Fresh off his second consecutive round of 64, Matthew Wolff will take a three-shot advantage over Ryan Armour and Bryson DeChambeau into the final round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Here’s how Wolff staked himself to the 54-hole lead in Detroit:
Leaderboard: Wolff (-19), Armour (-16), DeChambeau (-16), Troy Merritt (-14), Mark Hubbard (-14), Seamus Power, Chris Kirk (-14)
What it means: The 21-year-old is eyeing his second PGA Tour victory, a follow-up to his breakthrough last July at the 3M Open, which made him a full-time PGA Tour member just two months after he wrapped his standout collegiate career at Oklahoma State. But judged against his sudden success, it’s been a sluggish last 12 months for Wolff, who hasn’t posted a top-10 finish since his dramatic win in Minnesota. He can put any slump talk to bed with a win Sunday, and he can pick up Tour win No. 2 before his fellow Class of 2019 members: Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland. This is the second 54-hole lead of his young career but the first time he’s led by himself. He 1-for-1 to date as a closer.
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Giving chase: Trying to run down Wolff on Sunday will be the veteran Armour and the story of the Tour’s restart: DeChambeau. Both players shot 67 Saturday. Armour is seeking his second Tour win after missing six straight cuts earlier this year pre-pandemic. DeChambeau, separately, is riding a streak of six consecutive top-10 finishes on Tour and is looking to parlay his weight gain and long-drive skills into victory No. 6.
Rounds of the day: Wolff made just one par on the front nine, carding six birdies and two bogeys to make the turn in 32. Following dropped shots at Nos. 9 and 10, he raced into the lead when he played a four-hole stretch in 4 under par, with two birdies and an eagle across Nos. 12-15. One more birdie at 17, his 10th par-breaker of the day, put him three clear of the field.
Two tied at 17-under.@matthew_wolff5 just eagled the par-5 14th.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/Awa6CW01Hh
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 4, 2020
For the outright lead.@matthew_wolff5 is now 18-under and one clear of the field.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/rSjGyELGKH
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 4, 2020
Wesley Bryan (-13) and Hideki Matsuyama (-12) each signed for 65 Saturday.
Biggest disappointments: Playing in the day’s final pairing, Kirk (70) and Webb Simpson (71) both lost ground on a day when the field average was 69.5.
Shot of the day: DeChambeau’s 374-yard drive at the par-4 13th that found the greenside bunker.
Hits it 374 yards off the tee. ✅
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 4, 2020
Pitches it to 10 feet. ✅
Drains the birdie putt. ✅@b_dechambeau makes it look easy.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/TYef1mgURM
This 8-iron from 200 yards out of the rough at 14 wasn’t bad either.
An 8-iron from 200 yards.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 4, 2020
Two putts later and @b_dechambeau is three back.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/mnksn0tAfE