage an up-and-down round? Making birdie after hitting it in the water is one way. Making another birdie late in the round doesn't hurt, either.
That's how Phil Mickelson capped his round of 69 Thursday at Redstone. On the day, Mickelson had six birdies, including one from over 52 feet on the par-5 eighth, and three bogeys. He also hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation -- a very good sign given some of his recent play.
That leaves Mickelson in a tie for sixth at the moment. He's the last player to have won the week before a major (2006 BellSouth Classic) then gone on to win the following week (the Masters). -- Brian Wacker
STADLER TAKES EARLY LEAD (1:22 p.m.): A bogey on the 18th hole was the only blemish on Kevin Stadler's scorecard Thursday morning. Still, it wasn't enough to knock him from the lead -- at least for now.
Stadler shot a 5-under 67 in the opening round here at Redstone, where he leads Vaughn Taylor, James Driscoll and Kevin Sutherland by a stroke. Stadler, who missed just three greens in regulation in the opening round, finds himself in contention for the second time this year and third time in the last eight months. Earlier this season, Stadler shot a 65 in the opening round of the Northern Trust Open and last year he lost in a playoff at the Wyndham Championship. -- Brian Wacker
Below is a look at Stadler's scorecard from Thursday. Click here to replay his round with Shot Tracker
ANOTHER WILD WEEK FOR MICKELSON (1:03 p.m.): The good news for Phil Mickelson is he has five birdies through 14 holes today at Redstone. The bad news is he also has three bogeys.
Mickelson, who won the 2006 BellSouth Classic the week before winning the Masters, has been up-and-down (figuratively, not literally) Thursday morning at Redstone. For example, Mickelson is hitting more fairways and greens than he has the past couple of starts, but his putting continues to be a little erratic with one miss from inside 5 feet and an 0-for-4 effort from 10-15 feet.
Not exactly the kind of day Mickelson was hoping for heading into the Masters. Click here to follow his round live with Shot Tracker. -- Brian Wacker
YOU TWEET, WE ANSWER (12:40 p.m.): Do you think Fred Couples can make a run this week? -- @swanny88
My colleague, Helen Ross, certainly thinks so. It's hard to argue against Couples given his recent play, which has included three straight wins and a runner-up. And the only reason that runner-up wasn't a win was because Tom Watson shot a final-round 65. Champions Tour or not, Couples is playing well enough to win anywhere right now, including in Houston.
Couples will tee off at 1:40 p.m. ET today. -- Brian Wacker
BIRDIE BARRAGE (12:27 p.m.): Not so fast on Vaughn Taylor's lead. He was just joined at 6 under by Kevin Stadler, who has birdied his last four holes to get to 6 under.
Like Taylor, Stadler's ball-striking has been spot on with 14 of 15 greens in regulation. In addition, Stadler, whose best finish this season is a tie for ninth in Cancun, is averaging just over 29 feet on his approach shot distance to the pin.
Should Stadler go on to win here -- obviously we're a long way from that -- he would be making his first trip to Augusta National, where his dad, Craig, won a 1982 playoff against Dan Pohl. -- Brian Wacker
TAYLOR'S HOT START (12:10 p.m.): Vaughn Taylor went to college at Augusta State and has been a longtime resident of Augusta, Ga. He also hasn't won on the PGA TOUR since 2005 and isn't in the field for the Masters -- yet.
A win would get Taylor into the field next week and, so far, he's off to a a pretty good start. Taylor is 6 under with four holes to play, including a par 5. So far, he's made six birdies, no bogeys and hasn't missed a green in regulation. He's also missed just one fairway. In case you're wondering, Taylor's career-low is a 63, which he's shot four times (most recently at last year's Bob Hope Classic).
In case you're wondering, Taylor's career-low is a 63, which he's shot four times (most recently at last year's Bob Hope Classic).
Taylor has missed the cut in two of three trips to Augusta National, but he did tie for 10th there in 2007. -- Brian Wacker
ROUND 1 UNDER WAY, WITHOUT CASEY (12 p.m.): The first round of the Shell Houston Open is under way, but it is now without its defending champion. Paul Casey pulled out Thursday morning after tweaking a muscle in his left shoulder during Wednesday's pro-am.
After suffering a rib injury last July, Casey wasn't about to take another chance this time around. "I tried to play through an injury and it ended up costing me six months," he said.
Casey returned from the rib injury and is off to the best start of his career, posting four top-10s in four starts. He was among the favorites this week at Redstone, where he won in a playoff in 2009.
Casey intends to remain on site in Houston for treatment for the injury, which he hopes will not keep him out of the Masters next week.
"I am not going to hit a golf ball for at least a couple of days," Casey said. "The best treatment I can get is actually the guys on site here. They got all the equipment in there I need."
Rod Pampling also withdrew before the first round. He was replaced by Andrew McLardy.
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