Qualifier leads; McIlroy barely makes cut

HUMBLE, Texas – Steve Wheatcroft hates going to Monday qualifiers. He was reminded Friday why they can be worth it.

Wheatcroft, who narrowly qualified for the Houston Open at the start of the week, ran off three straight birdies early in his round and kept bogeys off his card for a second straight 5-under-par 67. That gave him a one-shot lead over D.A. Points and Jason Kokrak entering the weekend at Redstone Golf Club.

Rory McIlroy also will be around for two more days, but just barely.

In only his 10th full round of the year, McIlroy walked onto the seventh green – his 16th hole of the day – and saw he was tied for 77th. He two-putted from 85 feet on the fringe for a birdie on his next hole, then found the green at the par-3 ninth for a 70. By the end of the day, McIlroy made the cut on the number.

"It is nice to have a couple more rounds and try and get confidence in what I'm doing," McIlroy said.

His big surprise came later. McIlroy, feeling he needs more rounds to prepare for the Masters, decided to enter the Texas Open next week.

Phil Mickelson also made the cut on the number after a bogey on the last hole for a 71.

Mickelson, who has played the Masters with two drivers in the bag, decided to play Redstone on Friday with two 3-woods, though one is so strong it acts like a driver.

"If I can play like I did the back nine, I'm going to give myself a lot of birdie chances," Mickelson said.

Wheatcroft can't bank on anything. Not only does he have no status on the PGA Tour, he has only conditional status in the minor leagues. After missing out on a Web.com Tour event last week in Louisiana, he figured he might as well enter the Houston Open qualifier Monday.

"Monday qualifiers are terrible. They're just not fun, plain and simple," Wheatcroft said. "I was on the PGA Tour in '07, played terribly. I had no status. So I had to be back to Monday qualifiers and pre-qualifiers the next year. I hate them."

Wheatcroft had some good sessions with swing coach Matt Killen, felt his game was getting better in the last month and figured it was all about timing. He made the field by one shot, and he's playing well against a strong field at Redstone.

He was at 10-under 134, the first time he has been atop the leaderboard on the PGA Tour. The tournament is only halfway over, and Wheatcroft has been around long enough not to look too far ahead. Still, this has Cinderella ramifications.

Wheatcroft can become the first Monday qualifier to win on the PGA Tour since Arjun Atwal at the Wyndham Championship in 2010. A win would put Wheatcroft into the Masters for the first time and, perhaps more importantly, give him a two-year exemption.

Points, the first-round leader, had a 71 with 17 pars and one birdie. He didn't make anything on the greens, which he attributed to his putting stroke and firm, afternoon greens instead of the old putter he once borrowed from his mother.

• Read more articles by Doug Ferguson

Order Reprint