DETROIT — Hold onto your butts.
It's shaping up to be another wild weekend at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
"It's going to take some good scoring over the weekend," said Rickie Fowler, who might as well have added that water is wet and Detroit Golf Club is drying out. "Yeah, it will be fun."
Taylor Moore, already a winner on Tour this year, and Taylor Pendrith, who came so close here a year ago, shared the lead at the halfway point of the PGA Tour's fifth annual stop in the shadows of Palmer Park, at 13 under, while Fowler and rising star Ludvig Aberg were a shot back at 12. Collin Morikawa, the second-fan favorite behind Fowler, led a group another shot back at 11 under that also included Aaron Rai, Adam Schenk and Justin Lower.
All together, 28 players will start the weekend within five shots of the lead.
Moore shot an early 67 that included five birdies in a six-hole stretch in the middle of his round, while Pendrith, who tied for second at the 2022 Rocket, shot a late 64 that included six birdies in an eight-hole stretch.
Pendrith, from Canada, hasn't made a bogey through two rounds.
"Obviously, I played well here last year, so it's exciting to be playing well again this year," said Pendrith, 32, the 36-hole leader here for the second straight year — he will tee up Saturday with the lead on Canada day, as he tries to become the fifth Canadian to win on the PGA Tour this season (four already is a record). "Learned a lot from last year. Got to play aggressive, stay aggressive."
No truer words are spoken around Detroit Golf Club.
Those words should've come with the courtesy cars.
Moore, 29, won the Valspar Championship in March, triggering an excellent run of golf. But he came into Detroit having missed his last three cuts. Funny game, this golf.
"Golf's just such a finicky game," Moore said. "I really haven't felt like I've been that far off and (yet I) haven't made a cut in a couple weeks. Having that win under my belt ... just patience and just realizing my game's good enough and I'm good enough to not only compete out here but hoist a trophy on Sunday."
Time will tell if that's the case this week. And he's got a whole lot of competition, including some big names.
Fowler, 34, hasn't won since 2019, but he's enjoying a big-time revival season — including a close call at the U.S. Open in L.A. earlier this month — and he believes it's only a matter of time until he wins again. He was dialed in with the iron game Friday, hitting it to 2 feet for birdie at No. 2, less than 2 feet for birdie at the par-3 5th, and 2 feet for birdie at No. 8 en route to a second-round 7-under 65. The highlight of his day, though, was a chip-in for eagle at the par-5 17th, after leaving his 5 iron just short of the green. He got a good read off Joel Dahmen's chip.
"We'll just keep knocking on the door," Fowler said.
Knocking on his door, a group ahead, was Morikawa, who followed an opening 66 with a second-round 67. Morikawa, 26, already is a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, including two major championships, but none since 2021. He was in contention at The Memorial a few weeks back, but had to withdraw before the final round with a back injury that had some Rocket Mortgage folks nervous about his status for a first-time appearance in Detroit.
He showed up, and is showing out. Morikawa was plodding along Friday, and had just made bogey at the par-4 13th hole. Then, on the par-5 14th, the round flipped. He had 242 yards, and hit a 5 wood to less than 3 feet. Morikawa thought he might've made it.
"There's a guy reacting in the back," Morikawa said with a smile. "Apparently, people do make 2s on that hole."
That was a nod to Dylan Wu, who made the double-eagle on the 14th Thursday. Wu was a shot back of Morikawa, headlining a group at 10 under after a 3-under 69. Also at 10 under were first-round leader and Monday qualifier Peter Kuest (70), Andrew Landry (63, tying a course record), Sepp Straka (66), 2021 Rocket champ Cam Davis (65) and Adam Hadwin (68).
At 9 under were Peter Malnati (66), Chris Kirk (68), Callum Tarren (68) and Nicolai Hojgaard (68). At 8 under was a group of 10, led by last week's winner, Keegan Bradley (67), and Brian Harman (68).
Max Homa led a group of 12 at 8 under, following a second-round 68, also highlighted by eagle at 17.
A tournament-record 84 players made the cut.
Among big names missing the cut were Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Kim and 2022 champ Tony Finau.
"So far this week has been amazing," Morikawa said. "The people out here, the fans have been great, we saw a lot of people out here today. So it's been a nice ride. This is when the work really starts. Make the weekend, you're in contention, and we just want to post two really low numbers this weekend."
Said Aberg, 23, just out of Texas Tech: "You're going to have to shoot a low score and make a lot of birdies. I'm up for it, and I'm looking forward to it."
And he's got company.
Hold onto your butts.
