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).
–Field Level Media
