HOUSTON >> Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy wanted a final tune-up before the Masters and spent parts of Thursday at the Houston Open under an umbrella in wind and rain that prevented anyone from getting too far away.

Keith Mitchell made a late eagle and Ryan Gerard let a good start slip away by finishing with two bogeys. They both wound up at 5-under 65, tied for the lead with Alejandro Tosti and Taylor Pendrith when play was suspended by darkness.

Scheffler played bogey-free and made a pair of long birdies on the back nine that added to a 67, leaving him two shots behind.

Hull sets pace in Arizona >> Charley Hull ended her long and active day without any blood seeping through her sock, only a bogey-free card of 9-under 63 that gave her a one-shot lead over Nanna Koertz Madsen in the opening round at the Ford Championship.

Nelly Korda, returning to work after skipping the Asia swing, rallied with four birdies on the back nine and opened with a 67 in her bid to catch up to Hull, who has been as entertaining as ever.

Pro football

Former Texas standout, NFL No. 1 overall pick Sims dead at 65 >> Kenneth Sims, a standout at Texas who became the No. 1 overall draft pick in the NFL draft in 1982, has died. He was 65.

Sims’ death came after a brief illness, according to the National Football Foundation, but no further information was provided.

Sims spent his entire career in New England, but had trouble duplicating the production he had at the collegiate level.

Hockey

Flyers fire coach Tortorella >> The Philadelphia Flyers fired coach John Tortorella with nine games left in another losing season for a franchise that hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2020.

The Flyers are last in the Metropolitan Division at 28-36-9 for 65 points under the notoriously brusque Tortorella.

Tortorella won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004.

The Flyers named Brad Shaw the interim coach.