Detroit, Aug 1 (IANS) A triple bogey in the early part of the second round cost Akshay Bhatia heavily as he missed the cut at the Rocket Classic on the PGA Tour. Bhatia, who carded 68 in the first round, went 1-over 71 in the second, and at 1-under for 36 holes, he fell short of the cut line, which fell at 3-under for two rounds.
Also missing the cut was Indo-Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju (69-69) at 2-under. Sahith Theegala did not play this week.
Cameron Young birdied seven of his first eight holes in the second round and felt he had a shot at the lowest score in PGA Tour history. “I was thinking 55,” he said.
Young cooled off with two birdies on his back nine in a bogey-free round, closing with a Detroit Golf Club-record-tying 61 to reach 10 under for the tournament. He tied with Patrick Cantlay (66) and Patrick Fishburn (66) on top of the leaderboard Friday.
He lamented missing many birdie opportunities that prevented him from breaking Jim Furyk’s record 58 that has stood for a decade. A lot of players took advantage of one of the easiest courses on the PGA Tour.
The Rocket Classic saw some notable names miss the cut at 3 under. U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark (74) was 5 over. Chris Gotterup, a three-time winner this year and ranked No. 7 in the world, was 1 over to end his streak of making the cut in 14 straight starts. Bhatia (71) – No. 12 in the FedExCup standings – also exited at 1 under.
Young, the No. 3 player in the world with three wins this season, shot a 59 in 2024 at the Travellers Championship and had a chance to join Furyk with multiple sub-60 rounds on the PGA TOUR.
Matt Wallace (64) and Rickie Fowler (68) were two shots back.
Fowler surged into the lead for a while at 11 under before falling back to the pack. He three-putted from 24 feet to bogey No. 11 and went from high fescue to a greenside bunker at No. 13, leading to his second of three bogeys on the back nine.
First-round leader Peter Malnati, who followed up his 61 on Thursday with a 71, was another stroke back in a large group that included Xander Schauffele (66).
Hideki Matsuyama (68) extended the PGA TOUR’s longest active cuts streak to 30 by getting to 5 under with a slew of players, including Tony Finau (67), who is hoping to improve his positioning to be among the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings after next week’s Wyndham Championship.
Matt Kuchar was another stroke back, getting a boost from his seventh career ace with a 9-iron on the 156-yard, par-3 5th hole. Kuchar invited a kid to join him inside the ropes to retrieve the ball, which he signed with a black marker.
–IANS
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