The big guy – Bryson DeChambeau – did big guy things Thursday in Round 1 of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. After Round 1, follow Scott Stallings, Doc Redman, and Kevin Kisner as the three shot 7-under 65 to start the event, while DeChambeau followed them all with a 6-under 66.
However, DeChambeau was the owner of the afternoon by hitting absolute missiles from the tee at the back of the nine, following a rise and fall of the first nine. The putter was working (more on that below), the driver was always working and the best current player in the world is doing works at Detroit Golf Club.
We’ll dive a little deeper into his round, as well as everyone chasing him in Round 2 on Friday below, as we look back on the first round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
S1 Doc Redman, Kevin Kisner, Scott Stallings (-7) – Doc felt like some kind of silly gamble as most people were taking it just because he had a nice T2 finish here last year to get a temporary PGA Tour membership. However, the reality here is that Doc has been playing excellent golf since the PGA Tour returned a month ago, and that continued on Thursday as he left early in the morning. He put it a little better than I would like in terms of sustainability, but I don’t think it will fade from this forum.
T4 Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Malnati, Emiliano Grillo, Chase Seiffert, JJ Spaun, Matt Wallace, Chris Stroud (-6) – I hate being the bearer of this news for those who thought Bryson was nothing more than a meme come true on the PGA Tour this season, but what he’s doing so far is working. Consider your performance in the back nine after a 1 below the front nine. He averaged 345 yards off the tee, picked up 1.7 tee shots, made six 3s and shot a 31. This is what happens when you go to a course that allows you to slightly open the throttle. He was the player to beat when he entered, and absolutely nothing has changed after Round 1. If he’s going to hit like he did Thursday (first on the field in punches won), that’s an adjustment until next week.
T11 Rickie Fowler, James Hahn, Chris Kirk, Lucas Glover, Richy Werenski, Adam Hadwin, Henrik Norlander, Seamus Power, Hudson Swafford, Mark Hubbard, George McNeill, Johnson Wagner, Rhein Gibson (-5) – Obviously the big name here is Fowler, who hasn’t had the best 2020. Despite being 100th in driving and 70th in approach shots on Thursday, he was better in both categories and had a clean card that wasn’t a double in the 18 hole. He also turned off the lights, which is his MO (but he hasn’t been in two cuts in a row).
“… It is one of the worst I have ever put up or perhaps the most inconsistent,” Fowler said of his missed cuts at the Charles Schwab Challenge and RBC Heritage. “Being where I was and knowing that there were a handful of shots that were mental errors or putts that failed and changed the course of the round, yes, it always sucks not being there on the weekend.”
T43. Viktor Hovland (-3) – Hovland did nothing on these greens, which is a good sign for a lower score in Round 2. He is 25-1 to win the tournament after Round 1 for a reason, because the firepower has not gone Nowhere and All It Takes It’s a day when there is no shortage of a place for Hovland to take his place on the board.
T68. Patrick Reed (-2) – Reed closed very well with a 33 on his back, but he was unusually abysmal on the greens, and his iron play wasn’t that solid either. It can’t be easy playing DeChambeau hitting him 50 yards past you on every hole, but I’m looking forward to a good step forward at Rank 66 or 67 on Friday in Round 2.
CBS Sports was with you the entire time updating this story with the latest scores, updates, and highlights from the Rocket Mortgage Classic below. Check out live scores at the top of this story or a more detailed leaderboard.
