Cameron Young shares 2nd-round lead
at Rocket Classic after cooling off to shoot 9-under 61
[August 01, 2026]
By LARRY LAGE
DETROIT (AP) — Cameron Young birdied seven of his first eight holes
in the second round of the Rocket Classic and thought he had a shot
at the lowest score in PGA Tour history.
“I was thinking 55,” he said.
Young cooled off with two birdies on his back nine in a bogey-free
round, closing with a Detroit Golf Club-record tying 61 to reach 10
under for the tournament to tie Patrick Cantlay (66) and Patrick
Fishburn (66) atop the leaderboard Friday.
“You hate to call it a disappointing 61,” he said, lamenting missing
many birdie opportunities that preventing him from breaking Jim
Furyk's record 58 that has stood for a decade.
Young, the No. 3 player in the world with three wins this season,
shot a 59 in 2024 at the Travelers Championship and had a chance to
join Furyk with multiple sub-60 rounds on the PGA Tour.
“It felt like I had a 10-footer for birdie on pretty much every
hole,” Young said.
A lot of players took advantage of one of the easiest courses on the
PGA Tour.
Matt Wallace (64) and Rickie Fowler (68) were two shots back.
Fowler surged into the lead — briefly — at 11 under before falling
back to the pack. He three-putted from 24 feet to bogey No. 11 and
went from thigh-high fescue to a greenside bunker at No. 13, leading
to his second of three bogeys on the back nine.
“Nice to finish with birdie on 18,” said Fowler, whose sixth and
last win was the 2023 Rocket Classic. “A lot of good stuff today and
nice to be in a good spot for the weekend.”
First-round leader Peter Malnati, who followed up his 61 on Thursday
with a 71, was another stroke back in a large group that included
Xander Schauffele (66).
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Cameron Young chips onto the eighth green during the first round of
the Rocket Classic golf tournament at the Detroit Golf Club,
Thursday, July 30, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Hideki Matsuyama (68) extended the PGA Tour’s
longest active cuts streak to 30 by getting to 5 under with a slew
of players, including Tony Finau (67), who is hoping to improve his
positioning to be among the top 70 players in the FedEx Cup
standings after next week's Wyndham Championship.
“I check it pretty much every tournament just kind of see where I’m
at, even on off weeks,” said Finau, the 2022 Rocket Classic
champion, who entered the tournament No. 87 in the standings.
Matt Kuchar was another stroke back, getting a boost from his
seventh career ace with a 9-iron on the 156-yard, par-3 5th hole.
Kuchar invited a kid to join him inside the ropes to retrieve the
ball, which he signed with a black marker.
“I saw a little boy that was kind of the right age where you know
they’re so excited to be out here, just very impressionable,” Kuchar
said. “One of those things where it’s easy to make their day. I
think anytime you get to make a kid’s day, it makes your day.”
The Rocket Classic, which is in its eighth and final year, drew a
stronger than usual field and some notable names missed the cut at 3
under.
U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark (74) was 5 over. Chris Gotterup, a
three-time winner this year and ranked No. 7 in the world, was 1
over to end his streak of making the cut in 14 straight starts.
Akshay Bhatia (71) — No. 12 in FedEx Cup standings — also dropped
out at 1 under.
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