Helter-Skelter in Houston

There is no order at the Shell Houston Open so far this week. Everything is hurried, confused and in a state of disorder from tee times to weather to who the heck is really leading this tournament.

There is a sense of urgency to get everything back on track because after all the Masters starts at Augusta National Golf Club 937 miles away in less than 48 hours.

Freddie Couples whose last win on the PGA TOUR came here in 2003 when asked what he will do on Friday to prepare for playing 36 holes Saturday was as confused about tee times as anybody.

“No, (I am) just (playing) 18. Actually, no, what am I saying? We'll play 18 and have a cut and play another 18. I keep thinking today is Thursday. I'm going to go hit some balls for an hour, hour and a half and, you know, go back at 2:00 and rest. Thirty-six holes tomorrow. That will be a jolt for me.”

The weather is beautiful- sunny and warm but no golf was being played Thursday afternoon? “It's strange to come out here and play nine holes this early and not have anything to do the rest of the day,” was how Justin Leonard who jump started his career here in 2007 put it.

Then the nightmares began to start coming back. The same thing happened at Hilton Head a couple of years ago and in Phoenix three or four years ago.

When asked about all that has happened in Houston this week, Q-School survivor James Nitties shared his feelings: “Kind of a weird feeling. I went to the movies, and there's not a cloud in the sky and we're not playing golf. It's kind of a—it's a weird feeling like that.”

It was the wind of course. On the course it was doing strange things at this Masters Knockoff tournament. “The balls were rolling on the greens. You know, it was gusting up to 40, 45 miles an hour and with these kinds of greens, it's almost impossible to play. It was completely a joke,” was Scott McCarron’s assessment of the tragic situation.

Justin Leonard was affected too. “It got to the point—you know, I had two different balls move on the green. Fortunately I hadn't addressed them yet, so there wasn't any penalty. One of them rolled 10 feet totally changed my putt.”

When its helter-skelter you never know who will be fortunate and who will well not make it through to the very end alive.

“One of those things. You try to prepare properly, and you get shafted sometimes. Hardly feel like I've played this year. Lot of traveling but no playing. It is what it is,” were some other comments about the ordeal everyone is going through including the spectators.

“Just unfortunate that many people came out to watch yesterday and we had to go off the course,” was one player’s sympathetic perspective.

There was no sympathy for fellow competitors in one golfer’s mind. “I look forward to (these) days because it separates the men from the boys. You can't get away with poor shots.” Men will be men. Boys will be boys. It’s all just a game isn’t it?

It all started with a two-hour delay first thing Thursday morning due to thunderstorms rolling through the area. Then came the high winds gusting to 45 MPH. On Friday morning it was the cold early start. The weather has played havoc so far this week.

With the Thursday/Friday morning-afternoon and first-tenth tee flip flop which players get the advantage? The most anyone played in the wind was 12 holes. Only five players in the 144-man field finished both the first and second rounds when play ended on Friday.

On Friday Scott McCarron was trying to comprehend why they were talking to him and American Captain Couples and predicting doom-and-gloom. “You're interviewing Freddie and myself right now and a few other guys are four under.

"We're not going to be anywhere near the lead after today. The guys are really going to tear it up this afternoon as long as the wind doesn't blow. The greens are receptive right now. They're rolling perfect so I think you'll see a lot of low scores this afternoon.”

Weather delays help some people if the timing is right. It was for James Nitties. “I woke up for my 9:00 tee time. I was lying in bed, and I looked at my phone. We had an hour delay, so I just set my alarm for another hour. I wake up again, the same thing.

"So I went back to sleep for two extra hours and then another 30 minutes. So if I was a 7:00 tee time, I would have been at the course waiting around. I got the nice extra two and half hours of sleep. I'm not a morning person. I loved the extra sleep.”

Who is surviving and leading this tournament? Well on Thursday where only 20 percent of the expected golf was played it was Lee Westwood who has yet to win a Major at the soon-to-be age of 36 at four-under par.

At the end of Round One with everyone completing their first 18 holes it was Briny Baird, John Senden and Nicholas Thompson who all shot 65 on the par 72 Tournament Course at Redstone GC.

At the end of the day Friday Senden was still up there joined by two-time winner this year Geoff Ogilvy and yet-to-win on the PGA TOUR Englishman by birth, Arizona native by college. The trio is at 8-under par. Casey finished Round Two. Ogilvy has four holes to play and Senden has eight holes to make it to the midpoint of the tournament.

Defending champion Johnson Wagner is in the hunt.

“I'm happy to be two-under, but I missed a short one on 17 for birdie and making bogey on the last. I'm right there. The other guys are going to eat it up today (Friday) in 36 with these kind of conditions. I get my chance tomorrow. Someone is going to go low. I got my work cut out the next three rounds.”

The general sentiment on the decisions and delays was voiced by the golfer we all look up to and look to wishing he has a good Masters next week; Greg Norman: “So it happens from time to time. When you're getting greens as fast as we putt on out here, you know, you get that much wind and you're going to run into some issues, and the Tour made a good call."

Saturday Texas-style is now both Cut Day and Moving Day. The weather forecast is good. All needed golf will be played. We will be back on the right schedule come sunrise Sunday morning.

Off to Augusta we go on Monday. There is a sense of normalcy returning after the torrid storm.  All is well in the world of golf.

Writer’s Note: This author was just a kid growing up in peaceful Binghamton, NY when criminal Charles Mansion terrorized the world with his Helter-Skelter senseless murders. We are saddened again with the murder of 13 innocent victims in my hometown yesterday.

Poor innocent people just trying to better themselves and become citizens of this wonderful country of ours just like our ancestors did at one time or another.

Part of Martin Luther King’s dream was realized this year with the inauguration of Barrack Obama as our president. Why have the 1991 words of Rodney King gone unanswered? Why can’t we all just get along?

We think of Helter Skelter as a bad thing. Certainly playing golf in a haphazard manner schedule wise in Houston, Texas pales in comparison to the massacre that occurred yesterday in Binghamton, NY.

I choose to let my mind wander back to playing as a kid on the big slide in Recreation Park in the heart of Broome County the Carousel Capital of the World where the lyrics of the Beatles real Helter-Skelter mean something positive to me.

When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and turn
and I go for a ride
Till I get to the bottom and I see you again

I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you
Tell me tell me tell me the answer

My heart goes out to the 13 innocent victims, their families and everyone in my hometown area. They may be poor in the world or even wealthy who knows but we believe not poor in spirit, love and meaning in their lives.

Please tell me the answer.

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, FL near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]