DETROIT (AP) — Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai finished the third round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic in the same spot they started: atop the leaderboard.
Bhatia and Rai each shot a 4-under 68 on Saturday to finish at 17 under par and again share the lead on a crowded leaderboard.
“There were a lot of people at this golf tournament, it wasn't just the two of us,” Bhatia said. “We weren't isolated.”
Cam Davis (66) and Cameron Young (67) were one stroke back at a rainy, windy day at Detroit Golf Club, and Sam Stevens (66) and Eric Van Rooyen (68) were another stroke back.
Amateurs Luke Clanton (65), Ming Woo Lee (66) and Joel Dahmen (68) were all three strokes off the lead going into Sunday's final round.
The third round started several hours late and saw more than an inch of rain soak the course, creating puddles on the fairways and large pools in the rough, forcing three-way playoffs on both the front and back nine.
Conditions were fine, allowing players to pick up, wipe and place golf balls on the fairways, but players could not escape wind gusts of up to 25 mph.
“The biggest factor was the wind,” Lee said. “We'd been playing in pretty calm conditions the last two days and today it was like a hurricane.”
As the sun began to set and the course was cast in shadow, Bhatia and Lai slowed down, but Young made his third birdie in four holes on the par-5 17th to move into a tie for third place.
Young shot 59 at the Travelers Championship last Saturday, becoming the first player to accomplish the feat since Scottie Scheffler in the 2020 FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Davis, who won the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2021 with a score of 18 under par, made his fourth birdie in five holes and finished with a slow-rolling 8-foot putt to move into a four-way tie atop the leaderboard.
Bhatia and Rai both got birdies on the 17th to move from a four-way tie to a two-way tie at 17 under par, with both earning pars on the final hole.
Bhatia won his second PGA Tour victory at the Texas Open in April and finished fifth at the Travelers Championship, where he was in the final group when climate change protesters stormed the 18th green, disrupting the tournament.
“I was there for a long time last week and obviously didn't get it done,” he said, “but I'm excited this time.”
Lye and Young, a seven-time runner-up, are each seeking their first PGA Tour victory.
Clanton, a junior at Florida State University, had four birdies in the first nine holes and a fifth on the 11th hole to move to within two strokes of the leader. After a bogey on the 12th hole put him one back, he made an eagle on the par-5 14th and then made a 3-foot putt on the 17th hole with an approach from 227 feet for birdie.
If Clanton plays strong enough to win, he will become the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour in the same season since 1945.
Nick Dunlap beat a field that included Scheffler to win the American Express, becoming the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson 33 years ago. Dunlap, who turned pro immediately after winning in January, shot a third-round 67 to finish four strokes behind in Detroit.
“I'm an amateur now, but I'm really good,” he said.
Clanton maintains he's in no rush to make big money as a professional on the PGA Tour and said he plans to stay in school for two more years.
“It's not often that you get to play golf with your buddies every day,” he said before eating a collegiate dinner at Chipotle. “I've got 12 buddies on my team that I really love, so it's awesome.”
Will Zalatoris, who entered the tournament ranked 44th in the world, withdrew from the tournament Saturday after playing eight holes in 3-over par because of a back injury.
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