Rory McIlroy off to flat start in first round of Texas Children's Houston Open on PGA Tour

Rory McIlroy slumped to a round of level par during a dark and dready first round at the Texas Children's Houston Open at Memorial Park.

McIlroy, 35, is making his first start at the Texas Children's Houston Open since 2014.

The World No.2 entered the tournament off the back off a fast start to the 2025 PGA Tour season.

Following his first-ever victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier in the year, McIlroy then went on to capture his second career Players Championship at famed TPC Sawgrass.

That came in his last start earlier this month, and it vaulted him to the top of the FedEx Cup standings.

McIlroy is already the all-time record holder in FedEx Cup history with three wins to his name (2016, 2019, 2022).

But more pressing matters for McIlroy involve a strong showing in Houston this week, especially with golf's first major just around the corner.

McIlroy wanted to make the journey to Houston this week to build up his competitive reps ahead of The Masters from 10-13 April.

The Northern Irishman will be looking to become just the sixth player in the modern era to complete the career grand slam.

He reportedly went to play Augusta National recently to get a flavour for what to expect next month.

The 28-time PGA Tour winner confirmed Augusta National now has four new greens in 2025.

Related:

• McIlroy takes aim at angry PGA Tour pro

But while green jackets and azaleas are very much on McIlroy's mind right now, he did explain on the eve of the Texas Children's Houston Open that he intends to line up at The Masters with three PGA Tour titles under his belt to start the year.

Unfortunately for the Ulsterman, he will need to step on the gas following a flat start to his first round.

McIlroy carded a lacklustre round of level-par 70 on a rainy day in Texas.

His card contained 14 pars, two birdies and two bogeys.

McIlroy started his round on the 10th and would go on to bogey the par-4 14th to go out in 1-over 36.

He then turned for home with a birdie on the par-5 3rd but would hand it straight back at the par-4 4th.

A second birdie of the day went down on the card when getting up and down for birdie at the par-5 8th and he would par the 9th to go round in 70 shots.

It leaves McIlroy in the chasing pack and with plenty of work to do in order to get back in the race for a 29th PGA Tour title this Sunday. 

As it stands, McIlroy is five shots off the pace. 

Keith Mitchell, Taylor Pendrith, Alejandro Tosti and Ryan Gerard assume the first-round lead on 5-under par. 

Scottie Scheffler is a red-hot tournament favourite not only for his home event this week but also at The Masters in two weeks' time.

The World No.1 opened with a flawless 3-under 67 in the first round at the Texas Children's Houston Open. 

Scheffler won seven official titles on the PGA Tour in 2024 and nine in total, including a first Olympic gold medal in Paris.

He was agonisingly defeated to the Texas Children's Houston Open last season when being pipped to the post by Germany's Stephan Jaeger.

The American is in his 97th consecutive week as the World No.1 player, but he admitted ahead of the tournament he could not care less about the OWGR.

Scheffler will seek to defend his Masters title in two weeks' time and win the green jacket for a third time in four years.

McIlroy's odds have been steadily trimmed over recent weeks to 6/1 for The Masters, while Scheffler's odds have held firm at around 4/1.

Keep up to speed with live scores from the Texas Children's Houston Open here.