Rain, rain, go away: Weather pauses Rocket Mortgage Classic, impacts Sunday's schedule
Fans had to take a short break at the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Saturday.
The threat of inclement weather loomed going into the weekend but finally made an appearance during the third round, with lightning in the area leading to a suspension of play at 2:48 p.m.
Rain quickly made its way to the golf course about 12 minutes after the air horn sounded to clear the course, but severe weather managed to stay far enough away for play to resume at 4:30 p.m., after a delay of 102 minutes.
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The PGA Tour announced Saturday evening that Sunday's final-round tee times would be moved up to 6:45-8:55 a.m. The final groupings will be threesomes and will tee off on both the first and 10th holes.
Fans and players have already been dealing with less-than-ideal conditions the past few days because of diminished air quality due to the Canadian wildfire smoke that's been making its way through the Detroit area. The air was deemed unhealthy by AirNow.gov on Friday morning — though not poor enough to trigger a stop under the PGA Tour's guide lines — but moved into a "moderate" classification as of Saturday afternoon. An air quality alert is still in effect in Detroit until Sunday, as issued by the National Weather Service.
The Detroit Golf Club is also no stranger to storms. Severe weather struck the course on Monday, causing slight damage that prompted swift repair.
More rain and storms are projected overnight and into Sunday.
History for Yuan?
Before the rain arrived, Carl Yuan had catapulted himself into a three-way tie for first place. Not only could the Dalian, China, native is become the first Chinese player to win the Rocket, he would be the first player from mainland China to win a PGA Tour event. (Two Taiwanese golfers — C.T. Pan and T.C. Chen — have wins on the Tour. Chen memorably lost the 1985 U.S. Open played at Oakland Hills in the metro Detroit area when he double-hit a ball in his final round.)
There are two Chinese players on the Tour — Yuan and Zecheng Dou, who fired a 6-under 66 on Saturday to move to 12 under for the tournament. Yuan was even better, carding an 8-under 64 to move to 16 under for the tournament to go into the clubhouse with a share of the lead.
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"I played the last two rounds great," Yuan said. "You know, feel like I find something working in my swing. My coach was here on Thursday and worked a little bit after the round and seems like things are going the right direction, and I kind of just flow with it, let things happen instead of forcing it too much. Had a couple great up-and-downs today to keep the momentum going."
He started his round fairly evenly, remaining at par through six holes. He then eagled the seventh and birdied the eighth and ninth to get things going. Yuan was one of the players whose game was interrupted by the rain delay, but it didn't bother him, he said, adding that he needed to get a snack anyway.
He had four birdies on the back nine, including three straight on Nos. 13-15.
Local still swinging
Mount Pleasant native and Michigan State alumnus Ryan Brehm made the cut Friday thanks to a 3-under 69 that left him at 5-under for the tournament. He was back in action early Saturday morning, but he struggled to recreate his early success.
Brehm's 72 left him at par and back in the 70s on the leaderboard. He was able to regroup late in the round following a double bogey on No. 12 thanks to a birdie on the No. 14.
Brehm golfed for MSU from 2004-08 and was an assistant coach with the program after graduating. He has one PGA Tour win: the Puerto Rico Open in 2022.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rocket Mortgage Classic 2023: Storm delays Carl Yuan's run at history
