Hall Financial Second Round Suspended Tues; Copp Still Leads

Hall Financial Michigan Open Second Round Suspended by Storms; Tyler Copp Still Leads

  ROCHESTER HILLS – Ann Arbor’s Tyler Copp remains in the lead at the storm-interrupted 106th Hall Financial Michigan Open presented by Make The Turn, Brighton Ford and Coppercraft Distillery.

  Thunderstorms forced a suspension of the second round after two lengthy delays Tuesday night at the Katke-Cousins Course at Oakland University Golf and Learning Center. Second round play, with some players still having to play as many as 14 holes, will continue with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Wednesday.  The 36-hole cut to the low 70 scorers and ties will be made after the round is complete with the third round to follow.

  Copp played in the morning wave and completed his second round, and for the second consecutive day struggled on the first nine holes and then rallied to take the lead. The 25-year-old mini-tour player shot a 1-under 70 for a 7-under 36-hole total of 135 and was leading by two shots when play was suspended.

   “I was three-over and then kind of started figuring out more stuff and made some birdies,” Copp said. “I found it a little bit with the putter on my second nine and started seeing the lines better. I mean I hit it as good as yesterday, just didn’t putt well at all on the first nine.”

  Copp, the 2020 Michigan Amateur champion, said he was not getting ahead of himself.

  “There’s a lot of golf left,” he said. “I do like the course. It feels like it suits my game. I like to keep myself pretty stress free and I’ve been able to do that so far.”

  Two golfers were two shots back and both on the course when play was stopped. Joe Jusczcyk, a PGA Tour Canada player from Dearborn Heights was 5-under for the tournament through six holes, and Charles DeLong of DeWitt, a Grand Valley State University golfer and the NCAA Division II Player of the Year, was 5-under through eight holes.

  Three golfers were at 4-under. Zach Sudinsky, a mini-tour player from Ypsilanti, had completed his 71. Yugi Liu, a University of Michigan golfer from Canada now living in Ann Arbor, shot 70 to get in the mix. And Grant Haefner, a mini-tour pro from West Bloomfield, was 4-under through six holes of his second round.

  Two former Michigan Open champions who completed their second rounds were at 3-under. Barrett Kelpin of Kalamazoo, a touring pro and the 2012 champion, shot 69, and Bradley Smithson of Grand Rapids, the 2021 champion and a Michigan State University golfer, had the low round of the day with a 5-under 66 to get under par for the tournament.  

  Smithson’s 66 was fashioned despite an out-of-bounds tee shot that caused a double-bogey on No. 10. He also chipped in for eagle on No. 6.

  “I thought I hit it pretty well both days and today I putted the best I have in a while,” Smithson said. “I wanted to try and get back into it and I did.”

SCORES: michiganpga.com or link to Hall Financial Michigan Open Champ – Michigan Open Championship Leaderboard | Michigan PGA (bluegolf.com)

ABOUT HALL FINANCIAL: David Hall started in the mortgage business in 1996 and his passion for the business and his clients has never been stronger. After working for others for over 20 years, David started Hall Financial in 2016 with the core mission to be the most client-focused mortgage company in the industry. Website: callhallfirst.com

SUPPORTING SPONSORS: Broadwell Homes broadwellhomes.com, District Insurance gowithdistrict.com,  Harbor Title Agency harbortitleagency.com