Rory McIlroy, JT Poston share Travelers lead at 8-under 62

MELBOURNE, Australia – After two successful sessions as a player, U.S. Team captain Tiger Woods will rest Saturday morning at the Presidents Cup. Woods did not insert himself into the lineup for the four morning Four-Balls matches at Royal Melbourne. Instead, he’ll stay 100 percent focused on captaining his team in hope of rallying from a three-point deficit. RELATED: Two winning putts – and a T.O. celebration – keeps U.S. close | Day 2 match recaps | Day 3 morning match previews | Quiz: Which team should you support? Even though he’s playing well – he’s been the best American player thus far, as he and partner Justin Thomas have two of the three U.S. match wins this week  – Woods said it was not a difficult decision to sit out. “That was kind of the game plan,â€� said Woods, who tied Phil Mickelson for most Presidents Cup match wins with 26 after he and Thomas won 1-up over Byeong Hun An and Hideki Matsuyama. “It would be hard for me to go all the sessions. I’ve been fortunate enough to go out there with J.T. and we’ve gotten two points.â€� Woods has a good alternative for Thomas, partnering him with Rickie Fowler for Four-Balls. Thomas and Fowler played three matches together two years ago at Liberty National, winning 2.5 points. “They’ve been looking forward to playing with one another,â€� Woods said. With just four matches in each session on Saturday, Woods has to sit out four players at a time. It’s conceivable he comes back for the afternoon Foursomes session, especially if the Americans need a boost. Woods is 12-4-1 in Foursomes in his Presidents Cup career. All players, of course, must participate in Sunday Singles. Woods has leaned heavily on his three assistant captains – Steve Stricker, Fred Couples and Zach Johnson – to manage the team while he’s been playing. On Thursday, Woods’ match finished first, so he went into captain mode for the other four. On Friday, though, Woods’ match was the fourth to finish, so the only match he watched was Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland rallying to tie Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith. “I’ve been very fortunate to have had three of the most amazing vice captains,â€� Woods said. “They have all been there, done that, have seen it, and their commitment to this, I couldn’t have done this without them. I wouldn’t have accepted this role without them.â€�

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AUSTIN, Texas — Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed enjoy few things more than trying to beat each other, and that’s when they are partners. The stakes are even higher in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Win or go home. Spieth and Reed did their part Thursday by winning their matches for a second straight day to set up a showdown on the skirts of Hill Country in Texas. They play Friday to determine who wins the group and advances to the weekend of this World Golf Championship. Reed fired the first shot when asked what made Spieth a good opponent in match play. “I don’t know. My back still hurts from the last Ryder Cup,” he said with a laugh, alluding to the way he carried Spieth in their partnership at Hazeltine to a 2-1-1 record in team play during a rare American victory. Spieth dodged trouble early against Haotong Li, who missed putts inside 8 feet on two of the opening three holes, won the second hole when Spieth hit into the hazard and thought he won the fourth hole until Spieth matched his birdie by chipping in from short of the green. Spieth never trailed and pulled away with a savvy play on the par-4 13th over the water and into the wind. He hit driver well to the right toward the gallery, which gave him a clear look at the green without having to hit over any of the lake. His pitch-and-run settled a foot away for birdie and a 2-up lead, and Spieth closed him out, 4&2. Right behind was Reed in his match against Charl Schwartzel, and the South African was 2-up at the turn until Reed won the next two holes to set up a tight finish. Schwartzel stayed 1-down when he missed a 5-foot par putt on the 17th. Needing a birdie on the 18th to halve, Schwartzel could only watch as Reed hit a wedge that nearly went in and stopped a few inches away. Reed and Spieth are 7-2-2 as partners in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. They are 1-1 in PGA TOUR playoffs, with Reed hitting through the greens to short birdie range when he won the Wyndham Championship in 2013, and Spieth returning the favor in 2015 at Innisbrook by winning a playoff with a 30-foot putt. They don’t have much of a relationship except in team competitions, and even then it’s unusual. “Because we’re so competitive with each other within our own pairing at the Ryder Cup, we want to outdo each other. That’s what makes us successful,” Spieth said. “Tiger says it’s a phenomenon. It’s not something that he’s used to seeing in those team events. Normally you’re working together. But we want to beat each other every time. In alternate shot, if we don’t win a hole, I want it to be his fault and he wants it to be my fault. “We’ve almost played every single match we’ve been involved in together against each other,” he said. “We just happen to be wearing the same colors.” Reed and Spieth have advanced out of group play just once, both in 2016 at Austin Country Club, and both lost fourth-round matches. “He’s not going to give you holes,” Reed said. “You have to go and play some good golf. And that’s what it’s going to down to. Because I plan on not giving him any holes.” That isn’t the only match between undefeated players this week. Alex Noren of Sweden had another easy time, beating Thomas Pieters in 14 holes, and won for the sixth time in his last seven matches. He faces Tony Finau, who dispatched of Kevin Na to win his second straight match. Defending champion Dustin Johnson will effectively play a practice round Friday. A year after the world’s No. 1 player couldn’t be beaten, Johnson couldn’t beat anybody. He lost to Bernd Wiesberger on Wednesday, and fell behind early in a 4-and-3 loss to Adam Hadwin on Thursday. Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson still have life. McIlroy had an easy time beating Jhonattan Vegas, while Brian Harman knocked out Peter Uihlein in the other match in their group. Harman will win the group if he beats McIlroy on Friday; McIlroy has to win to have any chance of making it to the weekend. “At least I’ve given myself a chance to progress,” he said. Mickelson, who lost to Charles Howell III in the opening round, rallied from 4-down after eight holes and won the last three holes to beat Satoshi Kodaira. Mickelson still needs Howell, who won against on Thursday, to lose a match.

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HUMBLE, Texas — Rickie Fowler doesn’t need a win in Texas to book his place in the Masters field. But that doesn’t make this week is any less important for the four-time TOUR winner, who arrived in search of positive vibes in the final tune-up before the year’s first major championship. After one round, Fowler believes his game is trending in the right direction after he opened with 66 on Thursday to move into contention. “Had a couple short ones that we could have got, but all in all, good solid day,” Fowler said. “I like where we’re heading into the next few days and going into the weekend.” Fowler began his round with three birdies in the first seven holes and added two more after the turn before suffering his first bogey on the par-4 6th — his 15th hole of the day — when his fairway bunker shot hit the bank and rolled into the water. Fowler managed to get up-and-down for bogey to limit the damage and then reeled off back-to-back birdies to close out his round on a high note. “Being in contention and getting yourself in position to win and kind of get the blood flowing, it makes it a lot easier to start things up,” Fowler said of playing well in Houston the week before the Masters. The putter was the difference for Fowler, who made 168 feet, 11 inches worth of putts — 51 feet, 7 inches more than his previous-best figure in the category this season — and only recorded one birdie putt shorter than 10 feet. Ranked 127th this season in strokes gained: putting, Fowler admitted the club has cooled since last season when he finished second in the statistical category. That wasn’t the case on Thursday. “Nice to have the putter coming around because it was something that was great last year,” he said. “I feel like it’s always been one of my strongest parts when it gets going, and I’ve had a couple cold months, so heating back up.” OBSERVATIONS Hoping to book his place in the Masters field, Steve Stricker opened with 67 and sits just two shots back of the lead after Round 1. While his wins came on the PGA TOUR Champions, it could be debated that no one in the field is playing at a higher level than Stricker, who won last week in Mississippi for his second straight victory on the 50-and-older circuit. Phil Mickelson has come agonizingly close to shooting 59. For nine holes on Thursday, it appeared the 43-time TOUR winner was well on his way to potentially getting another shot. Six birdies on the front saw Mickelson go out in 30, but the round hit a snag on the par-3 14th when he failed to advance his ball out of the greenside bunker, leading to a double bogey. Mickelson still shot 68. A two-hour rain delay to begin the first round ensured a return to the course on Friday for 33 players in the field. The Golf Club of Houston received 2.30 inches of rain. Round 1 will resume at 7:20 a.m. (local time) with Round 2 expected to begin as scheduled. Making his first start in Houston, Kevin Tway managed to log just one practice round before his pro-am was canceled on Wednesday due to inclement weather. A lack of course knowledge wasn’t an issue for Tway, who shot a bogey-free 65 to grab a share of the clubhouse lead with Lucas Glover. “I was kind of going at it a little less prepared than usual, but sometimes that’s good and today it was,” said Tway. Receptive greens and preferred lies in closely-mown areas turned the day into a birdie-fest for many in the field, with 39 players shooting 68 or better. Normally the first round is an opportunity to get into position for the weekend, but with low scores up for grabs, some felt the need to be even more aggressive than normal. “I was going right at it trying to hole a couple, especially with the wedges. You’ve got to try and make birdie with those conditions,” said Tway. One week after he came close to advancing out of the group stage at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, Julian Suri was Monday qualifying for the Houston Open. The 72nd-ranked player in the world shot 64 to make the field and then opened with 66 in just his fourth TOUR start this season. NOTABLES Jordan Spieth – The 2015 FedExCup champion opened with 68, his lowest first-round score at the Houston Open. Spieth waited until the end of the round to produce some fireworks, rolling in three consecutive birdies from inside 8 feet to move into contention. Henrik Stenson – The 2013 FedExCup champion never got the putter going but still managed to shoot 4-under 68. The Swede only missed two greens in regulation. Justin Rose – Rose hasn’t skipped a beat this season with four top 10s in his first five starts. His run of good form continued with an opening-round 68 that could have been even better if not for a bogey on the last. Six of his last 10 rounds have been sub-70. Tony Finau – Making his fourth appearance at the Houston Open, Finau hit 15 greens in regulation but needed 31 putts to get around the course in 2-under 70. Russell Henley – The defending champion made four birdies in his first six holes but only made one the rest of the way. He’s now opened with a sub-70 round three of the last four years. Matt Kuchar – Kuchar made his move on the back nine with four birdies in a five-hole stretch, beginning on the 12th, to shoot 68. He’s attempting to make the cut for the fifth time in 10 starts at the Houston Open. QUOTABLES I enjoyed the texts early on for extra sleep. Sleep’s always good for me. SUPERLATIVES Low round: Lucas Glover and Kevin Tway opened with 65s to grab a share of the clubhouse lead. The score was the lowest of the year for both players. Sam Ryder (8 under) and Beau Hossler (7 under) were still on the course when play was called due to darkness. Longest drive: 381 yards – Chesson Hadley padded his driving stats for the season with a poke that caught the cart path on the par-4 17th and wound up 86 yards from the hole. Hadley took advantage of his good fortune by making birdie. Longest putt: 53 feet, one inch – Matt Jones drained the lengthy birdie putt on the par-3 9th hole. Easiest hole: Par-5, No. 8 (4.450) with 68 birdies, 52 pars and 5 bogeys. Hardest hole: Par-4, No. 18 (4.147) with 14 birdies, 85 pars, 28 bogeys, 1 double bogey and 1 other. SHOT OF THE DAY

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