Rick Gehman, and Greg DuCharme recap Moving Day at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and get you set up for Sunday in Detroit.
Intro (0:00)
Will Zalatoris Withdraws (1:30)
Davis Thompson -6, 66 (4:17)
Luke Clanton Shoots the Round of the Day (6:00)
Rickie Fowler heats up on back 9 (10:25)
Cameron Young Contends (14:56)
Cameron Davis could be first 2x Rocket Mortgage Champ (17:20)
Aaron Rai holds a tie for the lead (20:14)
Akshay Bhatia poised to claim victory (23:45)
freaking first cut golly welcome to the first cup podcast I’m Rick ging and this is your round three recap for this week’s rocket mortgage classic joining me to break it all down it’s him it’s Greg du charm hello Greg Rick uh nice to have you back uh thank you for that extremely dramatic intro hopefully my takes tonight are just as dramatic oh I’m sure they will be we’re gonna have a blast and we are G to jump right into it but they didn’t jump right into it today Greg because the PGA Tour tried to beat the storm the plan was to go out early and play in three SS off of split te’s but Mother Nature did not comply a multi-hour delay got us kind of off track and led us to uh what were some very wet conditions and preferred lies yes very soft conditions um but all in all it’s a good thing that they I guess they because it got delayed they could could have done it afterwards but it worked out well to go split T’s and threesoms uh and and it also worked out we at least got a nice chunk of weather so they weren’t able to get out there early tea times delayed two hours but we got a beautiful day afterwards with some different conditions because there was uh there it was very soft like it’s been all week but there was also a lot more wind today than the previous two days yes 1.6 Ines of rain is what they got overnight and then that wind started to kick up throughout the day the other news before we jump into the the movers from moving day will zalot tus withdrew and Greg the reason that he gave the official reason parenthesis back is never the one you want to see especially for someone who has gone under the knife for set back now the quotes that he gave afterwards I guess were a little bit more positive uh he said he heard something pop but on he said it was more of his hip and he said it was on his quote good side which I don’t know if that’s good does he have two bad sides now or do you want you know what I mean it’s like it’s a weird awkward thing but he seemed at least uh just overly cautious about the WD and and it’s good to be overly cautious you know this being the fourth week that he’s playing in a row that’s good the fact that it’s the good side side and not the surgery side I don’t think is necessarily good news not that it’s bad news either but I mean I guess it is bad news Rick because look this is the thing the the more that I learn about the body um and this comes from people who actually know about it and me just listening to them it’s not like I’m studying any of this um but the more that I listen to these people the more that I understand that everything’s connected and oftentimes the place where injuries or pain takes place comes from an issue somewhere else so that is definitely in my mind when I hear that hey this is from the good side that could just be a result of uh you know an overcompensation from another area that’s weak or injured or not performing the way that it should be so look this is um it’s definitely concerning I hope that the recovery is quick and I hope that I right now my thoughts are just simply an overreaction I I tend to agree with you uh let’s hope and I assume that Will’s got access to Great opinions and great doctors and great everybody and great pts and hopefully we’ll see him back in Action very very soon let’s talk about some action a six under 66 from one Davis Thompson on this Saturday and Greg the pedigree is there former number one amateur in the world and he started to play like it on the PGA tour ever since his runnerup finish at the Merle Beach Classic he had a t77 to Charles Schwab he did miss the cut at the Canadian open but backed it up with a t27 at the memorial a T9 at the US Open and now he is probably not going to win but he is in the mix once again the the the great play continues yeah he within four shots of the lead and look that’s a um that is likely going to be a very tall task heading into tomorrow’s round but he certainly got himself in the mix and with making you know he made five birdies on his first eight holes and and that kind of run that kind of ability is very strong he takes advantage of both the par fives knocks a couple of wedges close all of a sudden you got a great round going the bogey on nine is a little disappointing um and it look you can make a bogey in a round of golf it’s understandable but um just considering his place in the tournament he doesn’t make bogy on nine and all of a sudden you could have had a really special round and he would truly be right there in the mix but all in all very good play from him solid just a little unfortunate with the bogy on nine and stalling out a little on the back n 13 golfers within four shots on a golf course that played about two and a half Strokes under par on Saturday but the round of the day the gold star the seven under under 65 goes to the Amer Luke Clanton goes out in 32 makes another Birdie on 11 he did put a Bogi on the card that was number 12 but he makes Eagle on 14 and takes apart the other par five on the back Birdie on 17 Greg we’ve already had one amateur Nick dun laab get the job done this year Luke Clanton showing him he he could try to do the same yeah he’s had a a heck of a run you know nearly the low amiter at the US Open he was in that battle with Neil Shipley who’s also playing this week as a professional um Luke Clinton is having a a heck of a summer if you want to call it that um played well at the ncaas as well um and he’s extremely impressive and and it highlights to me one of the coolest things that the rocket mortgage does which they have this little slogan Where the next generation gets their start and you’re seeing it with uh Neil Shipley who’s a um sponsor exemption this week you had miles Russell competing this week you got Luke Clanton competing this week it’s a it’s a and those were there was another Amer as well really cool to see and then when you get a performance like this it just makes it so special I mean this kid is so good he’s so aggressive he he bombs the ball and he’s super aggressive off the tea as as well you look at the one one thing that I always like to look at is there’s two driving distance stats there’s driving distance on two holes those are generally par fivs they try to get them in opposite directions holes where you’re going to hit driver he’s averaging 39 well his driving distance on all drives is 312 just just seven yards shorter that he’s hitting driver a lot he’s pulling driver everywhere yeah which is great and um it’s the it’s the youth that we we love watching that aggressive style so he drives it up there close on eight um you know a couple of loose shots couple of errors with distance control but all in all he gave himself a ton of wedges stuffed them in there close made some n really nice putts from outside of 20 feet this this kid is impressive uh and and his skill set was on display today the other amateurs in the field uh Jackson quaven from Auburn and your boy Ben James yes Ben James made the cut as well yeah he did yes he’s actually he’s like t38 right now yeah um he’s from up here in Milford Connecticut not far from me plays at the University of Virginia um he was my pick for low Amer at the US Open I thought he was going to have a a really nice week because he he played great at the NCA too I think both he and Clanton were in that six-way High per second but but Ben James took on the fir in the first round he took a slow play penalty a one-stroke slow play penalty uh which just you know it’s easy to look back and say what could have been but he’s playing some good golf Neil Shipley’s in the field next week he he might be like a baller he’s a he’s a baller he he’s super he is so aggressive uh you know he hits these wed shots just everything seems to go right at the flag yeah not this similar to the way that Victor hin played who’s the last guy to go low am in the Masters in the US Open in the same year um he’s got some Swagger did you see how Neil Shipley started this tournament he he was too over for much of his opening nine he He Turned and one over went crazy on the back nine and you know before today had himself right in the mix in this tournament so it’s great to see these young stories at at the rocket mortgage I think this is a tradition that will become very popular they need to change the slogan though the it should be the next Generation takes off see Rick they what they need to do is just hire you how am I not in charge of everything you are thear uh speaking of guys getting hot on call it the second nine because it was the front nine on the golf courses is Ricky Fowler and Greg I don’t know if you caught any of this this morning because he was one of the first guys out so it was like basically Ricky Fowler featured coverage on on PGA Tour live this morning and he made zero nothing zero putts did he make and then it started to heat up because he birdied uh his last four he birdied five of his last six he got this thing in with a five under 67 so I I suppose I am feeling optimistic because he was throwing darts he shot at 67 and still lost a stroke putting um so he three putts 10 on 11 from 220 hits it in there to like eight feet uh and missed it and on 12 I think he made like a 20f footer yeah uh and then on 16 he might have made a mid-ranger on 16 yeah 19 ft so a little longer but on the back nine like even on this run he knocks it on four and seven and two and and on eight and nine hits it just close you know hits it hits it Stone dead so this was a great ball striking day for Ricky uh the putter it’s I’m more concerned with like let’s get the ball striking figured out first that’s that’s what I would like to do because he can he will get hot with the putter one day he’s gone back and forth now uh he put a he he has been using the counter back balance putter just I I don’t know if it’s actually counterbalance but that length little longer putter he used last year to win and was using that for a while and before the memorial uh he put a standard length putter in play with the same putter head and has decided that didn’t work out so he’s back to that counterbalance length maybe trying to figure something out on the greens but what I’m really concerned with with Ricky is can we get this ball striking back to a place where it’s feas and he led the field today in Strokes gain approach this was a very good sign I don’t care if he lost three Strokes put him to see Ricky hit the ball this way gives me hope going forward this is a very nerdy thing I’m about to say but I have to say it uh this was an almost completely unique rounds from Ricky Fowler in the shotlink era okay so the number of players in a single round ever recorded to lose to do what he did so lose at least point8 off the T gain at least four and a half on approach lose at least 0.25 around the green and lose point8 with the putter all of those things it’s only the second time it’s ever happened it’s very specific Chris Chris blanks in the 2011 Players Championship in round four lost 1.7 off the T gained seven on approach what do you do make an ace he lost he lost a half a stroke around the green and two and a half with the putter wow only you the Zar could find that information but you know one other note Rick on how well he hit the ball today he hit 10 approach shots 10 inside of 15 feet you know that doesn’t even include you got par fives where you don’t have to hit it close to to make a bur there um or or have an eagle putt there it’s just incredible what he did today with his with his irons hopefully that gives him a comp uh some confidence and can be a ready for this launching pad oh go forward I love it I absolutely love it yes I have too much time on my hands and I watch too much golf we are gonna talk about the I’m gonna call it the big four at the top of the leaderboard because there are four golfers who have odds short than seven to one to win this golf tournament which is something that we rarely see at this point in the tournament we are going to talk about them but first we’re going to take a quick break and hear a word from our partners an un a seasoned one and he’s leaving a Callin C how do we find a ghost I have a plan and we’re back let’s start with the cams both in at 16 under I am referring to Young and Davis let us start with young and Greg this golf course a place that he has already finished runnerup at one of his many runner-up finishes should be fairly good for him go out there hit it as far as you want don’t worry about the direction make a ton of birdies this guy shot a 59 last week this should be cam Young’s feasting spot and he is kind of feasting it was a five under six 7 on Saturday he made a bogey on the par five fourth hole but the only thing the only thing that matters for cam young at this time tomorrow is did you win because that is the only thing that he will be graded on yes um and look he’s been pretty good when he’s in contention he’s gotten beat um they were talking about this on the broadcast he hasn’t really lost it um he he has been pretty good in in this position so I I really like where he is and the cool thing is he’s been hitting the ball really well all season long but hasn’t gotten anything out of it part of that has been the putting he’s gone to the left-hand low putting style which seems to have really lit a spark now this third round this is why this is perfect for as some say young Cam um this is why it’s perfect for him because he he doesn’t have a great day on the greens nothing really is it it doesn’t seem like anything is happening for during this round he makes a terrible mistake at number four going over that green on his third shot making bogey he looks frustrated but all of a sudden you look up and he’s making Birdie on 14 um he’s making Birdie on 16 Birdie on 17 and he’s one shot off the lead in fact he was tied for the lead H for for a while there so cam young doesn’t have to go crazy to really start picking apart this golf course think about a 67 it’s only two shots off the round of the day you know so while it didn’t feel like this was everything that Camy young has in the tank uh it it was pretty darn close to the best round of the day yeah it it really was and there’s still some more juice to squeeze out of it the other cam also in at 16 under one shot off the lead is Davis and this one Greg was bogey free and this has kind of been a weird year for cam he talked about it after his round he mentioned he hasn’t been playing well he still is hopeful and optimistic that he can make a a late run uh towards this this President Cup team that we’re going to be at Royal Montreal in just a couple of months not sure how realistic that is but a win tomorrow would certainly go a long way it would go a very long way um I mean every time I look at Cam Davis whether I’m watching Golf and see on the screen rolling through your website and see cam Davis’s name and I see him in the $7,000 range in a given week it’s like this has got to turn the corner at some point I I just think he is so darn good yet you look at his statistics this year he’s a 132nd off the T 123rd approaching the green 126th around the green 129th in Strokes game putting I mean this is this is not a cam Davis Kind of profile Cam Davis is in my opinion a top 50 PGA Tour player very solid top 50 PGA Tour player he should be vying for the Tour Championship each and every year uh and and we haven’t seen that kind of performance out of him but so far this week he started to Pile in some birdies uh he’s starting to hit the ball a whole lot better it looks looks to me like I’m watching him today there’s a lot of curve he he’s hitting shots with a lot of curve but he seems to know where it’s going kind of looks like it’s drifting a little left and it catches the left side of the green okay he’s he’s starting to play some shots starting to develop a little confidence starting to develop a little feel and later on in this round today he really things really seem to click with him and his ball striking even though he shoots 32 on the front nine it still seemed a little loose T to Green on the back nine it was much more in control and he puts together a great bogey free round to 66 going for his second rocket mortgage classic Championship which this is a young event Greg that would be the first guy to ever repeat yes we’ve had uh Nate Lashley Cam Davis Bryson Tony feno and Ricky Fowler so he’d be the this is the sixth rendition yes he’d have two of the six 33% if my math is not bad yes not bad at all he’s currently uh if this tournament were to end right now he’d move to 60th in the FedEx Cup standings he is 18th in the international uh president Cup standings so work to be done for Cam Davis the two golfers who led this tournament after 36 holes still lead this tournament after 54 and they are tied at 17 under let’s start with Aaron Ry Greg he finally made a bogey that came on the par 31 15th that was and remains his only bogey of the week it came from the greenside bunker left of that putting surface he was able to get it back on number 17 the the par five and this has been uh a great week for Aaron Ry the the the big difference is he is putting the lights out last check I think he’s first in the field in Strokes game putting so it’s going well for him it’s going very well for him he’s been very impressive to watch um you know I I really think I’m not making a comparison long term here by any means but what I’ve seen out of Aaron Ry over these first three rounds but let’s say up until about the 13th hole today who’s very Scotty sheffler like there you heard it here first everyone Greg thinks Aaron Ry is Scotty Shefler hey kind of like committ there there’s a lot of similarities I I don’t think short game compared in any way but listen to some of these stats for the year I mean he’s 26 off the te seventh approaching the green um he’s eighth in driving accuracy sixth in Green’s a regulation but 118th in Strokes gain putting so you get on a golf course and a birdie Fest like this and that may kind of push you away but his play has been a little better the putting starting to turn the corner and it’s coming together this week so he’s he is like you said he made one bogey today so far during this week he’s he’s not being overly aggressive he’s picking and choosing his spots when he gets wedges or favorable hole locations he’ll hit it at him but other than that he’s playing down the center line of the Hole uh centers of Fairways centers of greens I you know I get a good look and one goes in that’s great otherwise I get 90 yards in I’ll go at the I’ll go at the hole and that’s what I mean when I say it’s very sky sheffler like it it’s extremely patient extremely consistent and extremely reliable um and again I I would not expect Aaron Ry to perform extremely well in a um in a birdie Fest like this but it’s working this week and I actually because his play has been really quite good lately we did talk about him on Monday Kyle and I as as a potential play um because his form has just been phenomenal and I love what he’s done with his ball striking yeah and that putter I I said first in the field this week he’s actually fifth close enough 4.7 Strokes gain to the positive there tied for first and driving accuracy 35 out of 42 Fair uh Fairways and tied for first in greens and regulation those are two I I know they’re old school stats but they’re two very good stats to be lead yeah it’s it’s important um especially when you’re fifth in putting right that’s kind of the icing on the cake but he’s also second in Strokes gain approach so he’s he’s has this ability not to lose he’s not losing Strokes while hitting greens right and then every once in a while he gets a good one and now he can add he can kind of pile on those stats and and pile on most importantly pile the circles onto the scorecard pile those circles right up that’s what our other C- leader did AE batia a four under 68 and Greg he is now the lone golfer in the field who has yet to make a bogey this week not a single stretch of back-to-back birdies but he just picked them up off as he went along 2 4 10 and 17 are where the circles were and now OE will be vying for his second title this year and when he doesn’t get seven and 14 those two par fives he kind of feels like H like okay this is a slow round there’s not much going on for OE uh early on he hit a couple of wiy kind of Mi misses to the left had a couple of big misses to the left um that didn’t look great but he really straightened that out and the most impressive thing about OA much like what Aaron Ry has done this week is um with the with the putter but what I love is we saw this putter come through late uh a big par save at number 15 left himself a little work there a big birdie putt at 17 and a really nice par save at 18 as well looking really confident with the broomstick right now H and and he’s looking very ready to handle the pressure of a of a Sunday round tomorrow how about this if OA wins tomorrow he will become a multiple time winner this year do you know a either how many other guys have multiple wins this year and then of course I’m going to ask you who they are well um obviously Scotty sheffler that’s the easy one um six of them there’s six multi Scotty has six wins sorry yes yes Scotty has six wins geez who else has won twice yeah who has it who has um well let’s see not Stephen joerger nope not Chris Kirk nope um not Billy horel just once for him I like I like this process of uh Windam Clark just once just once I feel like oh I know who who Rory yeah Rory M yeah the are a classic yeah that does that not does that that didn’t register your brain um well it didn’t jump off the page to me because roor I thought of Rory and it’s like Wells Fargo okay oh oh yeah he won the zurk as well yeah I I think there’s only I think that’s it that is it yeah that’s it yeah is that crazy crazy so the list one guy’s got six you know run out of events but it could be Scotty Rory AE right and he’d move up to I believe it’s seventh in the FedEx Cup standings that’s right right right you get we move up in the President’s Cup standings as well like he’s going to make that team he’s going to make that team I he that would be electric I I think it was Kyle and I were talking about it give us minwu versus AE Sunday singles would be phenomenal Electric Factory um look th this is the other thing that is really highlighted this week with OE specifically there’s a lot of other college kids Young professionals getting their start here at the rocket mortgage or just getting going and AE is younger than many of them right and and he’s in a completely different place when you look at all the names on the leaderboard right O’s name stands out Above the Rest because he’s got this experience and he made a decision to turn professional out of high school that was criticized by many uh I was skeptical of it myself and he got through the challenging part got to the PGA Tour and now it it couldn’t look like a better decision because he’s Gathering experience that the other guys just simply they they will never get back um and and he has really accelerated his career into a pretty cool place at the age of 22 so um I’m not it’s not the right move for everybody because it’s it’s really hard but I guess the point is what what AE has gone through to get to this point is extremely impressive it’s not going to be easy I teased it earlier there’s a big four according to our friends in Vegas the PJ Tour website just they just took down the odds they’re probably being reconfigured so I’m just gonna have to read you the odds here Greg I don’t have a visual to show you but oay who is currently tied for the lead is plus 240 Aaron Ry tied there with him at plus 300 cam young one shot back is plus 400 and Cam Davis in that same group one shot back is plus 650 everybody else is 12 to one or longer the only golfers who are shorter than 35 to one are Eric Van royan Sam Stevens and Min woo Lee we don’t get this a lot on Sundays or on Saturday nights and we haven’t had this a lot this year it is usually one guy maybe two this is four wide it it’s four four that have a great shot um and I I really I’m not sure it’s fair to leave Eric Von royan out of it remember in Mexico in the fall he shot 28 on his last nine to storm up the leaderboard and win he can get hot with the with the best of them and is driving it on a string all day today so I think Von royan is really in in a good place um minu Lee was my guy entering the week so I I gotta kind of stick with him after a great round of 66 today but I think he’s too far back so I really I I have a feeling it is coming out of that big four I I have no clue who it’s going to be but I I think it’s going to be OE I think it is too and and we’ve been kind of saying that all all week and I’m sure you guys talked a lot about him on on the Monday show and he was my one and done selection so I’m obviously pulling for him but I do think that listen he’s he’s been inside the top five basically all all week and shks gained approach he’s putting well he’s already won this year I don’t think the moment is too big for him he’s keeping it under control he hasn’t made a bogey I don’t think it’s gonna be easy because there’s probably gonna be a ton of low scores out there but I I still think oay gets this done yeah he he seems to have this ability to pick off enough birdies with that putter uh and his his honor game is great he gets the like in that 140 range when he’s hitting a little pitching wedge he’s got it inside of 15 ft every time uh so I think he’s going to give himself a lot of good looks for birdie H as Aaron Ry probably will too but o seems to be in this place if you listen to him talk where he’s relishing the pressure he he wants the pressure and it’s the thing that he’s working on and so you get this sense that his his goals and his sights are set on handl moments like tomorrow and I don’t think a lot of players get into that place where all right when I’m under when I’m in contention I need to do better so that means you need to get in contention first and he’s got there and I I think his eyes are squarely on the trophy I think he’s going to step up and and be ready to handle it yes or no are we going to a playoff tomorrow minwu AE cam young and Eric Von royan in a playoff as as as late as that would mean for our night we’d be officially first cut after dark I would be stoked that play that would be an electric Factory it would be awesome let’s throw Luke Clinton into the mix too yes for some chaos guy can’t even win the money imagine could you imagine getting two amers to win this year uh so wait was Phil the last Amer to win before Dunlap yes so that was like 1990 91 I believe okay so we would go 30 some years between them and then we’d go like 30 some tournaments between them it’d be nuts that would be sick Nick Dunlap playing some good golf too by the way I’m happy to see that yeah yeah he’s good he’s really good yeah yeah okay cool well listen we’ll figure it out it’ll be 24 hours or so we’ll see however long it takes to get this thing done 13 guys within four shots and uh four wide according to Vegas at the top big thanks to producer Harry filling in tonight doing a great job that right there Greg tarm you can find him at the real gfd and you can find me at Rick run good this has been the first cut we’ll catch you next time [Music] n [Music]
