Should be an interesting weekend here at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan. The third round has already begun at Detroit Golf Club.
Chris Kirk and Webb Simpson were in the lead after two rounds at 12-under par. A half-dozen were tied for second one shot back, including Bryson DeChambeau and Matthew Wolff.
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10:47 a.m.: Ryan Armour doesn’t go off until this afternoon, but he’s near the top of the leaderboard after making an ace on Friday, his 14th hole-in-one. Armour said there were few people around to see the feat. “It landed one-hop, right in the hole. There’s no spectators here, so there happened to be Jimmy Walker’s trainer was out there because Jimmy’s battling some wrist and hand issues, so he went nuts, so we knew it went in,” Armour said. “It’s just pretty cool. I hadn’t had one in a while and it got me off the unlucky 13 number.”
10:14 a.m.: Tony Finau barely made the cut, but he’s putting the moving in moving day this morning. An eagle on No. 7 helped as he makes the turn at 32 and has jumped all the way into a tie for 11th as of now. He shot a 32 on the front yesterday, too, but then doubled No. 10 and feel well back in the pack.
10:02 a.m.: We’re in Year 2 at Detroit Golf Club with the Rocket Mortgage Classic and the Tour is committed to play here for two more years after this event is through. Will it stay? Will it help to build up the surrounding community, which has seen better days? And how did the event come to pass? All interesting questions. If you’re looking for a little insight and background on the genesis of the tournament, dig into this piece from Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press from last year. Among the interesting facts, 94% of members voted their approval to negotiate a deal for the tournament when it was presented. Try to get 94 percent of a group to agree on anything these days.
9:44 a.m.: This is why they play, we presume — after saying the numbers should be low, many of the early groups have struggled to score. One who has started strong is Patrick Rodgers, who birdied two of the first three holes to get to 7-under. Rodgers was up and down through his first two rounds, but scored evenly with three 35s and a 34. Rodgers has slipped to 111 in our Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, missing his last two cuts. A big day could be a significant boost.
9:32 a.m.: ICYMI, this fun read about Bryson DeChambeau and Webb Simpson includes Bryson’s plan for the weekend, which seems like a good one for a guy who’s averaging 346 yards off the tee through two rounds. “If I can make birdie on all the par 5s on the weekend, that’s 8 under right there,” he said. “Make a couple birdies on some short par 4s, I feel like that would be a good number, something like that.” He tees off at 1:45 in a pairing with Mark Hubbard.
9:20 a.m.: Looks like another perfect day for scoring here in Detroit. With the leaders at 12-under par after two days, there’s no reason to think we won’t see something close to Nate Lashley’s 25-under again this year. There’s almost no breeze here at Detroit Golf Club and that’s not likely to change much.
Live feed
All times are listed in Eastern.
Viewing information
Saturday
8 a.m.-3 p.m.: PGA Tour Live (Featured Groups)
8:15-9:40 a.m.: Twitter
1-3 p.m.: Golf Channel
1-6 p.m.: SiriusXM
3-6 p.m.: PGA Tour Live (Featured Holes)
3-6 p.m.: CBS
Sunday
8 a.m.-3 p.m.: PGA Tour Live (Featured Groups)
8:15-9:40 a.m.: Twitter
1-3 p.m.: Golf Channel
1-6 p.m.: SiriusXM
3-6 p.m.: PGA Tour Live (Featured Holes)
3-6 p.m.: CBS
