DETROIT — It was another day of beautiful weather and perfect scoring conditions Friday in the second round of PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club.
There were some flirtations with a 59. Webb Simpson showed why he’s the world’s sixth-ranked player. Bryson DeChambeau continued to pulverize the ball. And no one was able to pull away and take control of the tournament.
Here are the hits and misses from the second round.
———
Hit: Chris Kirk and Webb Simpson
Who doesn’t love a good, old-fashioned run at 59? Kirk flirted with golf’s magic number after he shot 30 on the front nine and got to 8 under with a chip-in birdie on No. 12. He closed with a bogey and shot 7-under-par 65 and was tied for the lead at 12-under 132 with world No. 6 Webb Simpson, who shot 64. It didn’t happen, but it was still fun to follow one of those super-duper rare runs at 59.
———
Hit: Matthew Wolff
Oh, yeah. Wolff almost shot a 59 a few hours before Kirk. He ended up with a 64. And he changed his irons on Monday. And he turned 21 in April. And he was 20 last year when he won the 3M Open and already has $1,966,510 in career earnings. You made your first million by 21, didn’t you? It’s getting kind of hard to root for him now. He probably should have been a “Miss” to make the rest of us feel better.
———
Hit: That leaderboard
Look at that thing! It’s more crowded than a Lake of the Ozarks pool party. Having 17 players within three shots of the leaders should make for a great weekend sprint.
———
Miss: Bryson DeChambeau
Psst. Can you keep a secret? DeChambeau is really a “Hit” but I’m hoping I make him mad and spur him to victory. Let’s be real: Tournaments are often judged by the caliber of their champions, and this tournament needs a notable champion like DeChambeau, who is one of the hottest names in golf. He’s at 11 under in a logjam one shot back. He needs to get moving and grab hold of this tournament. C’mon, Bryson. Stop messing around with those piddly 377-yard drives and let it rip.
———
Miss: The cut line
It came at 5-under 139. Yeah, that’s pretty low. But hey, the Buick Open isn’t for everyone. I mean the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
———
Hit: Brian Stuard
Clearly, Detroit Golf Club suits the former Oakland University golfer from Jackson. He tied for fifth last year and he’ll be in contention this weekend. Razor-sharp iron play led to a 67 and he’s three shots back at 9 under. If Stuard makes a run today, can you imagine how crazy the fans will be Sunday when … shoot, never mind.
———
Miss: Nate Lashley
Tough break for last year’s feel-good-story, first-time winner, wire-to-wire champion. It was brutal watching him grind on TV just to make the cut, which he missed by one shot with a bogey on 18. Let’s hope he comes back next year and gets the ovation he deserved this year.
———
Miss: Patrick Reed
Wow. The world’s seventh-ranked player made five bogeys, shot 72, finished 2 under. That’s his second missed cut in three tournaments. Yikes. After winning the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in February and tying for seventh in the restart event at Colonial, it looked like he was about to start a reign of terror.
———
Hit: Top players make cut
The field was better this year and it’s good to see all of the top-20 players in the field, except Reed, make the weekend: No. 6 Simpson (12 under), No. 10 DeChambeau (11 under), No. 15 Tyrrell Hatton (9 under) and No. 17 Tony Finau (5 under).
———
Miss: Big names flop
But it was disappointing to see popular players like Jason Day (4 under) and Bubba Watson (2 under) miss the cut. At least Rickie Fowler (6 under) avoided the ignominy of being Rocket Mortgage’s main pitchman and missing the cut.
———
Hit: Ryan Brehm
Tough break for the long-hitting former Michigan State golfer, who shot 2 under and missed the cut. I don’t know this for sure, but it looked like Brehm tried to hole out a tough, downhill birdie chip from behind the 18th green. He was 3 under at the time and probably knew he had to reach at least 4 under to make the cut. The chip slid 16 feet past the hole. Brehm bogeyed and finished at 2 under. But you’ve got to love that aggressive, do-or-die attitude.
———
©2020 Detroit Free Press
Visit the Detroit Free Press at www.freep.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.