Peter Kuest had a pretty good idea where he would be had he not Monday qualified for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Instead, the-25-year-old Kuest (pictured) carded an eight-under-par 64 to tie for the lead with Taylor Moore after the opening round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Wayne County, Mich.
“I’d probably be fishing back in Utah,” said Kuest, who is from Fresno but now lives in Utah after attending Brigham Young University. “I probably would have gone (golfing) on Tuesday, and again today in the afternoon today after practice. (But I would) probably be fishing right now.
“I played really solid, did it all pretty well. I chipped one in for birdie on the front nine, hit a bunch of fairways, hit a bunch of greens, rolled a couple putts in. I just kept it simple. I love the golf course, it’s fun. Yeah, it’s been fun. It’s just a fun ride learning every week. It solidifies that I can play out here.
“It feels good. We’ve got another round tomorrow, so we’re going to get ready for that and then just take it one step at a time.”
Kuest, who closed with a 63 to finish solo 14th in the Byron Nelson Classic in one of only three PGA Tour events he has played this season, birdied six of the first nine holes and made his only bogey at No. 12 before adding three more birdies in his 64.
Moore, who outlasted Jordan Spieth to claim his first PGA Tour victory in the Valspar Championship earlier this season but has been inconsistent lately, matched the 64 with eight birdies in a bogey-free round, but missed a 15-foot birdie putt on the last hole that would have tied the course record.
“With the current state of my game, I’ve kind of been stuck in neutral, so this was really good for me to see,” said Moore, who also had one victory on the Korn Ferry Tour and another on the PGA Tour Canada. “I felt like I’ve been really, really close and obviously was just stoked to see some putts go in and post a good number.
“I got off to a better start today and drove the ball pretty good on my front nine. I got into a good rhythm, and obviously the putter got a little bit hot on the back nine, which was cool to see. I’m very pleased with the start and just want to keep things going in the right direction.
“I want to remember what it was like to win earlier this season.”
Dylan Wu hit the shot of the day when he holed out from 262 yards for an incredible double-eagle 2 on the 14th hole and added a three-foot eagle putt at No. 7 in his 65 and is in a big tie for third with Justin Suh of San Jose and USC; Aaron Rai of England; Ludvig Aberg of Sweden; Sam Ryder; Adam Schenk, and Sam Bennett.
Said Wu: “I didn’t even see it go in. I hit it perfect, I thought, but I kind of lost it halfway because of the haze and the grandstand and everything. So I looked at my caddie and I’m like, ‘Where’d that go?’ And he said, ‘It’s going pretty close to the pin.’ And then I didn’t see it land and then like a couple seconds later the crowd went wild. It was pretty surreal.”
Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa of La Canada Flintridge and Cal collected four of his six birdies on the front nine in a bogey-free 66 and is tied for 10th with Adam Hadwin of Canada, who birdied four of the last five holes, Doug Ghim, who holed a 10-foort eagle putt at No. 17, and M.J. Daffue of South Africa, who sank a 33-foot eagle putt at No. 4.
Ninth-ranked Max Homa posted a bogey-free 69 and is in a tie for 39th that includes 2011 PGA champion Keegan Bradley who won last week, while Rickie Fowler shot 67 and is tied for 14th, and two-time major champion Justin Thomas struggled to a 76 and is tied for 151st.
For complete results and second-round tee times, visit: https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard
