Pierceson Coody Withdraws From Houston Open In Blow To Masters Dream

Pierceson Coody was forced to withdraw from the Texas Children's Houston Open with a back injury — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Pierceson Coody's chances of making history at The Masters took a huge blow as he was forced to withdraw from the Texas Children's Houston Open just ahead of the second round.

Coody sits in the worst position imaginable as he entered the week 51st in the OWGR with the top 50 players after the Houston Open who haven't already qualified getting an invite to The Masters.

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Coody made a reasonable start to the Houston Open as he reached the turn two under, but made two bogeys coming home to sign for a level-par round of 70.

The 26-year-old didn't have the chance to improve his position though as he pulled out before the start of the second round due to a back injury.

And to add insult to that injury it means that he will likely miss out on a trip down Magnolia Lane unless some OWGR magic happens and there's some downward movement from players above to allow him to sneak into the top 50.

Coody had made a flying start to the season with two top-20 finishes followed by a runner-up spot at Torrey Pines and a top 10 at the WM Phoenix Open.

A T16 at the Genesis Invitational gave Coody more OWGR points and took him into the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings.

Two missed cuts followed but he made the weekend at the Valspar and had one last chance to crack the OWGR top 50 this week in Houston.

Coody has one final chance to punch his ticket to Augusta - and that's to recover from injury and go and win the Valero Texas Open next week which offers the final Masters place available to the winner.

If that doesn't happen it'll be a huge blow to Coody, who was a regular at the Par-3 contest at The Masters when he and his twin brother Parker would get to putt for their grandfather Charles during that event.

So it obviously means a lot for him to return as a competitor in The Masters, but the odds are against him making his playing debut there this year.

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.

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