Houston Open: Ian Poulter, Beau Hossler lead with Jordan Spieth lurking
The Houston Open boasts a tightly packed leaderboard headed into the Sunday finale, with Ian Poulter looking to punch his ticket to Augusta at the top.
The leaderboard remains tight at the Houston Open. Twenty-two players sit within five shots off the pace set at 14-under-par by Beau Hossler and Ian Poulter. Eighteen of the 22 need a win for a last-ditch effort to get into next week’s Masters.
Few, if any, of these 18 storylines are as captivating as Ian Poulter’s. The former world top-five player and Ryder Cup stalwart fell outside the top 200 last year before a revival that began in earnest with a T2 at the PLAYERS Championship.
His steady upward climb appeared to culminate last week in an invitation to Augusta. He was incorrectly informed his advancement to last week’s WGC-Match Play quarterfinals earned him enough world ranking points to move into the world top 50. It did not, and he lost his subsequent semifinals match and was left on the bubble at No. 51.
A drained Poulter, who completed his third event in a row, did not fully commit to playing in Houston until Tuesday.
He looked desheveled on Thursday, firing a one-over 72. He’s since 15-under in 36 holes thanks to rounds of 64 and 65. He’ll jump from the eighth-to-last tee time Saturday to the final group on Sunday with a trip east to Georgia on the line.
Poulter’s going about things as if he’s just begun his climb up from the bottom, and not a player who’s muscling his way into the conversation for France this fall.
“I told you that today I was going out with no expectations, and I didn’t,” Poulter said in his post-round press conference. “I’m going to do exactly the same tomorrow.”
Poulter, 42, downplayed the thought of the Masters as he seeks his first PGA Tour stroke play win.
“No, not thinking about it, not talking about it,” Poulter said. “I’m going to go out and have some fun. There’s a lot of ifs and buts.”
Hossler on the cusp of more potential major magic
Some golf fans may have let Beau Hossler off their radar after he burst onto the scene as a chubby 17-year-old leading the 2012 US Open. Really, he should have never left.
He had an all-American career at the University of Texas and paid his dues last year on the Web.com Tour. Hossler has two top-10s as a PGA Tour rookie and has been in the mix all three days here in Houston.
Hossler’s been unflappable this week with just three bogeys and none worse through 54 holes.
He hit all 18 greens for a Thursday 65 and used his putter (2.239 strokes gained putting) to post 69 on Saturday.
Hossler’s highest PGA Tour finish is a T7 at the 2017 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. A win would qualify him for his first non-US Open major.
Balky putting keeps Spieth off the lead
Apparently only one Texas Longhorn could make putts on Saturday, and it wasn’t Jordan Spieth. He left something to be desired with a one-under 71 that was helped none by -3.918 strokes gained putting marks. He had four three-putts in his first eight holes before righting the ship for a two-under-par 34 on the back nine. For the week, Spieth is 88th out of 90 in strokes gained putting.
He’s still in the mix at 10-under and just four back, as other parts of his game are flourishing. Spieth is first in the field in sand saves, strokes gained tee-to-green and strokes gained approach. He’s also third in proximity to the hole.
It’s a confounding time for Spieth. There’s something still to be said for him grinding out high finishes when his trusty club isn’t behaving.
Next: Nantz: 2018 Masters the "most anticipated in our lifetime"
Leaderboard
T1. -14 Ian Poulter, Beau Hossler
T3. -12 Greg Chalmers, Emiliano Grillo, Kevin Tway, Paul Dunne
T7. -11 Keith Mitchell, Robert Garrigus, Henrik Stenson, Chesson Hadley, Matt Kuchar, Sam Ryder
T13. -10 Luke List, Shawn Stefani, Jordan Spieth, Abraham Ancer
T17. -9 Nate Lashley, John Huh, Bud Cauley, Shane Lowry, Nicholas Lindheim, Rickie Fowler