Shell Houston Open: Ryan Palmer shoots one-under par in storm-affected first round – Golf News
The United States’ Ryan Palmer shot a one-under par in the opening round of the Shell Houston Open at the Redstone Golf Club Tournament Course in Humble, Texas, on Thursday, March 29, 2012.
Palmer finished in a 19-way tie for the 47th position on a suspended day. He was among the 51 players who managed to complete their rounds prior to the thunderstorms hitting the course.
Palmer had an excellent start to his round with a birdie on the very first hole. While reaching the 17th hole, he had a three-under par score. A double bogey on the 17th hole brought his score to one-under par.
This is the first time since 2007 that a round in the tournament has been interrupted due to bad weather conditions.
"You just can't play under the rules of golf with that much casual water," Tournament Director, Steve Timms, said.
According to the tournament officials, the course will be ready for the game early on Friday morning.
"Let it drain overnight, and I think it will be just fine," Timms said.
Meanwhile, Carl Pettersson and Angel Cabrera both shot seven-under par 65 before the interruption to take the clubhouse lead.
Pettersson carded a total of five birdies on the first hole he played. He was eight-under through 16 before a bogey on the 17th hole forced him to share the lead.
"I felt confident with that, but that doesn't always relate to good play," he said. "But I felt like I was striking the ball well again, and I told myself just to play aggressive and shoot at the pins and see what happens".
Cabrera, on the other hand, had an impressive start to his campaign at Redstone with a bogey free-round including seven birdies in total.
"The course is perfect," Cabrera said. "It's really spectacular and it's right for making a good score".
Jeff Maggert, Ricky Barnes and Jim Herman tied for the third position while Herman had three strokes left for the round.
Defending champion, Phil Mickelson, was among the late starters and he had to get back to the clubhouse just after he completed three holes.
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