Steve Wheatcroft starts off Saturday at the Shell Houston Open in the lead, while Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy are hanging on as they prepare for the Masters in two weeks with some Texas golf.
McIlroy will make it through the weekend after making the cut, something he has struggled with this year. So far McIlroy has only had 10 full rounds of golf and after struggling for a bit on Friday he made his way into the weekend of play by finishing with a 70 after making the green at the par-3 ninth hole. McIlroy was the number one golfer in the world for quite some time, but after his early season struggles. Tiger Woods overtook him by winning three tournaments prior to the Masters, the first time he has done that since 2008.
Wheatcroft has a one-shot lead over D.A. Points and Jason Kokrak heading into Saturday and after a decent enough round. Mickelson also made the cut, playing to a 71 at Redstone Golf Club. Wheatcroft is slightly less accomplished than McIlroy and Mickelson, as he has no actual PGA Tour status and made it into Houston as a qualifier.
The leader takes a 10-under par into the Saturday round, while two players are on stroke behind and Davis and Stewart Cink are just three back ahead of Bill Haas at six under. Cink had some strong play on Friday and could get his first win since taking the Open Championship and after putting in the lowest round of the day at a 6-under 66, he has the chance to move ahead Saturday.
The news around golf over the weekend was Jason Dufner, who was seen sitting against a wall looking tired with a bunch of kids for an event. Some golfers took to social media to imitate Dufner, including Luke Donald, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy, who all followed his lead and sat in front of various things, including golf bags on the course.
Phil Mickelson is tuning up his game as the Masters approaches and after making the 36-hole cut while relying on his woods, he could be getting his game back before the championship. There was some tough rounds on Friday as well, as Geoff Ogilvy may fall out of top 50 after missing the cut, meaning he could lose out on his automatic berth to the Masters. He will still have another chance next week in San Antonio, as will Mcilroy.
Woods has won three times this year after taking the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, but he is not playing in Houston and he will not play next week, making his next test the Masters. He is the early favorite after his game has seemed to return and it would be his first major since 2009.
