Akshay Bhatia joined in the lead by Aaron Rai

Rocket Mortgage Classic R2

Akshay Bhatia managed to save par when his drive at the par-5 17th hole found a metal drain cap just large enough to fit in and went on to close with a bogey-free 67 to reach 13-under and hold on to a share of the lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

“That was wild,” said the American of his shot at the 17th. Never seen it. 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.

“I don’t think it matters,” he answered when asked whether the course setup suited his left-handedness. “It’s a ball-striker’s golf course, a lot of wedges. That’s kind of my strong suit, especially inside I would say 150 yards, so I think that’s why I like this golf course. Yeah, just I don’t think there’s a difference lefty or righty.”

England’s Aaron Rai closed with a bogey-free 65 to join Bhatia in the lead for his first career 36-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA Tour in an individual stroke-play event. He held a share of the 36-hole lead with partner David Lipsky at the 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans before finishing T23.

“[My game] feels in a good place,” said Rai. “Played really nicely the last two days, hit it well tee to green, hit a lot of fairways, a lot of chances, and rolled it pretty well, too, on the greens. Yeah, it’s been a real solid first two days to start with.”

Rai is second in the field in strokes gained approach the green, and in the top-10 on Tour this season.

“I think it’s been more of a process over the last few years, there’s nothing in particular that I’ve really tried to change this year. 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. And that changes week to week, and I think trying to bring it back and kind of play with what is going on that particular week I feel like we’ve done a better job of managing the full shots, which has certainly helped this season with tee to green.”

Americans Taylor Montgomery (68), Troy Merritt (64) and Cameron Young (66) as well as South African Erik van Rooyen (64) are tied in third place at 11-under.

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Pos.PlayerTo ParR1R2Total
T1Akshay Bhatia-136467131
T1Aaron Rai-136665131
T3Taylor Montgomery-116568133
T3Troy Merritt-116964133
T3Erik van Rooyen-116964133
T3Cameron Young-116766133
T7Eric Cole-106668134
T7Cam Davis-106866134
T7Joel Dahmen-107064134
T10Jake Knapp-97065135
T10Wesley Bryan-96867135
T10Sam Stevens-96966135
T10Neal Shipley-96768135
T10Joe Highsmith-97164135
T15Jhonattan Vegas-86769136
T15Roger Sloan-86868136
T15Min Woo Lee-86868136
T15J.J. Spaun-86769136
T15Zach Johnson-86868136
T15Patrick Rodgers-86967136
T15Nicolai Højgaard-87165136
T15Michael Kim-86571136
T15Robby Shelton-86868136
T15Hayden Springer-87165136
T15Nick Dunlap-86769136
T26Dylan Wu-76968137
T26Will Zalatoris-76671137
T26Chris Kirk-76869137
T26Nick Hardy-77067137
T26Andrew Novak-77166137
T26Bud Cauley-77265137
T26Davis Thompson-76869137
T26Ben Kohles-76770137
T26David Skinns-77166137
T26Jacob Bridgeman-76869137
T26Luke Clanton(a)-76968137
T26Ben Silverman-76770137
T38Vince Whaley-67068138
T38Justin Lower-66870138
T38Ryan Fox-67167138
T38Matt Kuchar-67068138
T38Rickie Fowler-66672138
T38Matti Schmid-66672138
T38Patton Kizzire-66969138
T38Ben Griffin-66771138
T38Rico Hoey-66969138
T38Aaron Baddeley-66870138
T38Nate Lashley-67068138
T38Hayden Buckley-67167138
T38Kevin Streelman-67068138
T38Ryan McCormick-67068138
T52Maverick McNealy-57366139
T52Blaine Hale, Jr.-56871139
T52Carl Yuan-56871139
T52Max Greyserman-56970139
T52Peter Malnati-57069139
T52Taylor Moore-56871139
T52Callum Tarren-57069139
T52Patrick Fishburn-57267139
T60Harry Hall-47169140
T60Chris Gotterup-47169140
T60Taylor Pendrith-47070140
T60Nico Echavarria-47070140
T60Mark Hubbard-47169140
T60Pierceson Coody-46971140
T60Ryan Moore-47169140
T60Brandon Wu-47169140
T60Kevin Yu-47070140
T60Davis Riley-47070140
T60Luke List-47070140
T60Beau Hossler-47169140
T60Ryo Hisatsune-47565140
T60Chandler Phillips-46872140
T60Nicholas Lindheim-47070140
T60Ben James(a)-47070140
CUTChesson Hadley-37170141
CUTVincent Norrman-37170141
CUTJustin Suh-37170141
CUTMac Meissner-37368141
CUTChan Kim-37071141
CUTKeith Mitchell-37071141
CUTMichael Thorbjornsen-36873141
CUTK.H. Lee-37269141
CUTTom Kim-37368141
CUTRaul Pereda-37764141
CUTHenrik Norlander-27468142
CUTFrancesco Molinari-27270142
CUTDaniel Berger-27072142
CUTCharley Hoffman-26973142
CUTCamilo Villegas-27072142
CUTWebb Simpson-27171142
CUTKevin Dougherty-27171142
CUTLee Hodges-27369142
CUTJason Dufner-26973142
CUTMartin Laird-27171142
CUTDoug Ghim-27270142
CUTC.T. Pan-26973142
CUTRobert MacIntyre-17172143
CUTAdam Schenk-17271143
CUTMatt NeSmith-17271143
CUTAnders Albertson-17370143
CUTJorge Campillo-17370143
CUTBrendon Todd-17172143
CUTS.H. Kim-17271143
CUTCarson Young-17469143
CUTAlex Smalley-17073143
CUTKelly Kraft-17271143
CUTKevin Tway-17073143
CUTScott GutschewskiPar7074144
CUTJoseph BramlettPar7470144
CUTJackson Koivun(a)Par7272144
CUTLanto GriffinPar6876144
CUTAdam SvenssonPar7272144
CUTTim WilkinsonPar7470144
CUTMiles Russell(a)Par7470144
CUTBen TaylorPar7668144
CUTCameron ChampPar7371144
CUTTyson AlexanderPar7371144
CUTChad RameyPar6975144
CUTMatt WallacePar6975144
CUTJosh Teater+17273145
CUTSam Ryder+17471145
CUTStephan Jaeger+17570145
CUTRyan Brehm+16877145
CUTWillie Mack III+17273145
CUTJimmy Walker+17669145
CUTHarrison Endycott+17471145
CUTBrandt Snedeker+17570145
CUTTyler Duncan+17372145
CUTWilson Furr+17669145
CUTBrandon Berry+17768145
CUTBrice Garnett+17570145
CUTTrace Crowe+17273145
CUTGreyson Sigg+27175146
CUTChez Reavie+27373146
CUTKevin Kisner+27571146
CUTAlex Noren+27175146
CUTZac Blair+27373146
CUTGary Woodland+27076146
CUTGarrick Higgo+27175146
CUTRafael Campos+27373146
CUTAdrien Dumont de Chassart+27274146
CUTSami Valimaki+37572147
CUTThorbjørn Olesen+37770147
CUTStewart Cink+37473147
CUTPaul Barjon+37770147
CUTMartin Trainer+37671147
CUTKyle Martin+47969148
CUTParker Coody+47177148
CUTDanny Guise+57475149
CUTTom Whitney+57574149
CUTNick Bienz+67575150
CUTAngelo Giantsopoulos+77873151
CUTErik Barnes+97677153
W/DDavid Lipsky-73-73
W/DAlejandro Tosti-74-74
Updated: June 29, 2024
Rocket Mortgage Classic 2024
Date: 27th June - 30th June, 2024
Location: Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan
Purse: $9,200,000