Webb Simpson, Chris Kirk Tied for lead at Rocket Mortgage Classic
Webb Simpson won two weeks ago at the RBC Heritage, that week’s PGA TOUR stop and Chris Kirk won two weeks ago at the the King & Bear Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour. They are both currently at 12-under going into the weekend at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club.
Simpson fired a bogey-free 64 to tie Kirk atop the leaderboard.
“I definitely feel like I’m as confident in my abilities as I’ve been,” Simpson said. “I’m having as much fun as I’ve ever had. You know, I know how this game works, sometimes it feels like a job and a grind, sometimes you’re just having a blast. that’s how I’m looking at it right now, I’m just having fun competing, embracing the challenges that we face on the golf course instead of shying away.”
Kirk, who won the 2015 Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, followed up his opening round 67 with a 65 on Friday that included hole-outs on Nos. 11 and 12.
“I ended up in both of those spots from probably being a little bit too aggressive on my approach shots, but that’s the mentality I definitely take when I’m playing well, that’s when I want to put the pedal down a little bit more and maybe fire at a little bit more pins,” Kirk said. “The bunker shot at 11 and that little pitch shot from behind the green on 12 were both pretty straightforward shots, and I hit very good shots, but to see them both go in the middle of the hole obviously takes a lot of luck.”
Bryson DeChambeau and Matthew Wolff are among a group that is tied at one shot back.
The 21-year-old Wolff snapped out of a slump with a 64 that included a run of six straight birdies on Friday.
“I think there was a lot of times that I hit the ball really well in the past couple weeks and I just feel like I wasn’t really hitting it close enough,” Wolff said. “I was having more 15-to 20-footers or I would have a couple bad swings and it cost me a couple shots. I just think that it was really close”
DeChambeau followed up his first round 66 with a 67 while leading the field in driving distance.
“If I can make birdie on all the par 5s on the weekend, that’s 8 under right there,” DeChambeau said. “Make a couple birdies on some short par 4s, I feel like that would be a good number, something like that.”
After missing the cut in both the Charles Schwab Challenge and RBC Heritage, Rickie Fowler will be around for the weekend at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Two bogeys on the front nine put him in jeopardy of missing the cut, but Fowler had three birdies on the back to safely survive the cut.
“Really looking at all the events from Colonial to Hilton Head, had a lot of really good stuff. It’s typically like a nine-hole stretch where maybe a few putts don’t go in or you just get going the wrong direction and you kind of dig a little bit too big of a hole to get out of,” Fowler said. “It’s nice to finally have a Saturday tee time. I’m kind of sick and tired of taking weekends off, so I really wasn’t looking forward to that. Needed a little back nine action. We got it done.”
Notables who missed the cut include Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jason Day, Brandt Snedeker and defending champion Nate Lashley.
