DETROIT — Taylor Moore and Monday qualifier Peter Kuest shot 8-under 64s to share the first-round lead in the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Thursday, with a slew of players chasing in what’s expected to be a shootout.
Dylan Wu had the third albatross on the PGA Tour this season and shot 65, joining Sam Ryder, Aaron Rai, Ludvig Aberg, Sam Bennett, Justin Suh and Adam Schenk.
Collin Morikawa was among those two shots back, and Rickie Fowler was three off the lead at Detroit Golf Club.
While many took full advantage of favorable conditions on a relatively easy course, some notable names were nowhere near the top of the leaderboard.
Max Homa, the only player in the field ranked in the top 10 in the world, shot a 3-under 69. Sungjae Im was one stroke better.
Defending champion Tony Finau, who won last year at 26 under, shot 72.
Major champions Hideki Matsuyama and Justin Thomas are in danger of missing the cut.
Matsuyama had a 75 and Thomas was one shot worse after making a double bogey and five bogeys. At No. 66 in the FedEx Cup standings, Thomas, who won his second PGA Championship last year, is in danger of missing a postseason that will include the top 70 players.
Thomas, who has fallen out of the top 10 in the world for the first time in nearly six years, missed the cut in two of his previous three tournaments.
Wu had the shot of the day, one that was not captured by TV cameras.
He holed a hybrid from 262 yards on the 570-yard, par-5 14th hole, setting off a roar from the crowd. Wu didn’t see it go in because he lost the ball in flight on a hazy day due to smoky air from Canada’s wildfires that have given Detroit some of the worst air quality in the U.S.
Kuest, a 25-year-old former BYU player who turned pro in 2020, is playing in his 10th career PGA Tour event. Instead of fishing on a river in Utah, he made nine birdies and a bogey in the Mdotor City.
The 29-year-old Moore made eight birdies in his bogey-free round.
This story originally appeared on ESPN
