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PGA Tour: who is Tom Lewis and how is he in contention?

By Tim Letcher

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 12: Tom Lewis of England plays his shot from the ninth tee during the second round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 12, 2020 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 12: Tom Lewis of England plays his shot from the ninth tee during the second round of the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 12, 2020 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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Another relative unknown, Tom Lewis, finds himself in contention on the PGA Tour at this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit

Tom Lewis finds himself in contention at this week’s PGA Tour stop, the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Wait, who? Who in the world is Tom Lewis?

The 29-year-old Lewis is in his first year on the PGA Tour after winning the Korn Ferry Tour Championship last season. Lewis hails from Welwyn Garden City, England and turned pro in 2011.

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He got himself into contention with very solid play over the first two days of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He shot a 68 on Thursday and a 71 on Friday to make the cut on the number. And on Saturday, he took it to another level.

Lewis had an up and down round on Saturday at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He opened with a bogey on the first hole, followed by pars on two and three.

He then birdied the fourth and fifth holes to get to 1-under par for the day. But he immediately bogeyed the sixth hole to slip back to even par.

Lewis bounced back with birdies at numbers seven and eight to move to 2-under par on the day. A par on the ninth hole left him with a 2-under par 34 on the front nine.

He caught fire early on the back nine

Lewis started the back nine with three straight birdies, at numbers 10, 11 and 12 to get to 5-under par on his round. After a par at the 13th hole, he birdied number 14 to get to 6-under par.

But Lewis was not done yet. After pars on 15 and 16, he birdied the 17th hole, getting to 7-under par and into a tie for the tournament lead. However, he could not finish the round as strongly, as he bogeyed the 18th hole to finish with a 6-under par 66. That leaves him at 11-under par through three rounds.

To call this a surprise would be a vast understatement. Lewis has played in six events on tour prior to this week and has made exactly one cut. That came at the Honda Classic in March when his first round 66 was enough for him to make the cut despite shooting 75 on Friday.

Lewis, who was named for his father’s golf hero Tom Watson, does has an accomplished career. He played in the 2011 Walker Cup and, later that year, earned his first professional victory by claiming the title at the Portugal Masters.

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He has two other professional wins to his credit. Lewis won the 2018 Bridgestone Challenge on the European Tour and he claimed a second crown at the Portugal Masters, also in 2018.

If Lewis is able to record a top 10 on Sunday, it will be a surprise. But after the round he had on Saturday, anything is possible.

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