Kevin Roy and South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter each shot 10-under-par 62 to break the single-round scoring record at Detroit Golf Club and take the first-round lead at the Rocket Classic on Thursday.
Roy and Potgieter only have a one-shot edge over Mark Hubbard, Max Greyserman and Australia’s Min Woo Lee, who opened the tournament with rounds of 9-under 63. Andrew Putnam is close behind at 8-under 64.
Roy finished his round eagle-birdie for a back-nine 30, while Potgieter began his round on the back nine and posted a 7-under 29 with five birdies and an eagle.
They’re at different stages of their career, but Roy, 35, and Potgieter, 20, are in the hunt for their first wins on the PGA Tour.
Roy has made 164 starts on the PGA Tour before this week; he has three runner-up finishes among his 15 top-10s. He came into this week No. 100 in the FedEx Cup race.
“I try not to think about it, to be honest with you,” Roy said. “I think if I keep playing the way I’ve been playing, everything will take care of itself. We’ve still got a lot more tournaments to play so right now I’m just kind of focused on Detroit and hopefully we can have a good week here.”
Potgieter turned pro just two years ago and shot a 59 during a Korn Ferry Tour event in Bogota, Colombia, last year.
“I played this tournament (the Rocket Classic) two years ago so I’m quite familiar with the layout, but it’s a little different,” he said. “I think two years ago was really wet so the ball was spinning a lot on the greens. Out here they’re taking a little bit of a bounce. It’s a little different, but there’s a lot of different courses, like different grass types, altitude. You just have to kind of adjust and do your best Monday, Tuesday to get into the right place.”
The fan favorite Lee rolled in three straight birdies at Nos. 7-9 to conclude his round. He’s contending in Detroit just four days after his sister, Minjee Lee, won her third career LPGA major at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Min Woo Lee said he heard from his sister Wednesday.
“Normally she doesn’t check up on me but it was actually quite nice to get a call from her. I was like, ‘Did you butt dial me? What’s going on?'” he joked. “She was like, ‘No, I just want to check in.’
“No, she’s awesome. I think she had a bit of a night on Sunday with a few of her friends, I think they all had a week off this week. It’s good to see her in a nice mental space and happy on the course. She was going through a tough patch the last couple years, so it’s nice to see her have her swagger back.”
Among those tied at 7-under 65 was Zach Johnson, the 49-year-old who captained the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2023. It was Johnson’s best round on tour this year.
“I’ve actually been working a little bit specifically the last two, two and a half weeks,” Johnson said. “I’ve been playing quite a bit at home. Game’s been good but you never know how it’s going to transpire. My goal this week was just to kind of stay right where my feet are. I know that’s cliche, but that usually bodes well.”
Wyndham Clark and Patrick Cantlay were among the notables at 6-under 66. Keegan Bradley, the upcoming Ryder Cup captain who’s coming off a signature event victory Sunday at the Travelers Championship, shot a 4-under 68.
Defending champion Cam Davis of Australia opened with a 2-over 74 and is in danger of missing the cut, along with 2023 champ Rickie Fowler, whose 1-under 71 left him tied for 108th.
–Field Level Media
