2021 Rocket Mortgage: 63-Year-Old Jeff Roth Completes Round One
By Tim Letcher
Most people probably did not notice the name Jeff Roth on Thursday at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Frankly, by his play alone, Roth did not do much that was notable in the first round of the PGA Tour event at Detroit Golf Club.
But what is notable is Roth himself. At 63 years of age, Roth is, by far, the oldest player in this week’s field. He got in the tournament by claiming the title at the 2019 Michigan PGA Professional Championship. His spot in the field was held over due to the pandemic, so Roth is finally getting his chance this week.
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Roth, who lives in New Mexico, is somewhat of a legend in Michigan. He has won multiple events there and has had several opportunities to play on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions.
His round got off to a fairly strong start. He actually parred the first seven holes of his round, despite having a long drive of 261 yards on those holes. His ability to make putts and to scramble was on display on Thursday.
Roth did stumble a bit at the par-4 eighth hole. He hit his second shot long and right and was unable to get up-and-down from behind the green. The bogey left him at 1-over par. That’s where he would close his first nine.
On the back side, Roth had much more going on.
After a par on the 10th hole, he ran into more trouble on the 11th hole. On the par three, he hit his tee shot into a greenside bunker. Roth was not able to get up-and-down and suffered his second bogey of the day.
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Roth would double bogey the par-4 12th hole, slipping to 4-over on his round. But he bounced right back on the par-4 13th hole. There, he drove it in the fairway, then hit his second shot to about eight feet. He ran the putt in for his first birdie of the day.
After a weather delay, Roth returned to the course and finished his round of 5-over par 77. But that wasn’t the story – it was actually just the fact that Roth was in the field.