Rocket Classic Round 2: Cameron Young's 'Disappointing' 61 Forges a Three-Way Tie at the Top

Only Cameron Young could shoot a bogey-free 61 and spend the post-round chat explaining why it felt like a letdown.

The world No. 3 birdied seven of the first eight holes on Friday at Detroit Golf Club, tied the course record and climbed into a three-way share of the lead at the Rocket Classic. Young, Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Fishburn sit at 10-under 130 after 36 holes. Matt Wallace (64) and Rickie Fowler (68) are one back at 9 under, and a crowd of eight at 8 under includes first-round leader Peter Malnati and Xander Schauffele.

The 55 Conversation

Young started the day at 1 under after a pedestrian 69, nine shots off the pace and closer to the cut line than the lead. By the time he had played eight holes, he had birdied seven of them and the math in his head had gotten a little out of hand.

"I was thinking 55," Young said, per the AP.

That pace did not hold. Young made only two more birdies over his last 10 holes, which is how a round can end at 61 and still leave a man grumbling. He did not drop a shot all day, and he matched the Detroit Golf Club record that Malnati had tied 24 hours earlier.

"You hate to call it a disappointing 61," Young said. "It felt like I had a 10-footer for birdie on pretty much every hole."

Young has three wins this season and once shot 59 at the 2024 Travelers Championship, so the bar is set at a strange altitude. Friday's round is the second-lowest of Young's TOUR career, and it turned a weekend of chasing into a weekend of defending.

Cantlay and Fishburn Hold Their Ground

While Young was sprinting, the two Patricks did the less glamorous work. Cantlay and Fishburn both followed opening 64s with 66s, steady rounds that kept them on top without much fuss.

For Cantlay, a share of the 36-hole lead is a real opening. Cantlay has not won on TOUR since the 2022 BMW Championship, and a big-name field in Detroit is a fitting place to end that drought. Fishburn is chasing something bigger in a way. This is the 74th TOUR start for Fishburn, still searching for a first victory, and the short game that led the field on Thursday is giving that chase real legs.

Fowler's Wobble, Wallace's Charge

Fowler had the lead to himself for a moment. The 2023 champion briefly reached 11 under and had the gallery buzzing, then the back nine pushed back. A three-putt from 24 feet at the 11th cost a shot, a trip into thigh-high fescue at the 13th cost another, and a third back-nine bogey followed before Fowler steadied the ship.

"Nice to finish with birdie on 18," Fowler said. "A lot of good stuff today and nice to be in a good spot for the weekend."

Wallace took the opposite path. The Englishman turned an opening 67 into a 64 and slid into a tie for fourth, one off the lead, with very little noise.

Malnati Cools Off

The 61 club had two members by Friday night, but only one of them moved forward. Malnati followed his record-tying opener with a 71, and while 1 over is hardly a collapse, it dropped him from two clear to two back. Malnati is now part of a logjam at 8 under that also includes Schauffele (66), Ryan Gerard (69), Michael Brennan (67), Chris Kirk, Michael Kim, Doug Ghim and Davis Riley, who added a 64.

Schauffele's position is worth watching. A 66 in a Rocket Classic debut leaves one of the game's elite players two back with 36 holes to go.

Just behind that group, Michael Thorbjornsen shot 64 to reach 7 under in a seven-way tie for 14th. Jordan Spieth (66) is at 6 under, and Hideki Matsuyama shot 68 to reach 5 under and make his 30th straight cut, the longest active streak on TOUR.

Casualties and a Kid's Day

The cut fell at 3 under, and it claimed some heavyweights. U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark shot 74 to finish at 5 over. Chris Gotterup, a three-time winner this season and No. 7 in the world, finished at 1 over, ending a run of 14 straight made cuts. Akshay Bhatia, No. 12 in the FedExCup standings, shot 71 and missed at 1 under.

The best moment of the day had nothing to do with the leaderboard. Matt Kuchar made an ace with a 9-iron at the 156-yard 5th, the seventh hole-in-one of his career, then invited a young fan inside the ropes to grab the ball and signed it.

"I think anytime you get to make a kid's day, it makes your day," Kuchar said.

The Weekend Setup

Tony Finau shot 67 to reach 5 under, and the FedExCup math is never far away. Finau came in at No. 87, outside the top 70 who will reach the Playoffs after next week's Wyndham Championship. "I check it pretty much every tournament just kind of see where I'm at, even on off weeks," Finau said.

At the top, there are 13 players within two shots of the lead, including the No. 3 player in the world, Cantlay and Fowler, the Rocket Mortgage spokesman who would love nothing more than to win the farewell edition. Young brings the hottest hand into Saturday. Cantlay and Fishburn bring two steady days of work. Moving day at the final Rocket Classic is set up to be crowded.

Catch up on how Thursday unfolded in our Round 1 recap. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 2 story (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 2 story and leaderboard), AP, Golf Today. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.