Chris Kirk among trio in lead at Rocket Classic
Chris Kirk, Philip Knowles and Andrew Putnam share the lead after two rounds of the Rocket Classic, while the course record fell for the second straight day Friday at Detroit Golf Club.
Knowles achieved the rare feat of making three eagles in a single round en route to an 8-under 64, and yet he was three shots behind the lowest round of the day. That belonged to Jake Knapp, who shot 123 spots up the leaderboard by following Thursday's even-par 72 with an 11-under 61.
Kirk posted a 65 Friday and Putnam a 66 to join Knowles at 14-under-par 130 halfway through the tournament, one shot clear of fourth-place Jackson Suber (65). Aldrich Potgieter of South Africa (70), Mark Hubbard (69) and Michael Thorbjornsen (67) are tied for fifth at 12 under.
Kirk made nine birdies Friday, including the first three holes and the final two, as he hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. Of the three co-leaders, he's also the most established, with two of his six PGA Tour victories coming since 2023.
"The last few days everything has been pretty solid," Kirk said. "You know, I've putted the ball pretty nice. Not making everything or anything like that, but definitely made some really good quality putts. Obviously hit a good many good iron and wedge shots to give myself some looks."
Knowles has nowhere near the reputation of Kirk. He is ranked No. 519 in the world and is making his 27th start on the PGA Tour this week.
Knowles started his round on the back nine, and his eagles came on three different par-5 holes: an 81-foot chip at No. 17, a 37-yard pitch-in at No. 4 and a 40-yard hole-out at No. 7.
"You feel like you're standing on 17 tee, or my eighth hole, and you're at even par on the day and you just feel like you're behind the 8-ball at some level," Knowles said. "I hit that tee ball in the left rough, drew an OK lie and strategically we knew we had to miss it left of the hole and we were able to do that.
I just kind of saw the line and you felt like, as I was standing there with that chip, I was very confident I was going to hit it close. I can't ever say I knew I was going to make it, but that one going in, felt like that was the catapult."
Then there was Putnam, whose bogey-free day included one eagle, a chip-in at No. 7. He is still hunting for his second PGA Tour win to validate his first, the Barracuda Championship back in 2018.
"Yeah, I'm playing well right now," Putnam said. "I don't know how any other week's going to go. Golf is such an interesting game, you take it when you get it so hopefully capitalize on feeling like I'm starting to play good."
Knapp started his round on the back nine with three birdies and a 34-foot eagle putt. He kept it rolling with six birdies on the front nine, and he finished the day first in the field in strokes gained: putting.
One day after Potgieter and Kevin Roy posted rounds of 62 to break the course record, Knapp took it for himself by making nine birdies and one eagle in a bogey-free round.
"I'm definitely not afraid of shooting a low number," said Knapp, who shot a 59 earlier this year at the Cognizant Classic. "I feel like when I start making birdies, I want to make more. I was even kind of thinking about 59 (late in Friday's round)."
Knapp is one of 15 players tied at 11 under, a logjam that also includes Roy (71), Collin Morikawa (64), Ben Griffin (67), Gary Woodland (66) and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (66).
Scoring conditions in Detroit were so favorable for the first two days that the cut line fell at 6 under par. Wyndham Clark (4 under), Max Homa (3 under) and South Korea's Tom Kim (1 under) missed the cut, as well as defending champion Cam Davis of Australia (even par) and 2023 champ Rickie Fowler (2 under). — REUTERS
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New Straits Times
10 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Chris Kirk among trio in lead at Rocket Classic
Chris Kirk, Philip Knowles and Andrew Putnam share the lead after two rounds of the Rocket Classic, while the course record fell for the second straight day Friday at Detroit Golf Club. Knowles achieved the rare feat of making three eagles in a single round en route to an 8-under 64, and yet he was three shots behind the lowest round of the day. That belonged to Jake Knapp, who shot 123 spots up the leaderboard by following Thursday's even-par 72 with an 11-under 61. Kirk posted a 65 Friday and Putnam a 66 to join Knowles at 14-under-par 130 halfway through the tournament, one shot clear of fourth-place Jackson Suber (65). Aldrich Potgieter of South Africa (70), Mark Hubbard (69) and Michael Thorbjornsen (67) are tied for fifth at 12 under. Kirk made nine birdies Friday, including the first three holes and the final two, as he hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. Of the three co-leaders, he's also the most established, with two of his six PGA Tour victories coming since 2023. "The last few days everything has been pretty solid," Kirk said. "You know, I've putted the ball pretty nice. Not making everything or anything like that, but definitely made some really good quality putts. Obviously hit a good many good iron and wedge shots to give myself some looks." Knowles has nowhere near the reputation of Kirk. He is ranked No. 519 in the world and is making his 27th start on the PGA Tour this week. Knowles started his round on the back nine, and his eagles came on three different par-5 holes: an 81-foot chip at No. 17, a 37-yard pitch-in at No. 4 and a 40-yard hole-out at No. 7. "You feel like you're standing on 17 tee, or my eighth hole, and you're at even par on the day and you just feel like you're behind the 8-ball at some level," Knowles said. "I hit that tee ball in the left rough, drew an OK lie and strategically we knew we had to miss it left of the hole and we were able to do that. I just kind of saw the line and you felt like, as I was standing there with that chip, I was very confident I was going to hit it close. I can't ever say I knew I was going to make it, but that one going in, felt like that was the catapult." Then there was Putnam, whose bogey-free day included one eagle, a chip-in at No. 7. He is still hunting for his second PGA Tour win to validate his first, the Barracuda Championship back in 2018. "Yeah, I'm playing well right now," Putnam said. "I don't know how any other week's going to go. Golf is such an interesting game, you take it when you get it so hopefully capitalize on feeling like I'm starting to play good." Knapp started his round on the back nine with three birdies and a 34-foot eagle putt. He kept it rolling with six birdies on the front nine, and he finished the day first in the field in strokes gained: putting. One day after Potgieter and Kevin Roy posted rounds of 62 to break the course record, Knapp took it for himself by making nine birdies and one eagle in a bogey-free round. "I'm definitely not afraid of shooting a low number," said Knapp, who shot a 59 earlier this year at the Cognizant Classic. "I feel like when I start making birdies, I want to make more. I was even kind of thinking about 59 (late in Friday's round)." Knapp is one of 15 players tied at 11 under, a logjam that also includes Roy (71), Collin Morikawa (64), Ben Griffin (67), Gary Woodland (66) and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (66). Scoring conditions in Detroit were so favorable for the first two days that the cut line fell at 6 under par. Wyndham Clark (4 under), Max Homa (3 under) and South Korea's Tom Kim (1 under) missed the cut, as well as defending champion Cam Davis of Australia (even par) and 2023 champ Rickie Fowler (2 under). — REUTERS
New Straits Times
6 days ago
- New Straits Times
Fleetwood grabs PGA Travelers lead as top-ranked stars fade
NEW YORK: England's Tommy Fleetwood, seeking his first PGA Tour title, fired a seven-under par 63 to seize a three-stroke lead after Saturday's third round of the Travelers Championship. The 34-year-old Merseysider eagled the par-five 13th for the second consecutive day on the way to standing on 16-under 194 after 54 holes at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. American Russell Henley, who won his fifth career PGA title in March at Bay Hill, matched his career-low PGA round with a bogey-free 61 to share second on 197 with US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, who shot 63. "It'll come down to a bunch of things really," Fleetwood said. "Being in the last group, I'm really happy with that. "I'm happy with the work I've done. It's just an amazing opportunity to go out here tomorrow and hopefully it's my time." World number one Scottie Scheffler, second-ranked Rory McIlroy and world number five Justin Thomas stumbled to fall well back, Scheffler and Thomas having shared the 36-hole lead with Fleetwood. Paris Olympic runner-up Fleetwood, ranked 17th, has seven DP World Tour wins but none on the PGA despite 41 top-10 finishes. Fleetwood sank a birdie putt from just inside 13 feet at the third hole and rolled in a 66-foot birdie putt, his season long, at the par-three fifth. At the par-five sixth, Fleetwood dropped his approach inches from the hole and tapped in for birdie. Fleetwood made a 19-foot birdie putt at the 10th then eagled 13, sinking a 30-foot putt from just off the green -- "13 has been very kind to me so far. I'd like to keep up with that." Fleetwood, who had two eagles on the season when the week began, has made three in the past two days and only one bogey this week. After driving the green at the par-four 15th to set up a a tap-in birdie, Fleetwood closed with three pars. "It was nice to get off to a good start," Fleetwood said. " Bogey free is always good." Henley made five birdies on the front nine to move within two of the lead and stayed on Fleetwood's heels most of the day, adding a 14-foot birdie putt at the 12th, a seven-footer for birdie at 13, a four-footer to birdie 14 and a closing birdie from just outside five feet. "I did everything really well," said Henley. "It was a really solid round, hit a lot of great shots. Hope I can continue to do that." Bradley, the 2023 Travelers winner, birdied four of the first seven holes, three of his birdie putts from outside 15 feet, and birdied three of the last six holes, a five-footer at the last grabbing a share of second. "Every one counts because we're going to have to go out and shoot another low one tomorrow," Bradley said. Defending champion Scheffler struggled on his 29th birthday, making an triple bogey and a double bogey in the same round for the first time in his career in firing a 72 to stand on 203. Scheffler made his first triple bogey since last August, missing the first green from a nearby bunker, then finding the rough. Last month's PGA Championship winner found water off the eighth tee on the way to a double bogey. Thomas, a two-time major winner, took a quadruple-bogey nine at the 13th, losing his tee shot into left rough and needing three shots to escape greenside rough, on the way to shooting 73 to stand on 204. McIlroy fired a 68 to stand on 203. He birdied four of the first eight holes, his longest putt among them from 11 feet at the fourth, before a double bogey at 12 dropped him back, taking four to reach the green after going long with his approach. - AFP
New Straits Times
21-06-2025
- New Straits Times
Fleetwood, Thomas and Scheffler share PGA Travelers lead
NEW YORK: England's Tommy Fleetwood made two eagles and a birdie in the last six holes Friday to grab a share of the lead with top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas at the PGA Travelers Championship. Thomas reeled off five consecutive birdies in firing a six-under par 64 while Fleetwood shot 65 and Scheffler fired a 69 to all stand on nine-under 131 for 36 holes at windy TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. Paris Olympic runner-up Fleetwood, ranked 17th, matched his season-low round. He has seven European Tour wins but seeks his first PGA Tour victory. Fleetwood eagled the par-five 13th after reaching the green in two and sinking a putt from just inside 10 feet, then chipped in at the par-four 14th for eagle from the fairway from just inside 90 feet. "Would have been happy walking off with two birdies," Fleetwood said. "But two eagles was a big bonus." A 12-foot birdie putt at the par-three 16th gave him a share of the lead. "It happened really quick. You don't expect two eagles in three holes," he said. "You don't really look for those things to happen. "I played really well. Felt like I did a great job of scrapping on the front nine then played well on the back nine." Fifth-ranked Thomas, a two-time major winner, opened the back nine with a bogey then birdied the next five holes. The last two in the run, at the 14th and 15th, were from just beyond 26 feet each. "I was very patient. I hit a lot of really good iron shots. I felt like I was in good control," Thomas said. "I didn't feel like I drove it very well. I kept it in play and kept it in front of me, which is a big part of it, but I just kept it out of trouble. Finally made some putts on that back nine. It was nice." Scheffler, who won his third major title at last month's PGA Championship, stumbled back with a double bogey at 17, plunking his second shot into the water. "I played really nice," Scheffler said. "Had a weird lie on the second shot and kind of chunked it. After that I hit each shot the way I wanted, just didn't get the results from it. "Outside of that, I felt like I played pretty well. It was very challenging out there with the wind gusts." Scheffler made a bogey at the par-five sixth after missing the green with his approach but responded with birdies at the seventh on a putt from just inside seven feet and the ninth from just inside 10 feet. At the par-five 13th, Scheffler reached the green in two and two-putted for birdie from 24 feet to grab the solo lead, then sank a birdie putt from just inside 17 feet. Australian Jason Day, the 2015 PGA Championship winner, made three birdies in a row on holes 12-14 – all on putts between four and eight feet – and closed with a 21-foot birdie putt to shoot 66 and take fourth on 132. "There's 40-mph gusts out there," Day said. "You had to hit on the right wind." Americans Denny McCarthy and Austin Eckroat shared fifth on 133. World number two Rory McIlroy made bogeys on three of the first four holes then made birdies on three of the first six on the back nine as he battled to a 71 to stand on 135. "I hit some good shots and held it together when it could have got away from me early in the round," McIlroy said. "I felt like I battled back pretty well.
