Sunday Showdown with Splits: Houston Open
In Saturday’s third round of the Houston Open, Memorial Park Golf Course continued to show its teeth. After a first-round scoring average of only 0.29 over par, the past two rounds have averaged 1.13 strokes over par. With the greens firming up and already having the reputation as one of the toughest courses on Tour, scoring went backward all round long. Martin Trainer started the day as the leader at 10-under par. By round’s end, Scottie Scheffler stood alone on top at 7-under par. The Dallas, Texas native holds a one-shot lead over five other contenders as he goes for his first career PGA Tour victory on Sunday. Always seeming to play his best on the more challenging courses, the books have Scheffler as a +250 favorite over Matthew Wolff (+550) and Jhonattan Vegas (+800) who each sit one stroke off the lead. In his third year on the PGA Tour, Scheffler has the 54-hole lead for the first time in his career. “I’m just going to go out there and try to get off to a good start and hopefully put myself out in front early and stay there,” Scheffler said after the round. With the course playing as difficult as it is, my focus will be on players that have the talent to score in tough conditions.