HOUSTON — All 32 rookies in the PGA TOUR class of 2025 enrolled in the Texas Children’s Houston Open, striving to learn to contend.

Scottie Scheffler taught them a lesson or two Friday. The top-ranked player in the world shot an easy-as-you-please, 8-under 62 in his second round at Memorial Park Golf Course, earning the solo lead at 11-under 129. He tied the course record. He finished 36 holes without a bogey.

He played early, avoiding the ruckus of weather that complicated the tournament in the afternoon, resulting in the suspension of play at 3:01 p.m. local time. For the morning wave, the wind was down, the turf was soft and the scoring opportunities were available.

Scheffler understood the assignment.

“It could be challenging in a sense of when the conditions are that good, you know guys are going to be shooting low,” Scheffler said. “So it was important for me to stay patient out there. It was nice to get off to a good start and kind of hold the momentum and keep the card clean.”

Did someone say masterclass? Scheffler gained nearly four strokes on the field with an agreeable putter, holing more than 112 feet of putts. He drove his ball well, hitting nine of 13 fairways on a long, wide golf course — the third-longest on TOUR — framed by low, nearly inconsequential rough. He ranked inside the top 10 in proximity to the hole on approach shots. He missed only one green. He gained strokes in every category. He looked like the Scottie Scheffler of 2024 – the salutatorian sitting in every front row, setting the curve on every test, making a high A on every paper.

“He’s really starting to catch his stride,” said Keith Mitchell, who shot 65-68 to finish four strokes behind Scheffler.

The average score fell Friday to under 68 on the par-70 course, down more than two strokes from Thursday, when wind and rain factored. Scheffler took full advantage.

“Yesterday I felt like I made a couple of key par saves,” he said. “Today I felt like, for the most part, I kept the golf course in front of me.”

Were the rookies paying attention in class? Some of them appeared to be quick studies. Jackson Suber shot 66-66. Rasmus Højgaard shot 66-67. Isaiah Salinda shot 67-68.

“I have some work to do on the range this afternoon,” said Højgaard, who got little work done. A wide band of storms swooped into Houston after he and Scheffler finished, resulting in the evacuation of the grounds, with the entire afternoon wave still on the course.

By that time, Suber held third place alone in his eighth start of 2025. The 25-year-old from Tampa, Florida, who played in college at Ole Miss, was positioned perfectly to make his fourth cut of his first season on TOUR. His best finish is a tie for sixth at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

He was asked after his round about the “learning curve” involved with playing his first year on TOUR on so many new courses.

“I think good golf is good golf,” Suber replied. “It doesn’t really matter how much you’ve seen the course if you’re playing it good and hitting it good. You’re going to play all right.”

Scheffler has been the model student through two rounds in Texas. But midterms are one thing. The final is what matters.