HOUSTON — Paul Waring felt he had been giving away shots and he was in position to do that again Thursday in the Houston Open. Instead, the Englishman made a great escape for par and opened with a 7-under 63 for a one-shot lead over Gary Woodland.
Waring and Woodland are both in the midst of overcoming big obstacles of a different nature.
Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, had brain surgery to remove a lesion in September 2023, and two weeks ago opened up about his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder in an emotional interview with Golf Channel.
It was a relief to share it, and some comfort to be in Houston, where he was runner-up a year ago.
“I was crying going into the interview, and I left feeling a thousand pounds lighter,” Woodland said after birdies on his last two holes at Memorial Park for a 64.
Waring beat a strong field in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2024 that enabled him to get a PGA Tour card through his European tour standing. And then came a sore shoulder that required cortisone shots, and eventually sidelined him starting in July for five months.
It was a tough start to his PGA Tour career, particularly not being around familiar faces from players to caddies to golf officials.
He missed the cut in his first three PGA Tour starts, not overly concerned because he felt he could fix the mistakes. There weren’t many in the opening round in Houston, except for a tee shot into the water on the 17th, and even then he made an 18-foot par save.
He was 7 under when his second to the par-5 eighth went left and into the hazard area with a small creek. The ball stayed in thick grass on the bank and Waring chose to play it. The risk paid off. He blasted it out to 20 feet for a two-putt par and closed out a bogey-free round.
“This week, a lot tidier,” Waring said. “No bogeys and … I’ve just been told I holed over 160 foot of putts today, which is massive and gives you a massive advantage.”
Woodland also had a bogey-free round going until taking on a left pin on the par-3 seventh and going into a deep bunker. He safely blasted out to 20 feet and made bogey. But the response was strong, a nice pitch to 6 feet for birdie on the par-5 eighth and a 10-foot birdie to finish.
Sam Burns, Michael Brennan and Tom Hoge were at 65, with Marco Penge in a large group at 66. Penge challenged at Innisbrook last week and tied for fourth.
Brooks Koepka was going along fine until it fell apart on Memorial Park — he consulted on the design of the public course — in the middle of his round.
He went left into a creek on the par-3 seventh and made double bogey. His tee shot spun back into the water on the par-3 ninth for a double bogey. And it took him two to get out a bunker on the 10th leading to double bogey. He wound up with a 75 and will need his low round of the year to make the cut in his final start before the Masters.
This is the final week for players to move into the top 50 in the world to earn a Masters invitation. Pierceson Coody is on the bubble at No. 51 and opened with a 70, meaning he will start Friday outside the cut line.
Winning also gets a player into the Masters, and that would be a dream for Waring. The 42-year-old has only played seven majors, and he had to skip the British Open last year with his shoulder issue.
“All the work has been around what I did that couple years ago to get myself back in this place that I am now,” Waring said. “So hopefully, I can build on this today. See how the week goes.”
