Doc Redman finished second in the first Rocket Mortgage Classic last year as a Monday qualifier and this time he’s hoping to go one better.
The 22-year-old Redman, who won the 2017 U.S. Amateur but his seeking his first pro victory, birdied seven of the last eight holes to shoot 7-under-par 65 and tie Scott Stallings and Kevin Kisner for the first-round lead in the second edition of the tournament at Detroit Golf Club.
“I’ve come off two good finishes and a really good finish last year at this event, which has never really happened to me,” said Redman (pictured), who tied for 11th last week in the Travelers Championship after tying for 28th in the RBC Heritage a week earlier. “So I’ve never had this kind of expectation externally or even internally.
“I think I feel very comfortable because I’ve played well here and been here. So it just comes down to playing golf and doing the best I can.”
Redman capped his round with a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 18.
Stallings, 35, who has won three times on the PGA Tour, but not since the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open, collected four birdies on each nine and recorded a lone bogey at the second hole in his 65.
“It was nice,” said Stallings, who tied for sixth last year in the Travelers. “I’m very comfortable on Donald Ross courses. It will be interesting to see what the forecast is and if the greens firm up over the next few days.
“You have a ton of wedges and have a lot of opportunities to make birdies the greens are super receptive. … My game feels good.”
Redman and Stallings played in the morning wave, while Kisner, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, came along in the afternoon and made five birdies through No. 8, the last three in a row, to finish his 65 on the front nine.
Said Kisner, whose last victory came in the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play: “It was solid. I struck it awesome all day. I’ve been struggling with the putter, but got it going on the back nine and made a bunch of putts. It was a nice way to finish and I need to get back at it in the morning.”
Tenth-ranked Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis eagled No. 14 and was tied for the lead before making a bogey on the 18th hole and his 66 left him in a tie for fourth with Peter Malnati, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina, Chase Seiffert, J.J. Spaun, Matt Wallace and Chris Stroud.
Sixth-ranked Webb Simpson, who won the RBC Heritage in his last start, is tied for 23rd at 68, seventh-ranked Patrick Reed totaled 70 to tie for 66th, and defending champion Nate Lashley is in a tie for 87th after a 71.
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