After a windy, rainy opening round, players were greeted with ideal conditions Friday morning as the 2025 Houston Open continued. A soft Memorial Park course, lift-clean-and-place rules in effect and almost no wind in the morning hours created a green light for players, and no one took better advantage of great scoring conditions than Scottie Scheffler.
The world’s No. 1 player started the day at 3 under, two back of the leaders, but surged to the top of the leaderboard by tying his own course record with an 8-under 62. (Tony Finau has also shot 62 twice at Memorial Park.) Scheffler made birdies on his first two holes (Nos. 10 and 11) and dialed it in all day from tee-to-green, hitting 9 of 13 fairways, finding 17 of 18 greens in regulation and pouring in 112 feet of putts on his way to a blemish-free round with eight birdies and 10 pars.
Through 36 holes, Scheffler has not made a bogey, and after some lean weeks with the putter to start the season, he finally matched up speed and line perfectly Friday. With the Masters just two weeks away, Scheffler certainly looks to be peaking at the right time. If he can keep building confidence with the flat stick over the weekend, he will head to Augusta National as the strong favorite to win a third green jacket, even with Rory McIlroy’s early season surge.
While Scheffler was seizing control of the tournament, McIlroy was battling just to make the weekend. The soft conditions meant scoring was much better in the second round, and after an even-par 70 on Thursday, Rory had lots of work to do. It looked like he might follow Scheffler’s lead and go low after two birdies across his first three holes, but McIlroy stalled out from there, unable to get hot with the putter.
After reaching the par-5 8th in two, the horn blew for storms in the area. When play resumed, McIlroy three-putted for par. He stayed stuck in first gear through the 14th hole sitting two shots off the projected cut line while standing on the 15th tee at 1 under for the round and tournament.
From that point, McIlroy went on a heater with birdies from 15-17, moving to 4 under and comfortably inside the cut line (which kept bouncing back and forth between 2 under and 3 under). McIlroy parred the 18th right as the round got suspended for darkness; he posted a 66 to ensure he plays 36 more holes, giving him a chance to build some momentum going into Augusta — even if it’s highly unlikely he can catch Scheffler from seven back this weekend.
The leader
1. Scottie Scheffler (-11)
Scheffler put on a masterclass on Friday and those 18 holes were all it took to quiet the “what’s wrong with Scottie” murmurs that had been following him to start the season. That even being a topic of conversation for a guy who hasn’t finished outside the top 25 this season is a testament to the level we’ve grown to expect from him, but it was fair to wonder if he’d lost the magic with the putter that made him unstoppable around this same time a year ago.
The greens at Memorial Park clearly suit his eye, and his first two birdie rolls of the day were a clear indication of his confidence with the putter. Chasing down Scottie Scheffler on a course he loves is going to require something Herculean from someone, because he’s not likely to come back to the field.
Other contenders
T2. Taylor Pendrith, Nico Echavarria (-10)
T4. Min Woo Lee, Ryan Gerard (-9)
T6. Jackson Suber, Trey Mullinax (-8)
Scheffler’s brilliance on Friday morning overshadowed Pendrith’s round, but the Canadian put up his second-straight 65 to keep touch with Scheffler going into the weekend. Echavarria, meanwhile, went out in 29 and had it to 9 under, needing just two pars to break the course record, but splashed his drive in the water on 17. He will come back on Friday with 45 feet for par from just off the fringe on 17 and then will go to 18 with the course record very much in play.
Min Woo Lee (thru 16) and Ryan Gerard (thru 11) will likewise have to finish up their second round on Saturday morning due to the two-hour rain delay, but they took full advantage of a soft course and light winds after the delay to make big moves up the leaderboard. Suber and Mullinax each backed up Thursday 66s with the same score on Friday, as they hang around just a few back of Scheffler going to the weekend.
Cut line drama
While Rory McIlroy won’t have to sweat it on Saturday morning, there are a lot of players that will have to spend Friday night and Saturday morning stressed about whether they’ll get to play the weekend. The top 65 and ties make it to the third round, and at the time play was suspended, 67 players were 3-under or better. However, four players at 3 under have to come back on Saturday to finish their second round (and another five who are at 4 under), while there are eight players at 2 under and seven at 1 under who can still move up.
One would expect the course to remain soft tomorrow morning, but the real question is whether the winds pick up at all. If it plays like it did Friday, it’d be fairly shocking to see the group at 2 under make it, so those players will need to be hoping for mother nature to wake up early on Saturday and toughen things up. Those players yet to finish will return to the course at 7:30 a.m., with the third round starting around 10 a.m. with players going off in threesomes and split tees.
2025 Houston Open updated odds, picks
- Scottie Scheffler (4-5)
- Taylor Pendrith (13-2)
- Min Woo Lee (11-1)
- Ryan Gerard (12-1)
- Nico Echavarria (22-1)
Scheffler being an odds-on favorite with a one shot lead feels right. It’s so hard to see someone catching him, but if you’re going to look for someone that can, you have to pick a player you think can pile up the birdies because you can’t expect Scheffler to help your cause. For that reason, I think Min Woo Lee is probably the best option, and then further down the board Jackson Suber at 55-1 is just three shots back right now. Still, it’s hard to take anyone other than Scottie and feel very confident.
