U.S. Open champ (and Emily Tanner's boyfriend) misses cut at Rocket

Detroit — With big names atop the leaderboard at the Rocket Classic, the galleries, already impressive through two rounds, are expected to swell on the weekend at Detroit Golf Club.

>But the field, at the halfway point, has now shrunk.

>The cut line came in at 3 under par after Friday's round, with 73 players at that number or better. The rest of the 146-player field is heading home after finishing 2 under or worse after two rounds. The field started at 147, but Patrick Rodgers withdrew after an opening-round 77.

>Among the big names who missed the cut was Wyndham Clark, the No. 9 player in the Official World Golf Ranking who won his second U.S. Open last month at Shinnecock Hills in New York.

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>Clark got off to a good start this week, shooting 2 under through his first nine holes Thursday, but it was a struggle the rest of the way. He finished 5 over after a second-round 74 that included a double-bogey at the par-5 14th hole. It's Clark's second straight missed cut (British Open), after a scorching stretch in which he had a six-tournament stretch during which he won twice (Byron Nelson, U.S. Open), and didn't have a finish worse than a tie for 13th.

>The week started strong off the course, too, for Clark, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Tuesday's Tigers game, and threw a perfect strike with some velocity.

>Clark has become a bit of an adopted Michiganian, now that he is dating Metro Detroit native Emily Tanner, an Instagram model, social-media influencer and Michigan State alum. Tanner was in the gallery at the Rocket Classic, with her friends and family. The two now live out west, Tanner in L.A. and Clark in Scottsdale, but they spent the July 4 holiday in Michigan seeing a whole lot of lakes, and they were excited to return to Detroit this week.

>The stay, at least at DGC, was short, as it was for several other notables in the Rocket field.

>Chris Gotterup, world No. 7, who has won three times this season, also was heading home after finishing 1 over. He followed a 68 with a 73.

>Ben Griffin, world No. 19, finished just outside the cut at 2 under after a second-round 70 in which he made nine pars on his second nine. Griffin hit all nine greens in regulation on his second nine, but couldn't convert. He missed a 35-foot putt for birdie on the par-3 ninth, when a birdie would've kept him around for the weekend.

>Also narrowly missing the cut at 2 under was Jake Knapp, who finished tied for fourth last year, and amateur William Jennings, the University of Alabama golfer who earned a sponsor's exemption into the field by winning the Folds of Honor Collegiate at American Dunes in Grand Haven last fall.

>Akshay Bhatia, who was runner-up to Cam Davis in 2024, missed the cut at 1 under, while Davis, who also won the Rocket in 2021, missed the cut at 3 over. Last year's Rocket champion, Aldrich Potgieter, also finished 3 over. Lucas Glover is out at 4 over, a week after Spikesgate.

>The two local players in the field, Ann Arbor's Patrick Wilkes-Krier and Detroit's Joe Hooks, finished 7 over and 8 over, respectively.

>And the two YouTube golf stars in the field are out, too. Ryan Ruffels of "The Lads" shot even par, and Brad Dalke, making his first PGA Tour start as a pro, finished 16 over, dead last in the field. Both were given sponsor's exemptions.

>tpaul@detroitnews.com

>@tonypaul1984

>This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: U.S. Open champ (and Emily Tanner's boyfriend) misses cut at Rocket