Tony Finau nearly missed the cut.
The world’s 17th-best golfer needed a 19-foot birdie on his final hole to get to 5 under par at the conclusion of Friday’s second round, just above the threshold to advance to the third round of the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club.
On Saturday, he surged up the leaderboard to 11 under and has given himself an outside chance at contention in Sunday’s final round.
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“Tricky little pins in certain areas and things, but still very scoreable,” Finau said after shooting 6-under 66. “If you hit it in the fairway, I think you’re going to see some, like you have in the first couple days, some really good scoring.”
As of 1:25 p.m., Finau is tied for sixth with 12 other golfers, including the jacked Bryson DeChambeau. Chris Kirk, Webb Simpson and Hideki Matsuyama are among the leaders at 12 under, but there’s still plenty of golfers left with opportunities to move up. Kirk and Simpson didn’t start their rounds until much later.
On Friday, Kirk shot 7-under-par 65 to take a share of the second-round lead, while Simpson shot 64.
The 30-year-old Finau was 1 under through the first six holes before shooting an eagle on No. 7 and birdie on No. 8 to finish the front half 4 under. He continued his success with birdies on Nos. 12 and 14.
And most importantly: no bogeys.
“Being first out is great,” Finau said. “You’ve got fresh greens and I learned that early. I hit a bunch of putts that went five, six feet by on my first few holes. I was quite surprised with how good they were early. I came off playing pretty late yesterday, and the greens got a little bumpy and slow.
“I had to make that adjustment right away. I think in that respect, maybe the greens played in my favor because how early I went out, but overall, I do think the scoring’s going to be pretty good.”
In the second round, he double-bogeyed No. 10 and bogeyed Nos. 16 and 18 but turned it around with four birdies on the last seven holes to make the cut.
Finau is seeking his first Tour victory since 2016. Earlier this season, he finished second at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, tied for sixth at the Farmers Insurance Open and tied for ninth at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
“I haven’t had like a really breakout round,” he said. “But I think I’m really close to putting together some great golf again, and that’s exciting for me.”
Evan Petzold is a sports reporting intern at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.
