Tony Finau sent an approach from 250 yards soaring over trees and onto the seventh green at Detroit Golf Club, going for the reward and ignoring the risk with a difficult shot.
Finau, coming off his third career victory on the PGA Tour, and Canadian Taylor Pendrith shared the first-round lead at 8-under 64 on Thursday in the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
The pivotal shot on Finau’s 16th hole, a 560-yard par 5, set up a two-putt from 43 feet for one of his eight birdies.
“I had to get all of it to get it to the hole and hit it right in the middle of the green,” he said.
The leaderboard was filled with players who took advantage of favourable scoring conditions with morning tee times. In the afternoon, the wind picked up and the scores did as well.
Former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson, Michael Thompson, Cameron Champ, Lee…
