Rocket Mortgage Classic 2024 Scores, Takeaways: Akshay Bhatia, Aaron Rai Share Lead After Round 2
Akshay Bhatia enters the weekend for his second straight tournament with a chance to win big. After competing last week at the Travelers Championship, the supple left-hander is at it again in the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic. Continuing with an opening 8-under 64 with a 67 on Friday, Bhatia stands at 13 under is tied with Englishman Aaron Rai, who capitalized on two late birdies to join Bhatia in the lead.
“For me, I feel like when you know you’re playing well, you feel like you can make all the golf shots that you need to make a good score,” Bhatia said. “I think the difference in the situations, maybe it’s a little bit harder, but here you can easily make five, six, seven birdies.”
After a Round 1 performance that included six birdies and an eagle, Bhatia added five more rounds to his scorecard in Round 2 while remaining bogey-free. Bhatia stunned Detroit Golf Club with his putting, and it should continue into the weekend with a number of lurking names and plenty of birdies still to come.
Not only will he have Rai to contend with, but he will also have Rookie of the Year pair Cameron Young and Eric Cole. Young came off a hot weekend in Cromwell, Connecticut, including a 59 at TPC River Highlands, adding to his birdies this week while Cole has rediscovered the form that has eluded him all year.
The same could be said for 2021 tournament winner Cam Davis, who is just 10 points behind. There’s not much to say about the season, with the talented Australian looking for his second PGA Tour title at his first venue. Erik van Rooyen, Joel Dahmen, Jake Knapp and Min Woo Lee are also in the group heading into the weekend in the Motor City.
Leaders
T1. Akshay Bhatia, Aaron Rai (-13)
Bhatia actually hit the ball better on Friday than Thursday, but the scores don’t show it. He didn’t make many putts and failed to capitalize on three of the four par 5s, missing a few shots but still putting himself in great position to claim his third PGA Tour win.
The No. 3 spot almost came last weekend when Bhatia was tied with world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler in both the third and fourth rounds of the Travelers Championship. Although he ultimately finished T5, Bhatia has earned a top spot in the current standard of professional golf.
“It’s been great to see how it all plays out,” Bhatia said of playing against world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler last weekend. “He’s obviously playing at a different level than a lot of us here. Yeah, I mean, he just makes plays around and doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and doesn’t let anything get to him. That’s why he’s the No. 1 player in the world; he holds himself to that standard.”
Other candidates
T3. Taylor Montgomery, Troy Merritt, Erik van Rooyen, Cameron Young (-11)
T7. Eric Cole, Cam Davis, Joel Dahmen (-10)
T10. Jake Knapp, Neal Shipley, Wesley Bryan, Sam Stevens, Joe Highsmith (-9)
This is a bit of a strange group, some don’t have much form but others have a lot, but Davis’ inclusion in the chasing pack after two rounds is notable. A winner here a few years ago, the silky-swinging Australian has fallen on hard times in regards to his game. Without a top-35 result since the Masters in early April, Davis inspired good 2021 and subsequent top-20 results at Detroit GC on much the same this week.
“I do practice rounds, I still walk around and think, ‘Oh, this is where I hit a great shot and this is where I won it and this is where I hit something,’” Davis said. “When the tournament starts, it’s different, yeah, you don’t really start thinking about it unless someone points it out to you. No, I appreciate it early in the week and it’s just going to get back to work and, yeah, try and enjoy the journey again.”
Bhatia’s disappearance
One of the strangest cases of lost ball on the PGA Tour occurred Friday morning when Bhatia’s tee shot on the par-5 17th split the fairway. Landing in the short grass, Bhatia’s golf ball disappeared as it plunged into a drain in the middle of the fairway. Able to identify his Callaway through the drain holes, Bhatia was given free relief and went about his business as if nothing had happened.
“Oh, yeah, that was wild,” Bhatia said. “No, never seen it. The rules official never saw it, so the odds of that ball falling into that little hole in the drain were one in a million, so that was pretty funny.”
Miles Russell missed the chance
The 15-year-old almost made it onto the weekend’s scorecards, but he didn’t. After opening with a 74, Russell exploded on Friday morning, making four birdies in the first 11 holes to reach two under par for the tournament. Needing to play his final seven holes in two under par, Russell instead added two more bogeys to finish his tournament on a very respectable par.
Updated odds and selections for Rocket Mortgage Classic 2024
- Akshay Bhatia: 2/5
- Aaron Rai: 4-1
- Cameron Young: 9/2
- Erik van Rooyen: 12-1
- Cam Davis: 18-1
- Taylor Montgomery: 22-1
- Troy Merritt: 22-1
- Eric Cole: 28-1
I like the look of Bhatia, and while 2-1 north is tough to pay at this point, it might be the right play at this point. In Bhatia’s place, Knapp could lead 45-1 after a stellar second round in which he only gained about +4.50 strokes on approach. If there’s anyone who can go nuclear on Motion Day and shoot something in the lower 60s to get back into the tournament, Davis Thompson is my favorite outsider pick from six back by a margin 100-1.
Rick Gehman and Patrick McDonald recap round two of the Rocket Mortgage Classic with scorecards, storylines and betting favorites. Watch & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts And Spotify.
