The wind kicked up just a touch, but the scores still kept falling on Saturday during the third round of the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club.
No player put us on a 59 watch, but 21-year-old rising star Matthew Wolff gave everyone a lesson with his second straight round of 8-under 64, putting him at 19-under and atop the leaderboard entering Sunday’s final round. That gave the former Oklahoma State star a three-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau and Ryan Armour.
Wolff wasn’t the only player to make some noise on Saturday. Here are the hits and misses from the third round.
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Hit: Wesley Bryan
He put himself into contention with an early 65 that got him to 13 under. If you don’t know who Bryan is, you should. The 2017 RBC Heritage winner is the kind of fun player golf needs. He’s capable of epic smack talk during a round and he and his brother, George, have an awesome YouTube channel, Bryan Bros, where they perform crazy trick shots. It’ll be hard not to root for him.
Hit: Bryson DeChambeau
Clearly he was hurt by me assigning him a fake “miss” after the second round in order to spur him on. DeChambeau birdied two of his first four holes then went cold until he birdied the 13th and 14th. He almost drove the 399-yard green on the 13th. His second straight 67 wasn’t bad. At 16 under, he’s easily within striking distance of Wolff. But he could be running away with this thing. How a guy with this kind of power and talent doesn’t go full Tiger Woods on the field every week completely puzzles me.
Miss: Webb Simpson
The world’s sixth-ranked player shot 64 in the second round and was in position to take control of the tournament with a solid round on Saturday. But he struggled to a 1 under 71 on a day when 34 players were 3 under or better, even if there was a little wind. Simpson dropped out of a tie for the lead and is six shots back at 13 under.
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Hit: Ryan Armour
Great shooting by the — ugh — Ohio State graduate, who posted a 67 to put himself in prime position, tied with DeChambeau. Nice job by the … the … Buck … eye. Ugh. Hard to get that out. Wonder if he’ll refer to Detroit Golf Club as “that course up north” if he wins.
Miss: Brian Stuard
Brutal. The former Oakland University golfer from Jackson, Michigan started the round in great position at 9 under, just three shots back. He shot 73 and eliminated any chance of winning. His driver betrayed him. He made three bogeys and a killer double bogey on the par-5 10th hole, when he hit out of one fairway bunker into another. Golf is just mean sometimes.
Hit: Hideki Matsuyama
The world No. 23 had the move of the day when he shot up 42 spots into a tie for 13th when he fired a 65 to reach 12 under. Like world No. 17 Tony Finau, who shot 66, Matsuyama played early and took advantage of the smoother greens.
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