Lee Westwood on song in Texas as Rory McIlroy starts slowly Quick on the draw in deepest Texas. Lee Westwood went with his new shooter at the Shell Houston Open, and walked off the greens with seven birdies in his opening 68, three of those coming in the opening five holes. Westwood has been wrestling with the putter in recent years, leading to the introduction of the Ping Nome, a flat stick with an adjustable shaft that allows Westwood to lengthen the instrument without anchoring. He was smoking on the back nine, too, firing four birdies in five holes from the 12th, only to blight his card with a third bogey of the day at the 17th. Two of those came on par-fives. "I must have the worst par-five record on the PGA tour this year," Westwood said. It should have been a 64. My short game and pitching are really good, so there's no reason why the par-five scoring shouldn't sharpen up when you play like that and shoot 68, you make two sixes on a par five instead of making four. That's giving up four shots. That will come. Westwood hits it too cleanly not to solve the par-five anomaly, especially if the putter continues to behave. It's about four inches longer than standard. It just helps me to swing the putter a bit easier. It worked well today. I've been practising with it for a while, but it's just in the last couple of weeks that I've felt comfortable enough to take it on the course. I holed it from 18 feet on two, 10 feet on three, 20 feet on five, 20 feet on 14, probably 18 feet on six. Rory McIlroy, needing to win here to regain top spot in the world rankings from Tiger Woods, was as slow out of the box as Westwood was quick. A bogey at the second was followed by a double at the seventh leaving McIlory looking woefully undercooked at the turn in what was only his ninth round of the year. Then, hey presto, McIlroy suddenly found his mojo. Four holes later he was back to level-par after birdies at 10, 12 and 13. Leader by three on eight under par, D A Points started with five birdies on the spin using an old putter borrowed from his mother. Who needs gin with help like that? Marcel Siem's hopes of making the world's top 50 and automatic passage to the Masters next month received the boost of an opening 64 in Morocco, where he leads the Hassan Trophy by three shots on eight under par. Siem needs to leap 22 places to secure his Augusta debut. Playing in the afternoon, he enjoyed the better of conditions that blew the early starters all over the place, and in the case of Jakob Svoboda, off the course for good. More than 30 players carded 80 or worse. Svoboda decided enough was enough after just six holes, retiring on 21 over par. It helps when you chip in twice at the last two holes. "Sometimes you need a bit of luck in this game and thankfully today was one of those days where it went my way," Siem said. I didn't know I still had a chance for the Masters but now we know there are four or five of us in the field here who still might be able to get to the Masters if we win. It is a nice incentive but I came here first and foremost to play this tournament and play this golf course. The Masters would be pretty special but I just have to concentrate on what I am doing in this tournament.