DETROIT – From going fishing to top of the leaderboard at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Peter Kuest, a 25-year-old BYU grad with limited status on the Korn Ferry Tour, shot 8-under 64 at Detroit Golf Club to sit atop the leaderboard after the first round with Taylor Moore, who notched his first PGA Tour title earlier this year.
Kuest was the medalist at Monday’s Qualifier, earning one of the final four spots into the 156-man field. Ranked 789th in the world, Kuest is making his fourth Tour start of the season. He received a sponsor’s exemption into the AT&T Byron Nelson and finished T-14 in May.
On Thursday, he rang the birdie bell six times on the front nine and made just one bogey in posting 64 as he attempts to become the first Monday qualifier to win on the Tour since Corey Conners at the 2021 Valero Texas Open.
Kuest, who grew up in Fresno, California, ranked first in driving distance, averaging 318.6 yards per poke and hit 12 fairways and 15 greens. Asked what he would have been doing had he not made it through qualifying, he said, “Probably fishing back in Utah.”
Here are four more things to know from the first round in the Motor City.
Moore's putter revs up
Entering this week, Taylor Moore said his game has been stuck in neutral. More like reverse – he’s missed the cut in his last three starts.
But that changed on Thursday as he found the right gear and converted eight birdies and no bogeys to share the lead with Kuest. Moore canned his fourth birdie in a five-hole stretch at 17 to tie for the top spot. He had a 17-foot birdie putt at the last, which would have tied the course record, but it slid by on the right. Still, it was a terrific day overall on the greens as he gained nearly four strokes on the field and ranked third in Strokes Gained: Putting.
“With the current state of my game I’ve kind of been stuck in neutral, so this has been really good for me to see,” he said. “I felt like I’ve been really, really close and obviously was just stoked to see some putts go in and post a good number.”
Wu’s rollercoaster ride
Dylan Wu had a colorful card with lots of shapes and circles.
The 26-year-old former Northwestern grad shot 7-under 65 with an albatross, an eagle, five birdies and three bogeys.
Starting on 10, he began with a ho-hum par and a bogey before he broke the seal with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 12 and 13. That’s when things got fun. He ripped his drive 309 yards at the par-5 14th and had 262 yards to the hole.
“It was the perfect hybrid,” Wu said. “As soon as I hit it, I hit it perfect I thought, but I kind of lost it halfway because of the haze and the grandstand and everything. So I looked at my caddie and I’m like, ‘Where’d that go?’ and he said, ‘It’s going pretty close to the pin.’ ”
A couple seconds later, the crowd at the green let him know that it was indeed perfect.
“Bogeyed 11, birdied 12 and 13, and then when I made that 2 on 14 I was like, ‘Wow, OK, I’m like 4 under par now,’ ” Wu said. “It’s a great moment making an albatross, but there’s still 13 more holes to play.”
He tacked on birdies at Nos. 15 and 17 to make the turn in 6-under 30. He sandwiched bogeys at Nos. 4 and 6 around a birdie at five but hit another beauty at the par-5 seventh to inside three feet for an eagle.
356-yard drive
182 yards ➡️ 2 feet
Tap-in eagle@Dylan_Wu59 gets within one of the lead @RocketClassic 💪 pic.twitter.com/fy8zST50mH— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 29, 2023
“Today was really cool having that albatross and everything, but still 54 holes to go,” he said.
Ryder Cup on their mind
With less than 100 days until the start of the Ryder Cup in Rome, it probably was no accident that European captain Luke Donald got paired with recent college sensation Ludvig Aberg for the opening two rounds. Aberg made quite the impression, hitting all 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens en route to shooting 7-under 65.
U.S. captain Zach Johnson also had his eyes on some potential players. He told Golfweek that Collin Morikawa, who is ranked No. 12 in the U.S. team point standings, asked to play a practice round with him Tuesday. Morikawa fired a bogey-free 66 in the opening round on Thursday, a stroke better than Rickie Fowler, who has jumped to No. 16 in the point standings, and has a return to the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2018 on his mind.
“I’ve kept up with or checked on points here or there, but at the end of the day, I mean, it’s not like breaking down points to see, oh, I need to finish this to move to a certain spot,” he said. Not having much or many points from last year on there doesn’t exactly help me. Just keep doing what I’m doing, keep trying to play well and get some good finishes and we’ll see where we end up.”
Struggle bus
Justin Thomas shot 81 at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, 62 at the Travelers last week and yo-yoed to 4-over 76 on Thursday, which ranked T-150 out of the field of 156. He ranked dead last in SG: Around the Green (-4.384) and will have his work cut out to make the cut in his first appearance at the RMC.
Hideki Matsuyama wasn’t much better. He struggled tee to green and was just 3 for 9 in scrambling. It added up to a 3-over 75.
Defending champion Tony Finau shot even-par 72. It was just his third round in the 70s at Detroit Golf Club. Last year, he made just one bogey in 72 holes; this year, he made bogey on his first hole, No. 10, and four in all.
No one had a worse day at the office than Tom Hoge. He made a triple bogey at No. 7 and shot 79. He ranked last in the field in SG: Off the Tee and second-to-last in SG: Putting. He could be on his way to his third straight missed cut at the RMC.
