first round of Shell Houston Open was delayed by rain

Grounds crews fanned out across the course late inside afternoon, and Timms was optimistic that Redstone would be playable once the first round was scheduled to resume at 7:30 a.m. on Friday.

"Let it drain overnight, but it will likely be perfectly," Timms said.

Ricky Barnes and Jeff Maggert completed their rounds every day and were one shot over lead. Brian Harman also was 6 under, but had three holes left.


The Houston Open took over as run-up event to the Masters in 2007. Timms is looking to finish the tournament by 5 p.m. Sunday to accommodate not simply television, but also the players going to Augusta.

"We try everything we can easily operationally to hit that window," Timms said.

Pettersson birdied four from the first six holes, then reached the par-5 eighth by 50 percent and two-putted to succeed in 5 under. He added birdies on Nos. 11 and 15, then found the greenside bunker Ping K15 Hybrids along with his approach on No. 17 on the way to a bogey.

Pettersson missed the cut the very last fourteen days at Innisbrook and Bay Hill and blamed poor iron play. He changed his setup about the range Tuesday thus hitting 16 of 18 greens in regulation Thursday.

"I felt confident with that, but that does not always relate with good play," he explained. "But I felt like I was showing up in the ball well again, i told myself just to play aggressive and shoot with the pins to see what goes on."

"The course is ideal," Cabrera said before the storm. "It's really spectacular and it's really befitting for making a good score."

The two-time major champion has missed the cut in 4 or 5 PGA Tour starts in 2010. But Charlie Epps, his Houston-based swing coach Titleist 712 CB Irons and the director of golf at Redstone, says Cabrera has rounded into form in recent weeks.

"He got off and away to a slow start and he's been working hard and it is developing," Epps said. "He's been near the coast a number of tournaments. It takes time."

Cabrera has played at Redstone yearly since 2007, the season he won the U.S. Open. He missed the cut here in 2009, then won the Masters the following week.

"He desires to play this week, he's focused on now," Epps said.

Barnes overcame a bout of food poisoning early in a few days. He skipped the pro-am Wednesday, but felt fine Thursday morning.

"I got lots of rest, great deal of fluids within me," Barnes said. "And I am good, and I'll apt to be able to find discount golf clubs somewhat workout in later in the day."

The 48-year-old Maggert, who lives in Houston, is winless in 23 starts in the hometown event. The 66 on Thursday is his lowest competitive round on the Tournament Course at Redstone.