Brad Dalke and Ryan Ruffels Miss Cut at Rocket Classic

Brad Dalke and Ryan Ruffels' PGA Tour returns at the Rocket Classic have both ended after 36 holes, with neither sponsor exemption able to find their best golf and advance to the weekend. But despite the outcome ultimately being the same for the pair, the two of them had a dramatically different couple of days on the course.

Brad Dalke

Dalke's week unravelled almost as soon as it started, with a triple-bogey eight on his fifth hole an ominous sign of things to come. He ended the day with an 11-over 81, summing up the round as ‘nightmare fuel’ on social media.

“That round was nightmare fuel my goodness. Goes without saying I played very very poorly… but everything that could’ve gone wrong seemed to go wrong. Nothing I can do now except go play some more golf tomorrow.”

Play some golf tomorrow he did, and while it was an improved showing, two bogeys and two doubles in his last seven holes saw him end the round with a five-over 75, taking his two round total to +16. That was enough for dead last by four strokes, 19 shots shy of the cut line.

It goes without saying that it was a disappointing result for Dalke, particularly given some recent form he’d shown at the professional level. He finished in a tie for 30th at the BMW International Open on the DP World Tour in early July with rounds of 69 and 66, and while the field here may have been a little stronger, that result certainly showed that he’s capable of mixing it with some of the very best in the world.

Ryan Ruffels

Ruffels, meanwhile, fared a little better than his Your Golf Tour opponent, but despite that failed to advance through to the weekend. The Aussie started solidly with an even par-70 which included two birdies and two bogeys, which saw him sitting in a huge bottleneck of players sitting within a couple of shots of that number and fighting for a Saturday tee time.

Unfortunately, while many of those players put their proverbial feet on the gas on Friday to move under par, Ruffels was unable to find the extra gear required to make the cut. He peaked at -1 following a birdie on the 4th, but ultimately ended up with another even-par round of 70 and missed out on the weekend action by three shots.

Ruffels wrote on social media:

“70-70 for E total. Unfortunately that’s an MC @RocketClassic. Wish I had my game this week at all. Really sloppy all around but fought to the end. The fan support was amazing and I’m honored that many people watch me play golf on a weekly basis. On to the next opportunity❤️🙌🏼”

Like Dalke, Ruffels has recently shown his ability to compete at the top level, making the cut and finishing in a tie for 45th at the Myrtle Beach Classic a couple of months ago. And despite failing to make the weekend at the Rocket Classic, he certainly wasn’t out of place in an event with plenty of high-quality names.

Among those names are Cameron Young and Patrick Cantlay, who head into the weekend atop the leaderboard at -10 alongside Patrick Fishburn. Sitting just below them include Rickie Fowler at -9, Xander Shauffele at -8, Keegan Bradley at -7, and each of Russell Henley, Jordan Spieth and JJ Spaun at -6.

The Rocket Classic continues on Saturday with the first tee time at 7:30am local time, with the leaders set to tee off at 1.50pm.