Peter Malnati shoots 9-under 61, takes early lead in 8th and final Rocket Classic in Detroit

DETROIT (AP) — Peter Malnati has missed more cuts than he has made on the PGA Tour this season, filling his head with doubts about his game.

He just got quite a confidence boost.

Malnati shot a career-best, 9-under 61 to tie a tournament record in the first round of the final Rocket Classic on Thursday, giving him a two-shot lead.

When Malnati stood on the first tee, his caddie suggested leaving the driver in his bag to play it safe and set up a solid start.

Malnati, though, went against the advice and used his driver to put a tee shot in the middle of the fairway that set up his first of seven birdies on the front nine.

“Even in the beginning before I knew it was going to be a special day, I didn’t feel the same level of like anxiety,” he said.

With thoughts of a sub-60 round crossing his mind, he made a 55-foot putt for birdie at No. 11 and was nine under through 13 holes before missing some putts down the stretch in a bogey-free round.

Detroit Golf Club underwent a $16 million renovation, including converting a couple of par-5 holes into par 4s and adding a lot of bunkers, in an attempt to restore Donald Ross’ vision for it more than a century ago, while making it more challenging.

“I don’t think I took advantage of a super easy course,” said the 39-year-old Malnati, who has won on the PGA Tour in 2024 and 2015. “I played great.”

He wasn’t alone.

Rickie Fowler and Ryan Gerard shot 63s, putting them two shots back and one stroke ahead of Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Fishburn.

Michael Brennan surged up the leaderboard after starting 2 over through four holes with eight straight birdies — one shy of the PGA Tour record. He finished with a 65, putting him four strokes back with a pack of players that includes Keegan Bradley.

Despite significant changes at the course, Malnati and many other players still went low at a tournament that has been a birdie fest since 2019, when a Detroit-based mortgage company ended a decade-long drought in Michigan without a PGA Tour stop that dated to Tiger Woods winning the last Buick Open.

The PGA Tour is moving to a new model for 2028, effectively creating two tours and Detroit organizers are taking an exit. The Rocket Classic wasn’t interested in continuing to spend $15 million a year to be part of the second tier and didn’t want to double the costs to be part of the elite tier.

“It’s definitely been a bummer to kind of come into this knowing it was the last one,” said Fowler, a Rocket Mortgage spokesman and the tournament’s 2023 champion.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., was the low Canadian, shooting a 3-under 67 to sit in a tie for 27th. A.J. Ewart of Coquitlam, B.C., was tied for 47th at 2 under.

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., and Sudarshan Yellamaraju of Mississauga, Ont., all had 1-under days to sit in a tie for 69th. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., had an even-par round to tie for 93rd, Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., was 1-over 71 and Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., was 2 over.

Malnati will have to hold off a field that is stronger than usual in Detroit.

Some of the top players in the field, though, did not get off to a good start. Cameron Young, the No. 3 player in the world, shot a 1-under 69 and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark was 1 over.

The Rocket Classic and next week’s Wyndham Championship are the last two tournaments left before the top 70 advances to the FedEx Cup postseason.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Larry Lage, The Associated Press