DETROIT — Consider the early Thursday weather a harbinger of what was to come in the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club: A cold start followed by a surge of heat on the course.
That started with Nate Lashley, who knows something about starting the Rocket with a bang. The 2019 winner, who went from third alternate to champion while leading wire-to-wire, needed just two holes to deliver a hole-in-one, acing the par-3 No. 11 after starting on the back nine.
But Lashley couldn’t stay hot, finishing with a 2-under-par 70. Instead, it was Akshay Bhatia closing the first round with a one-stroke lead after firing an 8-under 64. Behind him, at 7 under, are Michael Kim and Taylor Montgomery. They’re trailed by a logjam of five golfers at 6 under, including, most notably, 2023 Rocket champ Rickie Fowler and Will Zalatoris, the No. 38 golfer in the FedEx Cup standings.
Four takeaways
Precision counts on approach — and on the greens
Course architect Donald Ross delivered a classic course for the PGA Tour field, but small greens and high pin placements left some golfers struggling with their putts.
Rocket Mortgage: Friday tee times | Photos | Leaderboard
That included Tom Kim. the 22-year-old fired a 1-over 73, mostly due to his early putts. Kim’s approach shots were phenomenal, but he was unable to sink his putts, with four bogeys — two on the front nine and two more on the back.
Kim’s playing partner, Cameron Young, opened with a 5-under 67 to go into the clubhouse tied for second (though he later dropped to a tie for ninth) because he placed the ball in the best position on the green and sunk his putts.
Fowler showed promise with a solid round
Fowler is the sentimental favorite to repeat as Rocket champ, and he played this course like a 10-year vet, taking the smart shots and making some putts. Fowler shot a cool 6-under 66 without a bogey, closing with three birdies in his final five holes.
“Coming off of last week, finally started to see some putts go in there and putted well. I was looking forward to this week coming back to a place I’ve played well and had success,” he said.
Likewise, Bhatia grabbed the lead on a late push in the back nine, posting a birdie, an eagle, and a birdie on Nos. 16-18.
Still, if Fowler’s going to make a move on Day 2, he needs to turn some of his pars into birdies.
“There’s always that little extra pressure partly from being a partner with Rocket and being the defending champion here, putting pressure on yourself as well. All good.”
Miles Russell shows his inexperience
Yes, 15-year-old Miles Russell, the ninth-youngest player to make his PGA Tour debut, showed his age Thursday.
Russell consistently put himself in bad situations throughout the day, starting with trips to the left bunker on the first three holes of the back nine. Still, he was able to get up from the bad spots to grab two pars after bogeying his first hole. Closing on the front nine was too much, however, as two-putted on No. 6 for a double bogey, then two-putted again on No. 9 for a bogey.
The race to make the cut will be fun to watch
The weather is likely to get wetter before it gets better, with a Saturday forecast featuring wet conditions all day.
That will make Friday’s second round key, as the field looks to make a move before the course bogs them down.
Cameron Young, still looking for his first win on the Tour, opened strong with a birdie and an eagle in his first four holes, to go into the clubhouse tied for second. Likewise, Aaron Rai fired a 6-under 66 to grab the lead during the morning session before falling to fourth as the warm weather helped the afternoon crowd.