Tag: Tom Lewis

Rocket Mortgage Classic: Tom Lewis and Joaquin Niemann are bogey-free and share 36-hole lead

No bogeys through 36 holes have Tom Lewis and Joaquin Niemann at the top of the leaderboard and feeling pretty good about it.

DETROIT – At a muddy, water-logged Detroit Golf Club, Joaquin Niemann and Tom Lewis have been Mr. Clean this week.

As in their cards, through two rounds of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, are spotless. No bogeys through 36 holes have the 22-year-old Chilean and the 30-year-old Englishman at the top of the leaderboard and feeling pretty good about it.

“Right now everything is pretty good,” Niemann said.

And why wouldn’t it be? Niemann, who fired a 65 on Thursday, was in one of the last groups to complete the first round before play was suspended due to darkness. He returned on Friday morning and kept away those pesky bogeys. He opened with seven pars before wedging inside 3 feet for his first birdie of the day at No. 8. He tacked on another at the par-5 14th, after hitting the green in 2 and two putting and took advantage of the par-5 17th for his final circle on the card.

Niemann’s second-round 3-under 69 boosted his 36-hole total to 10-under 134, same as Lewis, and one-stroke better than Troy Merritt, Max Homa and Chris Kirk at the midway point of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Niemann, who entered the week ranked No. 30 in the world, blamed a balky putter for his first missed cut of the season at the Memorial and for middling finishes at the U.S. Open and the Travelers Championship. But it’s come alive this week.

“I think that’s the best part of my game right now,” he said.

Indeed, it has. Niemann, who finished T-5 here in 2019, has gained more than five strokes on the green and he’s a perfect 9-for-9 in scrambling.

Lewis, 30, birdied two of his first four holes and canned a 9-foot par putt at the last hole to save par and keep the card spotless for the first 36 holes.

“I was saying to my caddie, John, it would be nice to go up and down and go bogey-free for two rounds. It’s always nice doing that,” Lewis said. “I’m just happy, even if I did miss that putt, to be in the position I am going into the weekend. I’m really pleased with the way I’ve been playing.”

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As he should given that he’s missed the cut in half of his 22 previous starts this season as well as four of his last six tournaments, and his only top-10 finish was at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a two-man team event. Lewis opened with a pair of 67s last week at the Travelers Championship to make the cut but stumbled to 74 on Saturday and tumbled to a T-47 finish.

“I think the toughest round for me is going to be tomorrow. If I can go out and shoot under par, whatever happens, I’ll be really happy with that,” he said.

Lewis and Niemann have plenty of company behind them. Merritt’s 4-under 68 was set up by hitting all 14 fairways on Friday.

“When it’s this soft out here, there’s pretty much one club you hit off of every tee box, don’t even have to think about it,” he said.

But the key has been the return of his putting form, he said.

“When it’s consistently the best part of your game and you struggle with it for more than half of the year, it makes it pretty tough,” Merritt said.

Max Homa can relate, although he only struggled to see putts fall for about 30 holes. But once he broke the seal with a 35-footer at the par-3 15th, he finished with a flurry of four birdies in a row to shoot 7-under 65.

“Joe said it best,” Homa said of caddie Joe Greiner. “When we made the putt on 16, he said, ‘It’s a messed up game we play because we’ve been feeling like the hole’s a thimble and you make one long one and it starts to feel like a bucket.’ ”

Homa’s round tied for the low round of the day with Russell Knox, who hit all 18 greens in regulation and didn’t mind the gusty conditions. Neither did Chris Kirk, who shot 68 and is chasing his first PGA Tour victory since 2015 at a tree-lined course that fits his eye.

“Yeah, it certainly favors the guys that are hitting it out of the middle of the face, that’s for sure,” he said.

Does he count himself among them?

“So far, so far, yeah. It’s been all right,” he said.

Among those who weren’t dialed in this week are Bryson DeChambeau, Gary Woodland and Webb Simpson, who missed the cut. Hideki Matsuyama is another big name who checked out early after testing positive for COVID-19.

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3 things to know about Tom Lewis, who tied the course record at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational

Tom Lewis made mincemeat of TPC Southwind on Saturday in the third round of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He tied the course and tournament records by rattling off a 61, moving to 6-under par, which was six strokes behind third-round leader …

Tom Lewis made mincemeat of TPC Southwind on Saturday in the third round of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

He tied the course and tournament records by rattling off a 61, moving to 6-under par, which was six strokes behind third-round leader Brendon Todd heading into Sunday’s final round.

Here are three things to know about Lewis, a 29-year-old from Welwyn Garden City, England, which is also Nick Faldo’s hometown.

First year on the PGA Tour

Lewis joined the PGA Tour this year after winning the Korn Ferry Tour Championship in 2019.

Having turned pro in 2011, Lewis got his first professional win at the Portugal Masters on the European Tour in just his third professional start. He won the Portugal Masters again in 2018.

FedEx St. Jude Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos

The WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational is his ninth start on the PGA Tour. Lewis, ranked 67th in the world, has missed five cuts, and his best finish to date is a tie for 12th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in July.

Rare air

Lewis is the third golfer to card a round under 62 at TPC Southwind, which has hosted a PGA Tour event since 1989. Jay Delsing was the first to shoot a 61 there, when he did it in the fourth round in 1993, when the tournament was known as the Federal Express St. Jude Classic.

In 2001, eventual winner Bob Estes’ 61 came in the opening round.

Hideki Matsuyama (2017), Sergio Garcia (2014) and Tiger Woods (2013 and 2000) also have shot 61 in this WGC event, which previously was held in Ohio.

The dominant 61

Lewis’ round began innocently enough with back-to-back pars on Nos. 10 and 11.

Then, he caught fire. Lewis birdied five in a row – starting with a 38-plus foot putt on No. 12 – before closing out the back nine with a par and a bogey.

He wasn’t done, though. Birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 6, 7 and 9 sent him to the clubhouse tied for 10th, up 47 spots from where he began the day.

“Yeah, it was really nice,” Lewis said. “It didn’t look good this morning with the rain coming down, but it wasn’t very windy out there. The greens softened up a tiny bit. I holed putts at the right time, and it was great.”

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

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Joel Dahmen, others outside Golfweek/Sagarin top 30 in contention at TPC Southwind

A handful of golfers ranked outside the top 30 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings still in contention at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout began Saturday’s third round at even par, and Joel Dahmen was 1-under.

But Bezuidenhout and Dahmen vaulted themselves toward the top of the leaderboard at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with strong performances.

Bezuidenhout shot a 6-under 64 and Dahmen had a 5-under 65 as they moved into a tie for 10th at 6 under, six shots behind leader Brendon Todd.

They headline a handful of golfers ranked outside the top 30 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings still in contention for the tournament title.

Todd, No. 45 in the rankings (51 in OWGR), is 12-under, one stroke ahead of Byeong Hun An, who is 87th (62nd in OWGR).

Tom Lewis, who ranks 173rd according to Golfweek/Sagarin, tied a TPC Southwind record with a 9-under 61 and is tied for 10th at 6-under.

FedEx St. Jude Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos

Neither Dahmen, who is No. 31 in Golfweek/Sagarin, nor Bezuidenhout, who is No. 75th, has won on the PGA Tour.

Dahmen said he fully expected to play well at TPC Southwind.

“I expect myself to be in the top 10,” he said. “This is a great golf course for me, you don’t have to be a bomber. Iron play is important out here, driving in the fairway and that’s what I do well. I expected to play well this week. This course fits everything I’m supposed to be good at.”

For Dahmen, this week has special meaning because it’s his first appearance in a World Golf Championships field.

“Well, first is nice, so that means a lot there,” said Dahmen, who earned his PGA Tour card in 2017. “World rankings points are huge. I’m only a couple good weeks away from the Tour Championship as well, so that means a lot. That’s all stuff you add up Sunday evening. Hopefully, I don’t think about it too much (Sunday), but yeah if I get off to a hot start, then all those things come with it, for sure.”

In May, during a friendly round of golf at Mesa Country Club in Arizona, Dahmen set the course record with a 58. He said Saturday’s 65 felt very similar.

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“I hit it the same way, I just made a ton of 4- to 10-footers all day,” Dahmen said. “I made a couple longer putts today, but kind of similar. When you get hot you just try to stay out of your own way at that point.”

Bezuidenhout, who plays on the European Tour, made seven birdies Saturday and one bogey. His final birdie came on the last hole of his round and came from 19 feet away from the cup.

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

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