Tony Finau’s first outing of the season didn’t go too well last week — he missed the cut at the Mayakoba Championship.
On Thursday at Memorial Park, Finau went on a final nine birdie spree (the front nine) that propelled him to an opening five-under par 65 that earned him a share of the first round lead at the Houston Open.
Finau made a 60-foot bomb for birdie at the par three second, his 11th hole of the day and started his run.
Finau finished tied for the day one lead with Aaron Wise and Alex Noren.
Tyson Alexander has a chance to join that group at the top. He was five-under and drove into the left rough at the par five 18th when the horn blew, suspending play due to darkness. He had the option to finish the hole but chose to come back early Friday morning.
Memorial Park, a municipal course that has 60,000 rounds played a year, held its own and conditions are expected to get testy over the weekend with breezy conditions.
“I knew the golf course – it’s a tough golf course to play,” Finau said. “You have to drive it in the fairway and your work’s not done. It’s hard to hit the greens. You know if you miss the green, it’s hard to get up-and-down, so I was just patient with myself. I made a couple bombs, I think that kind of opened it up.”
Pre-tournament favorite and world No. 2, Scottie Scheffler, got off to a slow start but rallied over his final nine hole to shoot an even par 70. Another favorite, No. 12 Sam Burns, rode the struggle bus and finished with a 77 and could be an early departure when the cut comes on Friday.
Hideki Matsuyama was in that group at even par with Scheffler and tied for 53rd.
Alker Tied For Lead In Champions Finale:
Steve Alker put himself right where he needs to be to win that Charles Schwab Cup.
Alker shot an opening 65 Thursday at Phoenix Country Club and was tied for the first round lead at the Champions Tour’s season-ending Schwab Cup Championship.
The New Zealander has been a dominant force on the over-50 set and is looking to finish one of the best Cinderella stories in golf. He was tied with John Houston and Stephen Ames for the top spot as the trio turned in 65s.
Houston was the first player out on day one and played by himself. “I played a round faster than this on the regular Tour, but it was a Sunday, get-out-of-town round,” said Huston, who toured the course in just two hours and 17 minutes. “It was nice. I mean, the greens and tees are so close. The greens were perfect. It wasn’t windy, only got out of position a couple of times, so it worked out good.”
Alker, the Schwab Cup points leader, had six birdies and no bogeys on a cool, sunny day with very light winds. ”
Harrington, the closest to Alker in points, was tied with last week’s winner, Bernhard Langer, at five-under par 66.
Schwab Championship Scoreboard:
 Shares Lead At Houston Open){kind=link}