Houston Open: Scottie Scheffler 13/10 after first round

After a first round of 65 leaving him one shot off the lead, Scottie Scheffler is 13/10 to win the Houston Open.

Scheffler was typically faultless on Thursday, going bogey-free in his opening round to leave him perfectly poised ahead of Friday's play.

Sandwiched between THE PLAYERS and the US Masters, the field is certainly not the strongest Scheffler will contend with this season, with Wyndham Clark, Sahith Theegala and Will Zalatoris amongst the key challengers, but none of them are within five shots of the Texan.

Scheffler's ball-striking has been heralded for some time (his Strokes Gained: Approach alone last season would've seen him ranked 14th on the PGA TOUR for Strokes Gained: Total) and he's very much picked up where he left off in 2024.

Scheffler's 65 on Thursday means he holds the PGA TOUR record for consecutive under-par rounds with 28, while 26 of his last 32 rounds have been in the 60s, all while playing some of the toughest courses on tour.

Equally impressive is that Scheffler has now shot 66 or better 12 times in 2024, double the amount of times he's shot 70 or worse.

Scheffler's playing a different game to the rest of the world at the moment, and even his off days see him break par, highlighting just how difficult it is for the chasing pack.

Even on what was an uncharacteristically poor day with his irons (Scheffler gained just 0.626 strokes on approach, ranking 46th in the field), Scheffler ranked sixth in putting, making birdies from 11ft, 24ft and 18ft after holing a lengthy par save on the first from 9ft. He was also a perfect 7/7 scrambling to the tricky elevated greens at Memorial Park.

There's still a long way to go, but there's an excellent chance we'll see Scheffler bag his third win in a row come Sunday.

Liam Williams

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