Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, Round 2: Leaderboard, tee times, TV times

HUMBLE, Texas — Expectant father Peter Malnati started strong and shot 7-under 65 Friday to lead at the Houston Open after morning rain and lightning prevented the second round from being completed. First-round co-leader Austin Cook, who opened with an 8-under 64, briefly got to 11-under before dropping all the way to 6-under through 15 holes before play was suspended due to darkness at 7 p.m. Talor Gooch, who started the day tied with Cook, improved to 9-under through 14 holes and is a shot behind Malnati’s lead. The 32-year-old Malnati has been playing professionally since 2009 and has one career PGA TOUR title. He is expecting the birth of his first child in two weeks and said it’s been “a distraction because my head’s back home.” “But this week I told myself, `Dude, this is your last tournament before you become a dad. Do something with it,'” he said. Malnati, who managed a first-round 69 after missing the cut in his last two tournaments, teed off early in what he called “summertime” conditions, humid and dead calm before bad weather suspended play for over two hours. He took advantage with three birdies and an eagle. A couple of underwhelming wedge shots may have cost him back-nine birdies. “I got to play the first five holes in perfect conditions and really took advantage of it,” he said. “I then came back out and was able to keep the momentum going. To make no bogeys in the conditions we played is really more than I could have ever hoped for. I played the last 13 holes wishing I had hand-warmers. The wind was certainly a two or three club wind.” Although his wife, Alicia, isn’t due for another two weeks, he conceded he’s already “fully on call.” “She has all the media officials phone numbers,” he said. “If she has to come get me off the course, she will.” Only four of the top 10 players on the leaderboard have completed 36 holes. Sepp Straka is in at 8-under, and Carlos Ortiz and Mark Hubbard are 7-under. Straka is tied with Nick Watney (14 holes) and Lanto Griffin (13)

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DETROIT — Taylor Pendrith of Canada shot a 7-under 65 on Friday to take a one-shot lead over Tony Finau into the weekend in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Pendrith and Finau shared the first-round lead at 8 under and will be in the final group Saturday, pairing a 31-year-old PGA TOUR rookie with a 32-year-old veteran coming off his third career victory. Rookie Lee Hodges (66) was three shots back. PGA TOUR rookie of the year front-runner Cameron Young tied a Detroit Golf Club record with a 63 for a share of fourth place — five shots back — with Russell Henley (65) and Stewart Cink (66). Rookie Sahith Theegala (67) was another shot back in a pack that includes defending FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay, who bounced back from an opening-round 70 with a 65. Davis Love III, the 58-year-old U.S. Presidents Cup captain, was in Detroit in part to play and more importantly to get to know players better on and off the course that may represent the country in September at Quail Hollow Club in North Carolina. Love missed the cut at 5-over 149, but made the most of an opportunity to have dinner with some President Cup candidates and to play two rounds with with Young and Will Zalatoris. Young and Zalatoris, teammates at Wake Forest and close friends, may be paired together again in two months. “If they make the team, they’re a natural,” Love said. Zalatoris, No. 13 in the world ranking, perhaps felt pressure playing with Love because he barely made the cut. He had to birdie his 36th hole to get to 3 under, the cut line, with a pair of lackluster rounds. If Young does not earn an automatic spot on the American team, he might be a captain’s pick. “Cameron is trending up,” Love said. “Go back to Jordan Spieth. Nobody heard of him and next thing you know in one year he’s on the Presidents Cup team, and Cam’s headed that way, too. No one ever heard of him on the Korn Ferry and here he is, he almost won a major.” Young had a runner-up finish at The Open Championship and at the PGA Championship, he missed a playoff by a shot. He has four second-place finishes and was third in two tournaments. And in Detroit, Young showed Love up close what he can do. “I would hope that I made some kind of case,” he said. Pendrith is playing in his third tournament after being out for nearly four months with a broken rib, a break that reminded him of his youth. “We have a long offseason in Canada, so I didn’t touch a club all winter basically growing up so I guess I’m kind of used to it in a way,” he said. Pendrith said matter of factly that he can compete with the best when he’s healthy and has showed that so far at Detroit Golf Club. No one, though, has been better than Finau lately. The Salt Lake City native with Tongan-Samoan heritage is 32 under over his last 107 holes, including rallying from a five-shot deficit last Sunday in Minnesota to win the 3M Open by three shots. Pendrith tried to pull away in the second round in Detroit, opening with four straight birdies and six in his first 10 holes. He had two birdies and a bogey over the final five holes to finish Friday alone in first. Finau, meanwhile, started slow with only one birdie on the front nine before carding five birdies on the back. He has a shot be the first PGA TOUR player to win two straight regular season tournaments since Brendon Todd in 2019. “Anytime you win, you breed confidence,” Finau said. “I was just happy to carry that confidence from last week right into this week.”

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