Detroit Golf Club has been a friendly venue for scoring at the 2025 Rocket Classic as red figures have been found in abundance and players had to reach 6 under just to make it to the weekend. That proved to be a challenge for a few of the biggest names in the field as Patrick Cantlay and Keegan Bradley, the latter fresh off his win at the Travelers Championship, had to sweat late into Friday evening to find out they made the cut on the number.
While those two had to grind just to get a Saturday tee time, Collin Morikawa climbed into contention in the marquee group. Morikawa, who has a friend and former California teammate on the bag this week after making his second caddie change of the season, shot an 8-under 64 on Friday to surge into the top 10 on the leaderboard at 11 under, three off the lead.
After a strong start to the season with two runner-ups and solid finishes at the Masters and Players Championship, Morikawa has fallen off the pace of the world’s best. His most successful finish since the Masters is a T17, and he’s been searching for his swing of late — recently playing without a glove in an effort to better feel the club. At least for one day in Detroit, he found it. Morikawa heads into the weekend with a chance for his first win of the 2025 season.
The 28-year-old American is part of a 15-way tie for 7th as the field has condensed considerably. That’s due to 18-hole co-leaders Aldrich Potgieter and Kevin Roy stalling out, allowing the field to catch back up. Min Woo Lee, who was 9 under after the first round, fared even worse with a 1-over 73 that dropped him 33 spots down the leaderboard. The result is a cut line at 6 under and the leaders — Chris Kirk, Andrew Putnam and Philip Knowles — at 14 under with just eight shots separating the entire field going into the weekend.
Among those in the large group at 11 under is Jake Knapp, who had Friday’s round of the day with an 11-under 61 to move up 123 places on the leaderboard after his Thursday 72 was among the worst rounds of the day. Knapp’s 61 set a new course record at Detroit Golf Club (breaking the one set Thursday night by Potgieter and Roy), and it didn’t just get him to the weekend, it moved him into contention.
That kind of volatility is what’s possible out at Detroit Golf Club this weekend as players can take it extremely low if they get in a groove. That could make for a fascinating weekend as everyone who made it to the final 36 holes is within eyesight of the lead and will feel like they can put up the kind of score that could propel them to a win.
The leaders
T1. Chris Kirk, Philip Knowles, Andrew Putnam (-14): All three players in the lead have been steady in their excellence this week with Kirk shooting back-to-back 65s while Knowles and Putnam went 66-64 and 64-66, respectively, to reach the 36-hole lead. The challenge for all three players is keeping that scoring pace up because it’s clear no one will be able to coast to a win this week in Detroit with the low scores available. Kirk, with 6 career wins, is by far the most experienced man atop the leaderboard. He certainly hopes that gives him an edge entering the weekend.
Contenders
4. Jackson Suber (-13)
T5. Aldrich Potgieter, Mark Hubbard, Michael Thorbjornsen (-12)
T7. Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Jake Knapp, Hideki Matsuyama, Gary Woodland, Luke Clanton and 10 others (-11)
Suber has largely had an up-and-down year in his rookie campaign on the PGA Tour, but the Ole Miss product has a ton of talent and seems comfortable on this course. He’s looking for his second career top 10 and will try to put himself in the mix on Sunday to feel what it’s like to chase one’s first win. Potgieter and Hubbard both stalled a bit after tremendous first rounds, but they remain part of the conversation going forward. They’ll be hoping to get hot again as they did Thursday to make a move to the top in the third round.
The large group at T7 is where you start to get the biggest names who will threaten for the win. Griffin is looking to continue his career-year and earn his third win of the season, while Woodland’s resurgence continues with another strong position going into the weekend. Matsuyama, like Morikawa, has a new caddie this week as his wife is on the bag to give his normal caddie a break, and that seems to have the Japanese star feeling comfortable. Clanton is looking for his best finish since turning pro earlier this month, and may be settling in to life on the PGA Tour.
Notable players who missed the cut
- Wyndham Clark (-4)
- Max Homa (-3)
- Rickie Fowler (-2)
- Tom Kim (-1)
- Cam Davis (E)
- Keith Mitchell (+5)
2025 Rocket Classic updated odds, picks
Odds via BetMGM
- Chris Kirk (13/2)
- Andrew Putnam (9-1)
- Collin Morikawa (9-1)
- Ben Griffin (11-1)
- Michael Thorbjornsen (14-1)
- Harry Hall (16-1)
- Hideki Matsuyama (16-1)
- Aldrich Potgieter (18-1)
- Luke Clanton (18-1)
- Mark Hubbard (18-1)
- Max Greyserman (18-1)
- Jackson Suber (22-1)
- Jake Knapp (25-1)
The good news for bettors is there’s plenty of value still to be had up and down the odds board. The bad news is that it’s tough to confidently predict anything about this weekend given the scoring we’ve seen through the first 36 holes. At the top, I feel the best about guys I trust to keep scoring well on both Saturday and Sunday — Griffin and Morikawa.
Further down the board, I’d also take a couple swings on guys who can go super low with big odds. We saw Min Woo Lee (100-1) do it once already this week, and while he’s six back, he can make up ground in a hurray. Si Woo Kim (125-1) also is an aggressive player who can pile up birdies, and that’s the kind of mentality that’s going to be needed for someone to come from well back and win this weekend.