The birdies flew in the first round of the 2025 Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club. As an afternoon thunderstorm sprinted through the area and small winds blew around the course, players were designed by Donald Ross, with an average field scoring coming in with nearly three strokes in round one.
But that wasn’t enough for Aldrich Podgiter and Kevin Roy, but it’s a good fit for sharing a new course record at Detroit Golf Club, as both men signed a 10-under 62. The duo shared an overnight lead and headed for a one-stroke of Scoring Bonanza on Friday, with Min Wooly tied his previous course record with Morning Wave A 63 (matching Mark Hubbard and Max Glazerman later that day).
“I feel like I’ve been playing pretty well over the last few weeks. I’ve finished well in Canada,” Roy said. “To be honest, I wasn’t really happy with how I hit it on Pro-AM yesterday, but I came out and had a good practice session and it felt like driving it in Canada and really ironing it, and I brought it out onto the course.
Potgieter started with six birdies and eagle in the first 10 holes, but Roy ran through the finish line with an exclamation point from Eagle Bydi to hone his round. Performances were not possible at a better time for both men as they found themselves in two different bubbles that would soon see the end of the PGA Tour season. Potgieter came in number 73 in the FedEx Cup ranking, and Roy checked in at No. 100.
“This is probably the biggest goal of the year: making the playoffs, securing cards and coming back with all the knowledge of the course next year,” Podgiator said. “And with a sensible schedule, you can choose a little bit of what you want to play, that’s a real big deal, and put your top 50 into an elevated event.
They will need to keep the pedals metal for the next three days as many big names line up behind the leader. Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantray, Ben Griffin and PGA Tour rookie Luke Clanton all opened with 66 and started in the top 20. Meanwhile, last week’s winner Keegan Bradley settled down to 68 after his partner Colin Morikawa did one bad thing.
leader
T1. Aldrich Potgier, Kevin Roy (-10): Potgieter saw the morning score and knew from the jump that this golf course was more than GetTable. He reached 8 under through the first 10 holes, but a series of pars midway through his round placed a potential course record in danger. Two more circles squashed concerns by slamming their pencils across the final three holes and giving them a share of the record along with Roy.
In his first start since the week after the PGA Championship, the South African young man known for his incredible distance was instead impressed by his scoring club. During the four-week holiday, Podgillator decided to return to his home country in South Africa, put a new set of irons in his bag and play a new golf ball. Looking for his first victory in his first season on the PGA Tour, a charging leave combined with his gear changes proved be beneficial.
“We needed a little more spin to keep the ball in the air a little,” Podgiator said. “I wouldn’t have expected that drive distance would add a spin, but I keep the ball in the air a little longer. I hit the knuckle knuckles and it got a little hotter. So I’ve been greening for so long throughout the year, so I’m trying to get that spinoff into the wind.
Candidate
T3. Min Woo Lee, Max Greyserman, Mark Hubbard (-9)
6. Andrew Putnam (-8)
T7. Lee Hodges, Zach Johnson, Hayden Springer, Kris Ventura, Michael Thorbjornsen, Henrik Norlander, Chris Kirk, Philip Knowles (-7)
Since breaking through for his first PGA tour a few weeks before the Masters, Lee has struggled to summon that magic again. There was no top-40 finish in his final seven starts – including missed cuts at the PGA Championship and US Open – Lee stated how happy he is to reach golf courses like Detroit Golf Club.
Electric Australia, known for its entire bag’s tee distance and ball speed, was tied to its firepower and red-hot putter on Thursday. Cycling through a variety of weights and different models, Lee finds a cane that she can behave with confidence and is aiming for her second victory of the season.
“To be honest, it’s a very bad thing,” Lee said. “I didn’t feel good on the course, especially on the course where I hit it with a rough I literally hacked out. Most of the Oakmont, Memorial, and Signature Events are very, very strict, and you’re almost almost going to play.
“It was pretty average so I don’t rate anything. It seems very close, but today I didn’t think it was that different and scored 10 times better than what I was scoring. At the end of the day, I need to lift my head and keep it for the long term. I want to play a signature event. Yes, there are courses like this on the PGA Tour.
Morikawa plans to make another change
It was a strange summer for Morikawa, and there were strangers ahead of the Rocket classics as he interacted with reporters about the caddy situation. The exchange goes to the Greens as well as in front of the microphone. Morikawa plans to make changes to putter ahead of the second round.
“I bumped into it enough to play it well. I was put down like a blind person, honestly,” Morikawa said. “It’s an uncomfortable feeling to not be able to push everything away and get a face on the top. That’s difficult. On the green, there are a lot of POAs growing, so you have to be confident in your strokes.
Morikawa fired the opening of 69, kicking him out of the seven stroke early. This was primarily due to a lack of confidence in putting surfaces. He was ranked second in the last green and dead strokes on the field in terms of losing nearly five strokes to Green and coming with three bogeys with three putts. As for what will change with the green, Morikawa suggested that the grip could change, but it remained slightly open.
“Tomorrow is very likely,” Morikawa said of the Greens’ changes. “We’ll see what pops up.”
2025 Rocket Classic Update Odds, Picks
Odds by DraftKings Sportsbook
- Max Greaser: 7-1
- Aldrich Potgieter: 9-1
- Min Woo Lee: 9-1-1-1-1-1
- Kevin Roy: 11-1
- Patrick Cantray: 14-1
- Mark Hubbard: 14-1
- Ben Griffin: 16-1
The race has begun and despite shooting 5 under in his opening round and hitting the iron beautifully, Matt Fitzpatrick is still standing at his pre-tournament price of 45-1. That’s enough for me as the British ranked the fifth tee green and the fourth in the approach, while nothing came out of his putter. He needs at least one for the low one of the 60s in the next three days, and that should come once the green conversion is made.
