Wilson Furr punctuated a strong finish with a nearly 20-foot birdie putt to shoot a 6-under 64 and tie Taylor Moore for the lead after the opening round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open on Thursday at Memorial Park Golf Course.
Furr, a PGA Tour rookie ranked No. 278 in the world entering this week, started his round on the back nine before heating up on the front. After a birdie at No. 3, he holed out from the fifth fairway for an eagle 2 and finished his round birdie-birdie, including his long putt at the par-3 ninth.
Furr, 25, had made just one cut in his first eight starts on tour.
“It’s a dream come true” to be on the PGA Tour, Furr said. “Just being surrounded by the best golfers in the world, it’s kind of inspiring day to day, can’t ask for a better job than that. Yeah, I’ve just tried to soak it all in and just get better at golf, that’s all we can do.”
Furr said his chip-in eagle was “dope.”
“Had a good number, it was downwind and it landed right behind it, ripped right back to the hole and just never looked like it was going to miss,” Furr said. “Those are always fun. You need a little luck for it to go in sometimes.”
Moore rebounded from an opening bogey by chipping in for eagle at the par-5 third hole. He added five birdies without a bogey the rest of the way. The 30-year-old is now one year removed from his only career PGA Tour win, at the 2023 Valspar Championship.
“I think (I am) just really trying to gauge myself where I’m at instead of firing at everything like I kind of used to in the past,” Moore said. “Yeah, just continuing to learn each and every week out here. I feel like I’ve done a good job of that.”
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler began his quest for three wins in three starts by shooting a 5-under 65. Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship before heading to his home state of Texas. He is tied for third with Davis Riley and Joe Highsmith.
Scheffler played through neck pain at The Players to win. This week he is not wearing any KT tape on his neck.
“Neck’s feeling better, body feels good,” Scheffler said. “Like I said, 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.”
Beau Hossler, Argentina’s Alejandro Tosti, Englishman Aaron Rai and Canadians Mackenzie Hughes and Adam Svensson are tied for sixth at 4-under 66.
Tony Finau, the champion the last time the Houston Open was played (November 2022), opened with a 1-under 69.
Fourth-rated Wyndham Clark, the second-highest ranked player in the field behind Scheffler, said he hurt a muscle in his back to begin the week but is attempting to play through it. He carded an even-par 70 to start the week.
“I’m going to go do some rehab and work on it,” Clark said of his back. “It’s been getting better every day so I’m hoping (Friday) I really don’t feel it.”
–Field Level Media