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Thursday at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, which features eight of the top 30 players in the Official World Golf Rankings in the field, proved to be a birdie fest at Detroit Golf Club.
Taylor Moore and Peter Kuest share the lead at 8-under par. A pack of seven players, including PGA Tour rookies Ludvig Aberg and Sam Bennett, trail by just one stroke at 7-under.
Defending champion Tony Finau and favorites such as Justin Thomas and Hideki Matsuyama struggled throughout their opening rounds which we’ll discuss later in this piece.
Rocket Mortgage Classic Leaderboard
Contents
Position/Player | Score | Round | |
|---|---|---|---|
T1 | Peter Kuest | -8 | 64 |
T1 | Taylor Moore | -8 | 64 |
T3 | Aaron Rai | -7 | 65 |
T3 | Sam Ryder | -7 | 65 |
T3 | Ludvig Aberg | -7 | 65 |
T3 | Sam Bennett | -7 | 65 |
T3 | Dylan Wu | -7 | 65 |
T3 | Justin Suh | -7 | 65 |
T3 | Adam Schenk | -7 | 65 |
T10 | Doug Ghim | -6 | 66 |
T10 | Collin Morikawa | -6 | 66 |
T10 | Adam Hadwin | -6 | 66 |
T10 | MJ Daffue | -6 | 66 |
Key Moments of the Day
The following section will showcase the highlights and memorable moments of round one.
Peter Kuest and Taylor Moore top the leaderboard
Kuest, who Monday qualified into the event, grabbed the early clubhouse lead after firing an 8-under 64. The 25-year-old recorded nine birdies compared to a lone bogey and posted an impressive 30 on his front nine. The BYU product has only played in three other PGA Tour events this season, with his best finish being a T14 at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
If he hadn't qualified for the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Monday, Peter Kuest says he'd be out fishing right now. I guess he'll have to settle for trying to win a PGA Tour event 🤷♂️🎣 pic.twitter.com/XElQX574Hm
— Betsperts Golf (@BetspertsGolf) June 29, 2023
Moore matched Kuest’s 64 in the afternoon thanks to a bogey-free round that included eight birdies. The 29-year-old birdied the par 5 17th to tie the lead. A native of San Angelo, TX, Moore has enjoyed a breakout year thus far and earned his first tour win at the Valspar Championship in March.
Youngsters Sam Bennett and Ludvig Aberg are in search of their first wins
Fresh out of Texas A&M and Texas Tech, Bennett and Aberg went low Thursday with rounds of 63 (7-under). Despite playing only a few events, both highly touted collegiate stars seem to be knocking at the door for their breakthrough on the PGA Tour. The low amateur at the Masters, Bennett, has two top 20s this season and Aberg, who ended his college career ranked No. 1, has collected three top 25s.
11 players are within two strokes of the lead
Aaron Rai, Sam Ryder, Dylan Wu, Justin Suh and Adam Schenk are a stroke off of second place. Schenk has been knocking on the door of his first win, finishing in second at the Valspar and narrowly losing in a playoff last month to Emiliano Grillo at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa and PGA Tour winner Adam Hadwin are two strokes back, along with South African MJ Daffue and Doug Ghim. It seems being tackled at the RBC Canadian Open hasn’t had a negative effect on Hadwin’s golf game.
Dropping it in from the bunker 👀@Collin_Morikawa | @RocketClassic pic.twitter.com/axwrEJ9pwT
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 29, 2023
Household names perform poorly
Tournament favorite (14/1) and defending champion Tony Finau sits in a tie for 107th after opening with an even round of 72. Even usually isn’t a bad thing on most courses, but Detroit Golf Club sets up as an easy track that yields a ton of birdies.
Justin Thomas (16/1) and Hideki Matsuyama (18/1) were also among the favorites expected to contend this week. The two shot 4-over (76) and 3-over (75) and will need to shoot lights out on Friday if they expect to make the cut.
Tom Kim, who opened at 20/1 to win the tournament, also put on a poor showing with a 1-over par 73.
Updated odds to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic
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