McIlroy makes 'pedestrian' start in Houston as Masters preparations continue

Rory McIlroy's "pedestrian" start at the Houston open left him five shots back of the leaders in his final PGA Tour event before The Masters.

McIlroy will look to end an 11-year wait for his fifth major championship at Augusta National – the only major he has not previously won – between 10-13 April.

In preparation for that event, McIlroy has opted to play in Houston for the first time since 2014, and he finished with an even 70 for his opening round on Thursday.

In wet and windy conditions, the Northern Irishman mixed two birdies with two bogies and had to save par on multiple occasions, finishing the day five shots back of leaders Alejandro Tosti, Ryan Gerard, Keith Mitchell and Taylor Pendrith.

"A little pedestrian, I guess, is a good way to describe it," McIlroy told Sky Sports afterwards.

"We had to deal with those conditions early on, it was rainy and not too pleasant to play in.

"I made a few par saves early on that I needed to and then had quite a few chances on the second nine there that I didn't convert.

"It was a tale of two halves. I felt like I was scrambling for the most part on the first nine and then I feel like I left a couple out there on the last nine."

Day 1 leaderboard, presented by @MethodistHospThe first round will resume tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. CT and second round will begin as scheduled at 7:20 a.m. pic.twitter.com/JzQve5AR8y
— Texas Children’s Houston Open (@TCHouOpen) March 28, 2025

World number one Scottie Scheffler enjoyed a more productive day, carding a three-under 67 to put himself firmly in contention.

Scheffler will target a third Masters crown in four years next month, while he could become the first player to win back-to-back editions since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002.

As he builds towards that event, Scheffler was pleased to warm up with a solid performance on the back nine.

"I felt like I started to play a little bit better on the back nine," Scheffler said. "On the first nine, I was getting it around a little bit but I still posted a score today.

"Conditions were pretty tough out there today with the rain and the wind, so overall it was nice to keep a clean card."

The first round was suspended due to darkness at 7:28pm local time, with Taylor Dickson the most notable player unable to finish as he sits two off the lead with three holes to play.