Rory McIlroy dubs his first round since The Players triumph 'little pedestrian'

Modified Mar 28, 2025 12:42 GMT

Rory McIlroy opened up about his performance at the 2025 Texas Children's Houston Open. In the opening round of this week's PGA Tour event, held on Thursday, March 27, the Northern Irish golfer played a round of 70. It's his first tournament since the incredible victory at The Players 2025.

In the post-round press conference of the Houston Open, Rory McIlroy candidly talked about his performance, describing it "a little pedestrian." He said (via Tee Scripts):

"A little pedestrian, I guess is a good way to describe it. Yeah, we sort of 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 there that I didn't convert."

Rory McIlroy teed it up on the tenth hole of the Memorial Park Golf Course on Thursday for the first round of the 2025 Houston Open. However, he had some tough times on the front nine. Rory McIlroy made a bogey on the 14th, but on the back nine, he added two birdies and a bogey for an even-par 70 and tied for 57th place in the event.

A look into the leaderboard of the 2025 Texas Children's Houston Open featuring Rory McIlroy

All the players have not completed the opening round of the 2025 Texas Children's Houston Open and the play will now resume for the first round at 9:30 a.m. ET on Friday, March 28. However, following the semi-finished opening round, Keith Mitchell took the lead in the game after playing a round of 65 in a four-way tie with Alejandro Tosti, Ryan Grand, and Taylor Pendrith at 5-under.

Here is the leaderboard of the 2025 Texas Children's Houston Open after the Thursday round featuring Rory McIlroy (only the top 57 and their ties):

T1. Alejandro Tosti (-5)
T1 Ryan Gerard (-5)
T1 Keith Mitchell (-5)
T1 Taylor Pendrith (-5)
T5. Trey Mullinax (-4)
T5. Mac Meissner (-4)
T5. Min Woo Lee (-4)
T5. Sam Ryder (-4)
T5. Victor Perez (-4)
T5. Rasmus Højgaard (-4)
T5. Eric Cole (-4)
T5. Jackson Suber (-4)
T13. Ryo Hisatsune (-3)
T13. Jesper Svensson (-3)
T13. Scottie Scheffler (-3)
T13. Adam Svensson (-3)
T13. Taylor Dickson (-3)
T18. Kurt Kitayama (-2)
T18. Lee Hodges (-2)
T18. Jake Knapp (-2)
18. Karl Vilips (-2)
T18. Emiliano Grillo (-2)
T18. Harry Hall (-2)
T18. Ryan Fox (-2)
T18. Matthew Riedel (-2)
T18. Takumi Kanaya (-2)
T18. William Mouw (-2)
18. Derek Bard (-2)
T18. Max McGreevy (-2)
18. Chad Ramey (-2)
T18. Aldrich Potgieter (-2)
T18. Sungjae Im (-2)
T18. Davis Riley (-2)
T18. Matteo Manassero (-2)
T18. Pierceson Coody (-2)
T36. Danny Willett (-1)
T36. Wyndham Clark (-1)
T36. Nico Echavarria (-1)
T36. Adam Hadwin (-1)
T36. Zach Johnson (-1)
T36. Chris Gotterup (-1)
T36. Mackenzie Hughes (-1)
T36. Chandler Phillips (-1)
T36. Thorbjørn Olesen (-1)
T36. Frankie Capan III (-1)
T36. Michael Thorbjornsen (-1)
T36. C.T. Pan (-1)
T36. Matti Schmid (-1)
T36. Nicolai Højgaard (-1)
T36. Rickie Fowler (-1)
T36. Thomas Detry (-1)
T36. Gary Woodland (-1)
T36. Seamus Power (-1)
T36. Chan Kim (-1)
T36. Rikuya Hoshino (-1)
T36. Hayden Springer (-1)
T57. Sami Valimaki (E)
T57. Ben Griffin (E)
T57. Andrew Novak (E)
T57. Charley Hoffman (E)
T57. Greyson Sigg (E)
T57. Rory McIlroy (E)
T57. Maverick McNealy (E)
T57. Sahith Theegala (E)
T57. Peter Malnati (E)
T57. Camilo Villegas (E)
T57. Aaron Baddeley (E)
T57. Beau Hossler (E)
T57. Philip Knowles (E)
T57. Paul Peterson (E)
T57. Ricky Castillo (E)
T57. Mason Andersen (E)
T57. Quade Cummins (E)
T57. Cristobal Del Solar (E)
57. Nate Lashley (E)
T57. Patrick Rodgers (E)
T57. Rafael Campos (E)
T57. Stephan Jaeger (E)
T57. Tony Finau (E)
T57. Matt Wallace (E)
T57. Jason Day (E)
T57. Michael Kim (E)
T57. Rico Hoey (E)
T57. Antoine Rozner (E)
T57. Thomas Rosenmueller (E)
T57. Anders Albertson (E)
T57. Jeremy Paul (E)
T57. Isaiah Salinda (E)

The PGA Tour event has a cutline after 36 holes and it is scheduled to have its finale on Sunday, March 30.

Edited by Neelabhra Roy