Rain suspends first round in Houston

Carl Pettersson rebounded from missed cuts in his last two PGA Tour starts by charging into an early tie for the lead in Thursdays (March 29) weather-hit opening round of the Houston Open in Humble, Texas.The 34-year-old Swede, putting superbly on the slick greens at Redstone Golf Club, birdied five of his first eight holes on the way to a seven-under-par 65 in the final tune-up event before next weeks Masters.Pettersson, a four-times champion on the U.S. circuit, briefly got to eight under but bogeyed the par-four 17th before finishing level with long-hitting Angel Cabrera of Argentina.Americans Ricky Barnes and Jeff Maggert were a further stroke back after opening with matching 66s before play was suspended at 2:27 p.m. ET (1827 GMT) due to the threat of lightning in the area.More than an inch of rain saturated the course during the afternoon and organisers later abandoned play for the day with only 51 players having completed the opening round.Among those who will resume, or start, round one on Friday morning are defending champion Phil Mickelson, three-times major winner Ernie Els and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel.Pettersson, who won the most recent of his PGA Tour titles at the 2010 Canadian Open, made the most of relatively calm conditions at Redstone before the thunderstorm swept across the course later in the day.British world number three Lee Westwood and fifth-ranked American Steve Stricker each carded 68s while U.S. Ryder Cup player Hunter Mahan opened with a 69.Three-times Masters champion Mickelson, who won last years Houston Open by three shots after closing with a sizzling seven-under-par 65, was one under after three holes when playwas suspended for the day.