It was a morning of frustration and disappointment in Humble, Texas, as Ireland's Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington looked certain to miss the cut and therefore the weekend at the Shell Houston Open.
Charley Hoffman’s opening round of eight under, 64 on Thursday meant that the cut-line was always likely to be a minimum of a couple of shots under par so Lowry (72) and Harrington (73) were always going to have to push from the opening tee shot.
Lowry got off to a dispiriting start in his quest with a bogey on the 10th, his first hole, after pushing his tee shot into what is colloquially described as ‘native area.’ However the Offaly man did avail of the two par fives, the 13th and 15th to pick up a brace of birdies but an errant tee shot on the par three, 16th ultimately cost him a shot.
There’s no doubt that the suspension in play for weather reasons was ill timed as he had to come back and try and hole a six foot par putt after the delay.
A bogey on six and a birdie on seven, his 15th and 16th holes, meant he probably needed to birdie home to give himself a chance of making the weekend but instead dropped another shot at the par three, ninth for a 73 and a one over par total of 145; it looked like being three shots too many even with some of the afternoon starters just beginning their rounds.
Whatever about Lowry’s travails Harrington watched his hopes of making the weekend literally sink as he found water on three holes on his front nine, costing him a total of six shots, five of them on par fives.
He ran up a ‘snowman’ on the fourth, finding water with his second and fourth shots before pencilling in an eight. His second shot to the par four, sixth also ended up wet while a double bogey seven on the eighth saw him reach the turn eventually in 42 blows.
He managed a couple of birdies but dropped shots on the 11th and 17th saw him sign for a 78 and a seven over 36-hole mark of 151.
Hoffman’s progress during the second round was a little more prosaic that his opening day birdie barrage but he continued to set the pace by adding a 70 to his opening 64 for a 10 under par total of 133; a bogey at the last will grate.
He managed four birdies and just a single dropped shot, at the par five, 13th to set a decent target for afternoon starters like Dustin Johnson, who had started his round four shots back after an opening 65.
The 39-year-old American, with three victories on the PGA Tour, is noted for wearing the colour green; it used to be his shoes but now he sports a green glove in homage to one of his main sponsors Waste Management with whom he signed a contract back in 2007, his second year on the tour.
He said of the arrangement: “My deal with Waste Management is to get the word out for recycling and sustainability, and that’s my goal to wear the gloves and keep that word of mouth and going.”
The world number one Jordan Spieth, beaten in a three-way playoff in this tournament last season before going on the win the US Masters the following week, was another to endure a frustrating round, three birdies and as many bogeys with two holes to play left him six behind. Hoffman
Hoffman’s main pursuer amongst the morning starters was the long hitting Jamie Lovemark - he cracked the longest drive down the par four, 17th on Thursday, just the 340 yards - who added a 68 to his opening round 67 for a nine under under par total of 135 at the halfway stage.
