Friday’s second round at this week’s PGA Tour stop, the Shell Houston Open, was a topsy-turvy opener to an event that holds great importance with the first major of the year – the Masters Tournament – rapidly approaching. Rory McIlroy, recently deposed from his spot atop the World Golf Rankings by an ascendant Tiger Woods, was fighting to make the cut (his first this year) and Steve Wheatcroft, a Web.com Tour player who Monday-qualified for this event, put together back-to-back 67s to lead after 36 holes at 10 under.
Wheatcroft opened his first round with a 4-under 32 after offsetting a bogey on the par-4 second hole with a string of four straight birdies on holes four through eight, closing out the day with a 1-under 35 on his second nine, with two more bogeys against three birdies. The 35-year-old Indiana University grad played bogey-free golf in today’s second round to go one-up on Jason Kokrak and first-round leader D.A. Points, tied at 9-under.
While some lesser lights were tussling at the top of the leaderboard, a bevy of household names were battling their demons down near the cut line.
Rory McIlroy managed to scrape up two birdies late in the round to pull together a 2-under 70, offsetting his 1-over opening-round 73 – making the cut on the number at one-under. The Northern Irishman, who has played only 10 rounds of competitive golf so far this year, was looking to this event as an opportunity to regain his form, and his confidence, in the run-up to the Masters Tournament, April 11 – 14.
McIlroy’s season opened with great fanfare as a long-rumored deal with Nike was formally announced before the Abu Dhabi Classic. His season soon hit a sour note, however, as he missed the cut in the event. Things got worse before they got better, as he made a couple of early exits – from the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, where he was taken out in the first round by a little-known fellow countryman, Shane Lowry, and the Honda Classic, where he withdrew in frustration before completing the opening nine of his second round, after dropping seven shots in eight holes.
Phil Mickelson had his share of trouble on the Redstone Golf Club’s Tournament Course, carding rounds of 72-71 to just barely scramble into the weekend. The fifth hole, a long left-curving par-4 with water on the inside of the curve, had his measure in both rounds – Lefty rinsed his tee shots both days, leading to penalty-stroke bogeys.
Mickelson, who has historically used this event as preparation for the Masters due to the similar setup the event organizers use, was unhappy with the one-time schedule shift which put the Shell Houston Open two weeks ahead of the Masters, rather than the week before, reducing its usefulness as a tune-up for Augusta.
Other name players who had even less luck this week, trunk-slamming and looking ahead to next weekend’s Valero Texas Open, include Brandt Snedeker, whose early-season hot streak was halted by a rib injury that he has only recently come back from, and 2012 Shell Houston Open champ Hunter Mahan, both of whom missed the cut by two strokes. Mahan’s MC was unexpected, as he has had a strong season so far. He has only finished outside of the Top 25 once this year – a T-26 at the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions – and took 2nd place in the WGC-Accenture Match Play event against a field comprised of the top sixty-four players in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Bay Area golf fans will be happy to see that three local players have made it to the weekend in the Houston Open. San Bruno’s James Hahn, who opened his rookie season as a PGA Tour member with six straight made cuts, including two Top 5 finishes and a couple of brief appearances on top of the leaderboard, nipped a run of four MC’s in the bud at Redstone, joining Mickelson, McIlroy, and sixteen other players at 1-under to make the cut on the number. Stockton native Ricky Barnes pulled together an uneven four-bogey, six-birdie 68 today to make the weekend, with some margin, at 3-under, after opening with a 1-over 73. Sacramento native Nick Watney, who has had a desultory season so far, making cuts but only finishing in the Top 10 once, carded matching 71s to make it to the weekend with a stroke to spare.
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