Ryan Brehm Makes Rocket Mortgage Cut at 5-Under Par T35
By Tom Lang
DETROIT – Ryan Brehm, the Mt. Pleasant native and former star at Michigan State University, did something he rarely does during PGA Tour tournament weeks, according to his wife, Chelsey.
He picked out clothes for the weekend – which most golfers would consider a bad superstition.
“I went through a couple outfit selections, and I ended up with this one today, but I suppose I do have a couple picked out for the weekend,” he told me with a slight grin after round two, Friday, at Detroit Golf Club.
Brehm shot 69-70 to find himself at T35.
Taylor Pendrith of Canada leads the field at 15-under par (a tournament record for two rounds), followed by Tony Finau at 14-under and Lee Hodges at -12. Cameron Young, fairly fresh off a third-place finish at The Open, shot a one-round record-tying 63 on Friday to land in 4th place heading into the weekend.
But it is Brehm who’s holding out hope for Michigan-based golf fans. Both Brian Stuard of Jackson and Michigan PGA pro Ben Cook of Yankee Springs did not make the cut.
Brehm began the afternoon round slowly, earning bogies on No. 12 and 15 (his 3rd and 6th holes). Then an outstanding second shot to the 18th green out of a fairway bunker stopped within 6 feet and he made the tough downhill birdie. That was the first of 4 birdies in a 5-hole stretch that brought him back above the cut line, which he held onto with a 37-33 on the day.
Key shots were the one on 18, a 41-foot birdie putt on No. 2, and a recovery chip onto the 7th green that got him in position for his final birdie of the day.
“We had to go under the tree and anytime you have to land the ball short of the green you’re kind of at the mercy of the bounce,” he said, “but I nipped it nice and it had a bunch of spin on it. It was firming up and knew anything that would land on that hill (in front) would skip onto the green and then stop.
“Early on I was hitting the ball fine and found ourselves in just some weird predicaments. I mean, a couple squirrely lies. We guessed wrong on the wind because the wind seemed to be swirling all over the place. The greens were firmer, it played a little bit different in the afternoon than yesterday morning. But after we kind of adjusted for that and I started hitting them a little bit softer towards the hole, I guess, and they started dropping because I kept hitting edges. And hit a good shot onto 18, which was my ninth hole, and ended up making that one. So, I think once I saw one go in, I made a couple more after that.”
Brehm is being followed by 40 friends and family, mostly the latter, plus others who know his connections to the Great Lakes State.
“A lot of Michigan support this week, it's been a lot of fun,” Brehm said. “I feel like it's been a busy week for me, but I'm happy to be back. I don't feel like I'm playing for my life this week and that's different. I'm just trying to enjoy it a little bit more, and I am, it's nice. It's nice to see all the support and people around here love the game of golf.
“Being in my home state is something special for me. I was way more nervous. I feel like everybody in the crowd's watching me even if I don't know them. It incentivizes me to focus a little bit harder and dig deeper.”
