Aaron Rai of England birdied his last two holes to complete a seven-under-par 65 and tie Akshay Bhatia for the halfway lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Friday at Detroit Golf Club.
Rai’s afternoon round brought him to 13-under 131 through two days, matching Bhatia, the 18-hole leader who shot a 67 earlier in the day.
The duo have a two-stroke advantage over four players at 11 under: Cameron Young (66 on Friday), Taylor Montgomery (68), Troy Merritt (64) and South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen (64).
Bhatia followed his opening 64 with a slightly calmer, five-birdie round, but both Bhatia and Rai are bogey-free through 36 holes.
“For me, I feel like when you know you’re playing well, then you feel like you can hit all the golf shots that you need to hit to make a good golf score,” Bhatia said.
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Bhatia had a highly unusual situation pop up at the par-five 17th hole, when his tee shot rolled into an open hole in a storm drain cap in the fairway. The rules official awarded Bhatia a free drop, and he saved par on the hole.
“That was wild. No, never seen it,” Bhatia said. “Rules official’s never seen it, so it was kind of one-in-a-million chance that ball goes in that small hole in that drain, so it was pretty funny.”
Bhatia, 22, enters the weekend seeking his third win in less than 12 months. After his breakthrough victory came at the Barracuda Championship last July, he captured the Valero Texas Open in April.
As for Rai, the 29-year-old has two career wins on the DP World Tour but none stateside. He has hit a resounding 34 of 36 greens in regulation through two days.
“There’s nothing in particular that I’ve really tried to change this year,” Rai said of his approach game. “I think building good foundations off previous years and just trying to stay on top of the fundamentals, trying to stay in a pretty good place.”
Joel Dahmen (64), Eric Cole (68) and Australia’s Cam Davis (66) are tied at 10 under. Neal Shipley, playing his first PGA Tour event as a pro after finishing as the low amateur at the Masters and US Open, shot a 68 on Friday and is tied at nine under with four others.
The cut line was four under par. Notables who missed the cut included Tom Kim of South Korea (three under), Daniel Berger (two under), Webb Simpson (two under) and Gary Woodland (two over).
Miles Russell, a 15-year-old amateur who is the top-ranked junior in the world, missed the cut on his PGA Tour debut, but he shot a two-under 70 on Friday to improve on his first-round score by four strokes. He chipped in for birdie at the 11th.
“Just tried to stay focused on the golf, but (at the 18th hole), just kind of walked up a little slower and really just enjoyed it,” Russell said.
Watch the third round of the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic live on Sky Sports Golf from 5pm on Saturday. Stream the PGA Tour, majors and more, without a contract, with NOW.
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