The leader made just five pars. One of the leaders entering the day made 15 pars, the other made 12. Being just even was just uneventful. Here are three things you should know after Saturday’s third round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club in Detroit.
Matthew Wolff leads
Matthew Wolff’s round ended with a par. Not many of his other 18 holes did.
Wolff birdied nine holes and eagled another – and bogeyed three – on his way to a second straight 8-under 64, the day’s low round, and a three-stroke lead over Bryson DeChambeau and Ryan Armour. No other player is fewer than five shots back.
Wolff started birdie-bogey. The next 16 holes were much of the same. He birdied 3, 4 and 5, parred 6, birdied 7 and 8 and bogeyed 9 and 10 before finishing his final eight holes at 5-under.
Wolff tied for the lead with an eagle on the par-5 14th, grabbed it with a birdie on the next hole and built it with a birdie on 17. He’s at 19-under.
Wolff was hot. He credited ice cream for his round.
“It was a great round of golf out there today,” Wolff said. “I heard an ice cream truck circling the property and seemed like every time I heard that, I had made birdie or made a putt, so I’ve got to give a lot of credit to that. I think on the 5th hole I made that long one. more birdies, more ice cream, so that was my mindset from that point on and probably going to be the same one tomorrow.”
Bryson DeChambeau tied for second
Ryan Armour led for a part of the round. He fell a shot behind after Wolff’s birdie on 17. Armour fell even further after he finished the 17th.
His third on the par-5 went over the green. His fourth, from thick rough, went 26 feet past the hole. He missed the par putt. He missed the bogey putt. He finished with a 7. Armour rebounded with a birdie on 18 to sit in a tie for second with Bryson DeChambeau.
DeChambeau was 1-under for his round entering the 13th hole. He was 4-under from there. None of his four birdie putts were longer than 9 feet.
Chris Kirk, one of the second-round co-leaders, was among four players at 14-under. His 2-under 70, though, was tied for the second highest among the players in the top 13.
The highest was the 1-under 71 shot by Webb Simpson, the other second-round co-leader. He’s among five players at 13-under
Only two players shoot above 1-over
Only 15 players of the 70 players failed to break par.
Only two players – Zach Sucher at 2-over and Harry Higgs at 6-over – shot above 1-over.