2025 Rocket Classic shaping up for underdogs vs favorites battle at Detroit Golf Club

USA Today

3 hours ago

DETROIT — Low scores have always ruled at the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club, and it's clear the PGA Tour's 2025 tournament is no different. Three players are tied for the lead at 14-under-par 130 after two rounds: Chris Kirk, Philip Knowles and Andrew Putnam.
One stroke behind them sits Jackson Suber, who birdied five straight holes on the front nine. Aldrich Potgieter, a big-hitting 20-year-old South African rookie, is tied for fifth at 12-under one day after shooting a then-course record 62 along with Kevin Roy, who squeaked out a 1-under round, tied for eighth at 11-under.
Major winners Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama and Gary Woodland also lurk at 11 under par, along with two-time winner on Tour this season Ben Griffin.
This tournament is often a battle of the underdogs, and especially given a number of prominent golfers failed to make the 6 under cut, this year will likely be no different.
Here's who stood out in Round 2 on Friday entering a hot weekend in Detroit.
Philip Knowles makes Rocket Classic history
Knowles had the day's most improbable performance when he carded three eagles in his round, with all three coming from off the green.
The three eagles had never been accomplished in any round in seven years of the Rocket, and is only the second time it has occurred this season on Tour. Chandler Phillips had three eagles during a round at the Players Championship in March.
Knowles recorded the first eagle on 17, his eighth hole of the day, after bogeying 15 and 16. After a 300-yard drive and a 250-yard iron shot, Knowles chipped the ball in from the rough to the left of the hole.
Chipping proved to be Knowles' superpower as the day went on. His second eagle, on the par-5 fourth, looked similar — a long drive and a wedge shot followed by an accurate chip-in from 38 yards out.
By No. 7, where he recorded his third eagle, it seemed almost comical that a 20-yard wedge shot over a bunker would go in. Knowles wasn't even able to see the ball rolling into the cup because he was below the surface of the green, but no problem.
'All we were trying to do is get it up on the green somewhere and it should trickle out towards the hole, and I didn't see it go in,' Knowles said. 'I was walking up and you see my playing partners just start laughing and the crowd go crazy. That was surreal.'
Knowles is still technically a rookie on the Tour despite graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023 due to a series of medical exemptions. He has suffered a severed nerve in thumb, a bout of mono and a recurring case of shingles that began in his right eye. He has only played in 16 events over two years, and has never played the Rocket. But this trip has been one to remember, particularly since his wife and two daughters are in Detroit to support him.
'Last night we get off the golf course and it's late and it's like, 'OK, where can we find food and get home and do bath and bedtime and get them down first?'' Knowles said. 'I walked in the house, it was an hour and a half before I even changed out of my golf clothes, and you don't think about it. But I love it and I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm always grateful to have them around. I would never not want them to be here.'
Jake Knapp shoots Detroit Golf Club course record
Knapp broke the course record early Friday, a mark that stood for less than 24 hours.
Knapp shot 11-under 61 after shooting an even-par 72 on Thursday, moving from tied for No. 120 to tied for eighth. He had three birdies and eagled No. 17 on his front nine, then birdied six holes on his back nine to finish bogey free.
Andrew Putnam gets on a roll
Putnam's run of success continued as he shot 66 to tie for the lead. His rise began Thursday with an 8-under 64, but he continued it with another an eagle on No. 7 and four birdies, though he had to struggle for it through windy conditions late in his afternoon round, shooting 1-under on the back nine.
'It didn't feel bogey free,' Putnam said. 'It felt like I was kind of all over the place on the back nine, but the front nine was pretty simple golf. The wind came up, got a couple tricky holes out there, so glad I could grind it out. Another good scoring day.'
Min Woo Lee 'The Chef' does not cook
'Let him cook!' rang out across the golf course when teed off Friday after an inspiring first round of 9-under 63.
Unfortunately, 'The Chef,' a name his fans have given him, did not cook. Instead, Lee shot 1-over-par 73, dropping him thirty-two spots to tied for 35th by Friday's end. A bogey on 18 ultimately did him in as he missed a short putt wide right.
Lee still made the cut, but leaves him six shots back, an uninspiring second-round performance after he led for much of the first round.