There will be no South African interest in the final two rounds of the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit with all four Saffas missing the halfway cut.
Branden Grace, who birdied just two holes on Friday, hit 11 of 18 greens in regulation during his second round en route to a 71. It left him at -3 but that was two shots short at Detroit Golf Club.
Charl Schwartzel and Christiaan Bezuidenhout were both at -2 after rounds of 72 and 71, respectively. The former lost more than a stroke to the field in round two and hit just nine of 14 fairways. He matched Grace’s green in regulation tally.
Chasing his Tour card, Bezuidenhout was the third South African to hit 11 greens in his second lap. He made two birdie – on 9 and 18.
A first-round 75 left Erik van Rooyen with little chance of making the weekend and despite gaining 1.5 strokes with the putter in round two he would settle for a 70 – a round that included three front-side birdies but two drops on his way into the clubhouse.
Americans Webb Simpson and Chris Kirk share the second-round lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
A year after taking a leave of absence from the PGA Tour to address alcohol abuse, Kirk has turned his life around and revived his career.
Kirk had a seven under 65 on Friday, and Simpson later shot a 64 to pull into a tie atop the leaderboard at 12 under 132.
The 35-year-old Kirk has won four times on the PGA Tour, most recently in 2015.
Simpson won the RBC Heritage two weeks ago in South Carolina, finishing at a tournament-record 22 under for his second win of the season and seventh of his career. He withdrew from the Travelers Championship last week because one of his daughters appeared to have Covid-19, but she later tested negative.
Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images
