Top players are in Houston because they view the Tournament Course at Redstone an ideal warm up for the Masters. Organizers have groomed the 7,457-yard layout to mimic the conditions of Augusta National…with fast greens, shaved mounds, light rough and the fairways mowed toward the tee.

But Harrington said now that the tournament has started, the players are focused on winning more than fine-tuning their games…“Augusta can wait three more days.”

Headliners Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood & Adam Scott are in a group two strokes back of the leaders Kevin Stadler and Cameron Percy, who are at 5-under-par.

Defending champion Paul Casey withdrew because of a left shoulder injury…hoping it won’t keep him out of next week’s Masters. And Vijay Singh withdrew with a back injury after playing nine holes...that's the third time in three weeks.