DETROIT — Ahhh. Now that’s better.
We can all breathe a little easier after the air quality “improved” Friday to merely “unhealthy for certain groups,” and things got back to normal in the second round of the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Like most years, we had a bunch of names most of us have never heard of near the top of the leaderboard. Some of the marquee names made a move. Some marquee names made a move in the wrong direction.
And for the fourth straight year, there won’t be a repeat champion.
So pretty much par for the course at the halfway point of the PGA Tour’s annual stop at Detroit Golf Club.
Gilbert vs. Ishbia: UWM employees crash party on Day 2 of Rocket Mortgage Classic
At the very top of the leaderboard sat two journeymen and two Taylors. Taylor Moore, a first-time winner in March at the Valspar Championship, and Canadian Taylor Pendrith held a one-shot lead at 13-under 131. Moore, who’s ranked 51st in the world, shot 67 on Friday. Pendrith, who’s ranked 127th, shot a 64.
Hot on their heels were two of the tournament’s biggest names. Rickie Fowler caught fire late in the afternoon, eagled the par-5 17th, added six more birdies and shot 65 to reach 12-under 132. Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa eagled the par-5 14th, shot 67 and was at 11-under 133.
Fowler struggled on the “bouncy” and “beat up” greens in the first round, but avoided that problem by simply hitting it close for several tap-ins Friday. Two weeks ago at the U.S. Open, he closed with a 75 and tied for fifth. Last week at the Travelers Championship, he followed a third-round 60 with a 69 in final round and tied for 13th.
On Saturday, Fowler will be in the second-to-last group, in prime position knowing what he must, and must not, do.
“I mean, the biggest thing, we can’t try and press too hard,” he said. “I definitely know we can win. … How I’ve played is some of the best if not the best I’ve felt about my game and on the course really ever.”
This is the blessing and the curse of the Rocket. Anybody — and I mean anybody — can win this thing.
Rickie Fowler walks to the second green during Round 2 of the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Friday, June 29, 2023, at the Detroit Golf Club.
Fowler, a big fan favorite here, can bounce back from his U.S. Open faceplant and win this thing. But so can a guy you’ve probably never heard of named Andrew Landry. He won two tournaments a few years ago, but now he’s the 660th-ranked player…
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