Taylor Pendrith Alejandro Tosti among four co leaders at Houston Open

HOUSTON – Canada’s Taylor Pendrith, Argentina’s Alejandro Tosti and American golfers Keith Mitchell and Ryan Gerard shared the lead on March 27 when darkness halted the first round of the PGA Tour’s Houston Open.

All four fired five-under 65s at Memorial Park before sunset stopped play on a rainy day with 18 competitors yet to complete their round.

The top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, in the final tune-up event before he defends his Masters title in April, carded a 67 to stand two adrift.

“I started to play a little bit better on the back nine. The first nine I was kind of getting it around a little bit, but still post a score. Conditions were tough out there with the rain and the wind, so overall nice to keep a clean card,” he said.

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, the Players Championship and Pebble Beach Pro-Am winner who needs the Masters to complete a career Grand Slam, had two birdies and two bogeys in a first-round 70.

“A little pedestrian I guess is a good way to describe it,” he said.

“Had to deal with those conditions early on, rainy and not too pleasant to play in. Made a few par saves early on that I needed to and then had quite a few chances on the second nine that I didn’t convert.”

Pendrith, whose only PGA title came at last May’s CJ Cup Byron Nelson, would have led alone but bogeyed at the 18th, after finding a greenside bunker and missing a nine-foot par putt.

His six birdies included a 42-foot putt at the par-four fourth and one from just inside 24 feet at No. 17.

“I played pretty good. Difficult day, rain was on and off and got gusty for us,” he said. “Hung in there nicely, didn’t make