HOUSTON – Scottie Scheffler's streak of rounds under par came to a stunning end Friday when he missed a 22-inch bogey putt on the final hole of the Houston Open for an even-par 70.
Scheffler, coming off consecutive victories in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship, faced the tough afternoon wind at Memorial Park and still was poised to make it 29 straight rounds under par on the PGA Tour.
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But he hit into the water with a 7-iron on the par-5 16th hole and had to scramble for par. He got back to 2 under for his round with a superb approach to 4 feet for birdie on the 17th.
Scheffler found a bunker right of the 18th green, and nearly holed the sand shot. It hit the lip and settled about 6 feet away. The par putt rolled around the lip. He then hestepped up to tap in only to catch the right lip and watch it spin away.
“Obviously, a sloppy mistake there at the last,” Scheffler said. “I missed the first one, I was frustrated, and hit the second one a little quick. It happens.”
The streak began with a 66 at The Sentry to start the year, and he was at least 2 under for every round except a pair of 1-under 70s at Riviera in the Genesis Invitational.
The double bogey left him at 5-under 135, trailing Tony Finau by four shots going into the weekend as he tries to become the first player in seven years to win three straight starts on the PGA Tour. Dustin Johnson was the last to do it.
“I put up a good fight,” Scheffler said. “I did my best to hang in there without my best stuff.”
Scheffler now has a streak of 30 consecutive rounds at par or better that dates to his even-par 70 in the final round of the Tour Championship at East Lake last season.
He still has a long way to go to catch Tiger Woods, who had 52 rounds at par or better from the second round of the Byron Nelson Classic in May 2000 until the second round of the Phoenix Open in January 2001. That included three major championships.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf