2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic (The 36Th of 46 Events in the PGA TOUR Season)
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2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic (The 36th of 46 events in the PGA TOUR Season) Detroit, Michigan June 27-30, 2019 Purse: $7,300,000 (winner: $1,314,000) Detroit Golf Club Par/Yards: 36-36—72/7,340 Second-Round Notes – Friday, June 28, 2019 Weather: Partly cloudy. High of 90. Wind WNW 5-10 mph. 36-hole cut: 71 professionals at 5-under 139 from a field of 156 professionals. Second-Round Leaderboard Nate Lashley 63-67—130 (-14) Cameron Champ 66-65—131 (-13) Charles Howell III 65-67—132 (-12) Ryan Armour 64-69—133 (-11) J.T. Poston 70-63—133 (-11) Things to Know • Nate Lashley enters the weekend holding his second 36-hole lead/co-lead of the season • Lashley, the last player to get in the field, hoping to become first alternate to win since 2016 • Cameron Champ ties longest birdie/eagle streak and lowest nine-hole score of the 2018-19 season • Charles Howell III seeks fourth TOUR win (second of the season) in 546th official start • Lowest 36-hole cut in relation to par since The RSM Classic in 2016 (5-under) • Hideki Matsuyama makes the cut for a PGA TOUR-leading 24th consecutive time • Among the notables missing the cut: Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Gary Woodland, Chez Reavie Second-Round Lead Notes 15 Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win in 2018-19 (stroke-play events) (most recent: Gary Woodland/U.S. Open) Comparing the top three on the leaderboard (entering the week) Nate Lashley Cameron Champ Charles Howell III Age 36 (December 12, 1982) 24 (June 15, 1995) 40 (June 20, 1979) FedExCup 132 53 15 OWGR 353 128 55 PGA TOUR starts 32 27 545 PGA TOUR wins 0 1 3 PGA TOUR top-10s 1 3 92 Starts in 2018-19 14 20 20 Wins in 2018-19 0 1 1 Top-10s in 2018-19 1 3 4 Nate Lashley (1st/-14) • Followed up career-low 63 with a second-round 5-under 67 to maintain a one-stroke lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic • Holds the second-round lead/co-lead for the second time on TOUR (2019 Puerto Rico Open/T8) • Suffered his lone bogey of the week on the par-3 11th • Best opening 36-hole scores on TOUR: 130 (2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic), 135 (2018 Sony Open in Hawaii/T39) • Last man in the field; got in as an alternate when David Berganio, Jr. withdrew on Wednesday • Only career top-10 on TOUR came at the 2019 Puerto Rico Open (T8) • After making his debut at the 2006 Chrysler Classic of Tucson on a sponsor exemption (MC), did not make another start on TOUR until the 2017-18 season (MC/Safeway Open) • In 59 career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, has seven top-10s including a win at the 2017 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship (now an event on the PGA TOUR) • Last player to win on TOUR after getting into the field as an alternate: Vaughn Taylor, 2016 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am Cameron Champ (2nd/-13) • Opens 66-65, marking fifth time he has opened an event with two sub-70 scores (most recent: 2019 Sony Open in Hawaii) • Ties the longest birdie/eagle streak of the 2018-19 season, playing Nos. 2-7 in 7-under (Carlos Ortiz/R2/Desert Classic); previous career-best birdie/eagle streak: 5-under, R1/2018 The RSM Classic • With his 7-under start, became the first player to play his first seven holes in 7-under or better since Ted Potter, Jr. at the 2018 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (which Potter went on to win) • Ties the lowest nine-hole score of the 2018-19 season with a 28 Score Player Tournament Round Side Finish 28 Cameron Champ Rocket Mortgage Classic 2 Front TBD 28 Chez Reavie Travelers Championship 3 Back Win 28 Carlos Ortiz Desert Classic 2 Front T65 • Tops his previous career-best front-nine score by three strokes: 31, R2/2018 Mayakoba Golf Classic • Prior to first-round 66 and second-round 65, had played 21 consecutive rounds without a sub-70 score; prior to this week, last score in the 60s came in the final-round of the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (69) • Currently No. 53 in the FedExCup, with his win at the Sanderson Farms Championship highlighting three top-10 finishes Charles Howell III (3rd/-12) • PGA TOUR victories (3): 2002 Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, 2007 Genesis Open, 2018 The RSM Classic • Makes the cut for the 423rd time in 546th PGA TOUR start (77.5%) • Earlier this season at The RSM Classic, notched his third career TOUR victory and first since 2007, a span of 11 years, 9 months (333 starts); win came in his 529th start (third-most before third victory) Miscellaneous notes • J.T. Poston (T4) ties Nate Lashley’s 9-under 63 from round one to tie the Rocket Mortgage Classic 18-hole record; previous low round on TOUR was 64, set on two occasions and most recently during the third round of the 2019 Desert Classic • Rocket Mortgage ambassador Rickie Fowler opens with matching 4-under 68s to sit T21 • Hideki Matsuyama (T11) makes his TOUR-leading 24th consecutive cut, breaking out of a tie with Tommy Fleetwood • Notables to miss the cut: World No. 2, FedExCup No. 7 Dustin Johnson (142), 2019 U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland (142), 12-time PGA TOUR winner Bubba Watson (143), 2019 Travelers Championship winner Chez Reavie (143) • The top two finishers in the top eight and ties not otherwise exempt will receive exemptions to The Open Championship • Will Mackenzie withdrew during the second round with a back/neck injury Bogey-free rounds R1 (22): Nate Lashley (63), Ryan Armour (64), Nick Watney (64), Talor Gooch (65), Stewart Cink (65), Kevin Streelman (66), Harris English (66), Scott Stallings (66), Martin Piller (66), Joey Garber (67), Tom Hoge (67), Carlos Ortiz (67), Russell Henley (68), Max Homa (68), Ted Potter, Jr. (68), Patrick Reed (68), Josh Teater (68), Cameron Tringale (68), Jimmy Walker (68), Brice Garnett (69), Anirban Lahiri (69), Vaughn Taylor (70) R2 (9): Brian Gay (66), Brice Garnett (67), Hideki Matsuyama (67), Doc Redman (67), Rickie Fowler (68), Denny McCarthy (68), Wes Homan (68), Roberto Castro (69), Brandt Snedeker (69) Scoring averages Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative R1 34.712 34.994 69.705 -- R2 34.935 35.682 70.617 70.158 Early Late R1 69.76 69.65 R2 70.79 70.45 Toughest hole Easiest hole R1 Par-4 2nd (4.135) Par-5 7th (4.468) R2 Par-3 11th (3.273) Par-5 17th (4.403) .