Sony Open will feature ‘sneaky good’ rookies

HOUSTON (AP) — Marc Leishman, Russell Henley, Talor Gooch and Luke List shared the lead Thursday in the suspended first round of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open, with List still on the course when darkness stopped play. RELATED: Leaderboard Rain delayed the start for 2 1/2 hours, with 0.9 inches falling at Memorial Park. None of the afternoon starters completed play. Leishman, Henley and Gooch each finished at 5-under 65, while List had three holes left when play was called for the day. Leishman closed with a bogey on the par-4 18th. “My irons were really on and gave myself a lot of chances and made the putts,” The Australian said. “It was pretty stress-free. Disappointing to bogey the last and not have a bogey-free round, but on a course like this I’m pretty happy with just making one bogey.” List holed out from 180 yards for eagle on the par-4 14th. “We knew we weren’t going to finish so just trying to get as much as we could in,” List said. “The course was gettable today, a little softer conditions from the rain this morning. Yeah, I was pretty patient today.” Jason Dufner opened with a 66. “I think the course responded pretty well to the weather we had,” Dufner said. “It was a pretty strong storm that pushed through. Thankful that it pushed through pretty quickly. It was soft early, but sun’s out now, the wind’s blowing a little bit, so the course is drying out.” Tony Finau, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 12, had a 69. Patrick Reed shot a 70. He’s playing for the fifth time in the last six weeks. Lee Westwood also had a 70 in his first event since the Ryder Cup. He’s outside the top 100 in the Race to Dubai and will not be eligible for the season-ending event on the European Tour. Brooks Koepka was even par with nine holes left. His younger brother, Chase Koepka, was 3 over through seven holes. He’s playing on a sponsor exemption.

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Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed improved to 2-0 in the Dell Technologies Match Play and now face off to see who advances to the weekend at Austin Country Club. Dustin Johnson, the current No. 1 player in the world, was eliminated after Thursday’s play.

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