This Thursday, given the friendly preparation of the Detroit Golf Club and the favourable weather conditions forecast for the tournament, we anticipated a Rocket Classic with very low rounds where, until Sunday, anyone could get into the fight and stage great comebacks. In this vein, this 29th event of the season on the PGA Tour started with a double course record, with Kevin Roy and Aldrich Potgieter carding 62 strokes. But the achievement lasted just a blink of an eye…
In the second round, which is being played today, Jake Knapp (-11) has swept through the Michigan course with a staggering round of 61 strokes, setting a new record at the Detroit Golf Club just 24 hours after the previous one and making it clear that this season he has specialised in breaking records… Today’s is the second course record set by the American golfer in 2025 after the tremendous 59 he signed at the Champions Course of the PGA National Resort during the first round of the Cognizant Classic, in The Palm Beaches.
Thursday: 72
Friday: 61Top shots from @KnappTime_LTD‘s course-record @RocketClassic ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/08CyeJEYoI
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 27, 2025
With nine birdies and a flawless eagle, the 31-year-old Californian, last year’s winner of the Mexico Open at Vidanta, has become the first player this afternoon to achieve a round below 60 strokes and one of 61 or less in the same season. Knapp is also the only player on the tour to deliver two rounds of 61 strokes or less in 2025. A true display, with 10 fairways out of 14, a total of 15 greens in regulation, 100% scrambling, and an average of 1.47 putts per green in regulation, putting him in the fight.
Jake does not seize the lead of the Rocket Classic, which, pending the afternoon shift, is shared by Chris Kirk (-14) and Philip Knowles (-14), due to the 72 with which he started the tournament, being one of the very few players who did not close the first round under par. But already in the provisional top 10 and three strokes off the lead, his situation has changed dramatically in less than 24 hours. A sensational day for Knapp, professionally known for his impressive rounds. Knowles, by the way, also wanted his particular record: three eagles in his round and a seven-under-par score on the four par-fives of the course, as he made a birdie on the other. Only Chandler Phillips in the first round of THE PLAYERS made three eagles in a single round this season.
Promising start for young Clanton
Potgieter (-12), one of the two players who set the course record yesterday with 62 strokes, had to settle for 70 today, but remains well-positioned. Meanwhile, Roy (-11), with a 71, has confirmed that things in this Rocket Classic can take a 180-degree turn from one day to the next. A special tournament for young Luke Clanton (-11), who has moved directly from Florida State University to the PGA Tour thanks to the Ranking Accelerated and with 66 and 67 strokes in the first two rounds, he remains in the fight as well.
