From the late wave and beginning on 10 tee, World No. 203 Charley Hoffman styled a 5-under 36-31=67 in R1 of the Rocket Mortgage Classic to sit in a T8 logjam, three short of co-leaders Tony Finau and Taylor Pendrith, who played earlier today.
The 45-year-old is making his second appearance after a missed cut by two at the inaugural in 2019 (69-72). After today’s six-birdie one-bogey effort (link below): “Yeah, tee to green was about as clean as I’ve been all year long. Body’s starting to feel a little better and be able to swing the way I want to. My L-4, L-5 was bulging. I mean, it was bad. I sort of, for lack of a better term, half-assed it through most of the year and now it’s starting to feel like I can practice, hit balls, play.” The San Diego native striped 12 (of 14) fairways and landed 16 greens in regulation, losing strokes around (-0.064) and on-the-green (-0.118), but gaining 1.477 off-the-tee and 2.398 on approach. He checked in 172nd in the FedExCup standings and off a T69 at the Scottish Open (sponsor exemption) and a T31 at the opposite-field Barracuda two weeks ago, where he was an 18-hole co-leader. The UNLV alum has made 23 starts on the season (11 made cuts, 11 missed cuts, 1 WD), and did not play the final two events in the fall or the first three events of the calendar year, and referenced his ailing back at the WM Phoenix Open, which he described then as a degenerative disk.