Fowler, Cantlay impress as Malnati leads after threatening 59 round

Rickie Fowler and Patrick Cantlay are in contention after the first round of the Rocket Classic in Detroit as leader Peter Malnati threatened a sensational sub-60 score.

Malnati shot a career-best nine-under 61 to tie the tournament's record for the first round to take a two-shot lead over Fowler and Ryan Gerard, with Cantlay and Patrick Fishburn another shot back.

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.

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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.

"I don't think I took advantage of a super easy course. I played great."

With thoughts of a sub-60 round crossing his mind, he made a 55-foot putt for birdie at the 11th 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.

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

Michael Brennan surged up the leaderboard after starting two 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, who appeared to be mocked by some spectators who pretended he hit a hole in one on the par-three fifth.

Open runner-up Cameron Young has work to do on one under while US Open champion Wyndham Clark is on one over.

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.

Watch the second round of the Rocket Classic from 7pm, live on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream golf with no contract