Alternate Nate Lashley Poised to Win the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit

0
1596

Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, MI — June 29, 2019

For a guy who did not know he was even in the tournament until noontime Wednesday, Nate Lashley looks to be playing like a veteran with tons of experience. Poised to take his first ever PGA Tour victory, Lashley holds a six-stroke lead heading into Sunday’s final round.

On Saturday, Lashley matched his opening round score of 63 to pull away from the field. His 3 day total is 23 under par. Four birdies on the front nine and five more on the backside equaled his 2nd bogey-free round of the week.

J.T. Poston is Lashley’s closest pursuer at 17 under par. Cameron Tringale is third at -16, with Patrick Reed alone in 4th at -15.

Control Emotions

If Lashley is able to keep his nerves in check, he will likely need just a solid under par round to claim his first tour win. Just as important, a victory provides him with a 2-year PGA Tour exemption (no more waiting around as an alternate) and an invitation to the Masters.
Nothing in his game so far at the Detroit Golf Club would indicate Lashley won’t be able to close out the rest of the field on Sunday.

Trouble for Contenders

Cameron Champ, who sat 2nd to the leader after Round 2, carded a 75 to drop down into a tie for 25th. Charles Howell III started the day in 3rd place, a score of 71 dropped him into a tie for 9th place. Rickie Fowler failed to make a charge, only able to manage an even-par 72 on the day, he sits 15 strokes out of the lead.

Leaderboard

Can anyone make a run at Lashley? Here is how the field sits going into Sunday’s final round.

Position	Player	To Par	R1	R2	R3	TOTAL
1	Nate Lashley	-23	63	67	63	193
2	J.T. Poston	-17	70	63	66	199
3	C. Tringale	-16	68	67	65	200
4	Patrick Reed	-15	68	68	65	201
T5	Peter Malnati	-14	68	66	68	202
T5	Doc Redman	-14	68	67	67	202
T5	Wes Roach	-14	67	68	67	202
T5	Rory Sabbatini	-14	65	69	68	202
T9	Byeong Hun An	-13	68	66	69	203
T9	C. Howell III	-13	65	67	71	203
T9	Sungjae Im	-13	69	68	66	203
T9	H. Matsuyama	-13	68	67	68	203
T9	Joaquin Niemann	-13	68	66	69	203
T9	Ted Potter Jr	-13	68	67	68	203
T9	Brian Stuard	-13	66	72	65	203
T16	Talor Gooch	-12	65	72	67	204
T16	Brandt Snedeker	-12	70	69	65	204
T16	Kevin Streelman	-12	66	70	68	204
T19	Harris English	-11	66	68	71	205
T19	J.B. Holmes	-11	67	68	70	205
T19	Jason Kokrak	-11	66	71	68	205
T19	Sepp Straka	-11	68	67	70	205
T19	Nick Watney	-11	64	72	69	205
T19	Aaron Wise	-11	69	69	67	205
T25	Cameron Champ	-10	66	65	75	206
T25	Wyndham Clark	-10	68	70	68	206
T25	Danny Lee	-10	66	71	69	206
T25	Denny McCarthy	-10	69	68	69	206
T25	Martin Piller	-10	66	69	71	206
T30	Ryan Armour	-9	64	69	74	207
T30	Jonas Blixt	-9	67	68	72	207
T30	Joey Garber	-9	67	72	68	207
T30	Brice Garnett	-9	69	67	71	207
T30	Adam Schenk	-9	65	71	71	207
T30	Roger Sloan	-9	70	68	69	207
T30	J.J. Spaun	-9	66	73	68	207
T30	Shawn Stefani	-9	69	70	68	207
T30	Nick Taylor	-9	68	70	69	207
T39	Bronson Burgoon	-8	66	70	72	208
T39	Sam Burns	-8	70	67	71	208
T39	Luke Donald	-8	67	69	72	208
T39	Rickie Fowler	-8	68	68	72	208
T39	Dylan Frittelli	-8	66	70	72	208
T39	Max Homa	-8	68	69	71	208
T39	M. Hughes	-8	66	70	72	208
T39	Kevin Kisner	-8	66	70	72	208
T39	Andrew Landry	-8	71	67	70	208
T39	Scott Stallings	-8	66	72	70	208
T39	Kyle Stanley	-8	69	69	70	208
T39	Vaughn Taylor	-8	70	69	69	208
T39	Chase Wright	-8	65	70	73	208
T52	Chad Collins	-7	67	72	70	209
T52	Viktor Hovland	-7	70	69	70	209
T52	Anirban Lahiri	-7	69	68	72	209
T52	Cameron Smith	-7	70	68	71	209
T52	Brendan Steele	-7	68	70	71	209
T52	Jimmy Walker	-7	68	71	70	209
T58	Bud Cauley	-6	69	69	72	210
T58	Stewart Cink	-6	65	73	72	210
T58	Tom Hoge	-6	67	70	73	210
T58	Wes Homan	-6	71	68	71	210
T58	Billy Horschel	-6	69	70	71	210
T58	Colt Knost	-6	70	68	72	210
T58	Seth Reeves	-6	68	71	71	210
T58	Josh Teater	-6	68	69	73	210
T66	Roberto Castro	-5	70	69	72	211
T66	Carlos Ortiz	-5	67	70	74	211
68	A. Albertson	-4	69	67	76	212
T69	D. Bozzelli	-3	69	69	75	213
T69	Kyle Jones	-3	70	69	74	213
71	Smylie Kaufman	3	69	70	80	219