'Rusty' Scottie Scheffler opens with 65 in Houston, eyes third straight TOUR win

HOUSTON – If that’s a rusty Scottie Scheffler, the golf world is in big trouble.

Scheffler opened the Texas Children’s Houston Open in 5-under 65, playing bogey-free on a lengthy Memorial Park Golf Course, one back of Thursday’s early leader Taylor Moore who was joined later in the day by PGA TOUR rookie Wilson Furr. After saying Wednesday that he was “shaking off a little bit of rust,” Scheffler carded his 28th consecutive under-par round to start the season (the most on record), with plenty of room to spare.

All eyes are on Scheffler this week in the heart of Texas, as the Dallas-area resident looks to win his third straight TOUR start, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since 2017.

After winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and THE PLAYERS Championship, Scheffler returned home last week, spending low-key time with friends and family. Scheffler said he normally takes two personal days during a tournament off-week, but extended this break to “kind of come down from the last couple weeks."

“Typically I take Monday and Tuesday off when I get back, especially from a couple-week stretch,” Scheffler said Thursday in Houston. “Last week I didn't practice until Friday and I hit balls for maybe half an hour, chipped and putted. Just getting back into it, hitting some wedges, hitting some irons, didn't hit any drivers. I played golf Saturday and I had a decent practice session Sunday. Outside of that, nothing.”

After winning THE PLAYERS with kinesiology tape on his neck (which he tweaked that week, requiring treatment midway through the second round at TPC Sawgrass), he needed no such thing Thursday. He was feeling spry, as was his game.

“Neck's feeling better, body feels good,” Scheffler said Thursday. “The off week was good for me to get some rest, get some rehab. I took a couple more days off than I typically would last week, so it was some good recovery time.”

In his quest for a third straight TOUR title, Scheffler started relatively slow at Memorial Park, missing the green on his first three holes Thursday, Nos. 10-12.

He got up-and-down for par each time, though, and then drained a 12-foot birdie putt at the par-4 13th. He was off to the races, adding birdies on Nos. 17, 2, 3 and 5. It wasn’t a vintage Scheffler ball-striking performance – he hit just 11 of 18 greens Thursday – but he took just 25 putts, ranking near the top of the field in Strokes Gained: Putting.

Scheffler, 27, was born in New Jersey but is a proud Texan, and he relishes the chance to compete in his adopted home state. He won the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club, defeating Kevin Kisner in the final match, but he’s yet to win a TOUR stroke-play title in the Lone Star State.

“It would be a lot of fun,” Scheffler said of the prospect. “I like supporting events in my home state, playing here as much as I can, so hoping to get a win this week.”

That seems like a reasonable hope.