UWM employees crash party on Day 2 of Rocket Mortgage Classic
The Rocket Mortgage Classic had some unexpected visitors Friday.
A group of about 20 employees from rival lending company United Wholesale Mortgage attended the second round of the tournament. They wore matching blue shirts marked with a patch on the right sleeve that said "#1 mortgage lender in the nation," making them easily identifiable in the crowd of fans.
When asked about their presence at the event, one member of the group said that leadership got together and decided to have an outing, and that they all like golf.
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The heads of the two mortgage companies, Mat Ishbia and Dan Gilbert, have a long-standing rivalry due to their business ventures.
Ishbia's UWM took the nation's No. 1 ranking in the nation in loan originations from Gilbert's Rocket Mortgage back in 2022. The rivalry only intensified when Ishbia decided to buy NBA and WNBA franchises in Phoenix. Gilbert, the owner of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, abstained in the otherwise unanimous vote of owners that allowed Ishbia to join their ranks.
Ishbia openly admitted the two do not get along on the Bill Simmons podcast back in May.
"I can go talk for hours on it or I’ll talk for a minute. And the minute is probably easier," Ishbia said. “He doesn’t like me and I don’t like him. That’s how it is."
With the bad blood between Ishbia and Gilbert — both Michigan State alums who've battled each other via donations to their alma mater, as well — 20 blue UWM shirts proclaiming the company's title as the No. 1 mortgage lender in the state at a large event named after its competitor might not be a coincidence.
History for John Shippen winner
Chase Johnson is set to become the first John Shippen Invitational champion to make the cut in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Johnson shot 2-under 70 on Friday to get to 4-under after two rounds.
"I mean, all you can ask for is the chance to show yourself and what you're capable of, and I did it this weekend," Johnson said. "You know, hopefully that 4-under holds. I mean, it feels pretty good right now and hopefully we can keep taking that opportunity one step further each day going into Sunday."
Johnson won the John Shippen last weekend at Detroit Golf Club to earn an automatic bid to the Rocket and just his second start on the PGA Tour. He played in two Korn Ferry Tour events this year: the Astara Chile Classic, in which he tied for 25th, and the Veritex Bank Championship, in which he tied for 72nd.
The Shippen is a tournament designed to showcase Black amateur and professional golfers; it was named after John Shippen Jr., the first American-born golf professional and the first Black golf professional in the United States.
Johnson talked about what it meant to him to be the first Shippen winner to make the cut following his round.
"Hopefully, that's just the first of many John Shippen champions," Johnson said. "A lot of these guys who I played with this past weekend, they've all got game. We've got a lot of PGA TOUR appearances between the players and hopefully this helped open some more doors for them in the made cuts, and hopefully a win in the future just starts flooding in."
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No luck for locals Martin, Stuard
Michigan natives Kyle Martin and Brian Stuard failed to make the cut Friday.
Martin finished with a 1-over 145 while Stuard finished with a 5-over 149. Martin gained entry to the Rocket by winning the Michigan PGA Championship. A club pro at Lochmoor Golf Club in Grosse Pointe Woods, he had quite the cheering section full of its members.
Stuard came to Detroit having missed the cut at his past nine events. The Jackson native and Oakland University alumnus had his best finish this season back in September when he tied for 12th place at the Fortinet Championship. He has one win on the Tour, the 2016 Zurich Classic in New Orleans. Stuard finished tied for fifth at the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2019, tied for 30th the next year and missed the cut in 2021 and 2022.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic: UWM shows up at Detroit Golf Club
