DETROIT — The man they call "The Chef" got cooking early on Day 1 of the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club, tying the course record with a blistering 9-under 63.

Min Woo Lee's place in DGC lore didn't last more than a few hours, as, later Thursday afternoon, a pair of little-known golfers — 20-year-old Aldrich Potgieter and Kevin Roy — followed The Chef's appetizing meal with some five-star desserts of their own, each carding a 10-under 62 to stand atop a crowded and star-studded leaderboard.

Potgieter and Roy posed together for photographs with their historic scorecards following the first round. They shared the lead by one stroke over Lee, Mark Hubbard and Max Greyserman — they joined Lee with 63s — and two over Andrew Putnam, who shot a 64. There was a large group of players at 7 under, including two-time major winner Zach Johnson, who at 49 is the oldest player in the field, and there was another packed group at 6 under that included world No. 20 Patrick Cantlay and Wyndham Clark, a former U.S. Open winner.

More than 40 players shot 5 under or better on an ideal day for scoring at DGC, softened by early-week rain bursts, setting up what's likely to be another shootout for a tournament that's seen a whole lot of them.

The tournament record, 26 under, set by Tony Finau in 2022, is officially on notice, and the players are loving it.

"Hopefully, the PGA Tour can have more courses like this," Lee, the No. 38-ranked player in the world, said with a big smile. "It would be a bit more fun and less stressful."

DGC was on "59 Watch" on Thursday afternoon, when Potgieter, of South Africa, opened with a first-nine 29. He went birdie-eagle-birdie on the back nine (his first nine), then made birdie at the par-4 first to go 5 under over the four-hole span. Potgieter was 8 under through 10, before looking human over the next five holes, with five pars. He then made birdie at the par-5 seventh and rolled in a 9-footer for birdie at the par-4 eighth to reach 10 under.

That gave him the sole lead, but only for a little bit. Roy, 35, like Potgieter looking for his first PGA Tour win, had just chipped in for eagle from behind the green at the par-5 17th.

He blew his 5 wood over the green on the 17th, but got a good lie, and took advantage.

"It rolled in like a 2-footer," Roy said. "Certainly a bonus."

Roy then closed with birdie at the par-4 18th, hitting his approach to a little over 5 feet, then making the trickly little putt on a day when so many short putts were missed on the closing hole.

This is just the second season on the PGA Tour for Roy, who got his card for 2023, lost it for 2024, and has gotten status back for 2025, though he came into the week 100th in the FedEx Cup playoff rankings.

Potgieter is a PGA Tour rookie, after, in 2024, he became the youngest player to win on the Korn Ferry Tour, at 19 years, 133 days. (Fun fact: Michigan's Chuck Kocsis, who was barely out of high school when he won the 1931 Michigan Open, is the youngest champion on the PGA Tour, at just over 18 1/2 years old).

Potgieter missed a birdie putt of a little more than 12 feet on his last hole, the par-3 ninth. That was for 61.

"I was surprised with Kevin Roy's 10 under. I was standing on the last hole and I looked at the leaderboard and saw someone else at 10, so I was real eager to make that putt on the last," said Potgieter, who played in the Rocket in 2023 as an 18-year-old amateur and missed the cut. "We teed off and Min Woo was finishing.

"I saw his score at 9 under so I knew there was some opportunities out there."

Greyserman, 30, and Hubbard, 36, also shot 63s during the afternoon. Greyserman was spurred by five birdies in a five-hole span on his back nine, but he missed a 26-foot putt on the 18th to join the group at 10 under. Hubbard shot 6 under on his back nine, including birdie at the 18th with an 18-foot putt.

Roy, Potgieter, Greyserman and Hubbard are looking for their first PGA Tour wins. Lee got his first PGA Tour win at the Houston Open in March. It's been tough sledding since then for one of the fan favorites on the Tour.

In seven tournaments since his breakthrough win, he's missed two cuts and finished no better than 49th. Much of that has been done on much more demanding courses than DGC, in majors and signature tournaments. Those sure are lucrative and prestigious, but this, the Rocket, well, it's fun.

"It's been honestly very bad," Lee said when asked about the state of his game since that first win. "I didn't feel great on the course, especially playing at a course where when you hit it in the rough, you've literally got to hack it out. Oakmont (U.S. Open), Memorial, most of the signature events are just very, very tough.

"Instead of playing four majors, you're playing more majors, because they're trying to make it as tough as possible.

"I was really excited for this week. I wanted to get to hit in the rough and actually hit onto the green.

Lee still wasn't driving it great at DGC on Thursday, hitting just seven of 14 fairways, but the rough isn't the penalty here that it is at so many courses (at least, not until after the upcoming renovation, when fescue will become a thing). For now, you can still spray it plenty at DGC and get it away with it, as Lee learned Thursday, making birdie on four holes in which he missed the fairway.

Lee's putter made up for it. He made 113 feet of putts Thursday, ranking among the best in the 156-player field.

That included a 30-foot, 9-inch putt for birdie on his last hole of the day, the tough, par-3 ninth. That followed a birdie at the eighth, where he'd normally hit driver and try to get close to the hole on the short par 4, but hit an iron off the tee because, as he said, "didn't know where the ball was going."

Lee, 26, whose sister is 11-time LPGA winner and three-time major champ Minjee Lee, is trying to become the second Australian to win the Rocket Classic, joining Cam Davis, the tournament winner in 2024 and 2021 (who opened with a 2-over 74 on Thursday, and is likely going to miss the cut in his title defense).

Soft conditions, thanks to spurts of heavy rain Tuesday and Wednesday and some sprinkles Thursday afternoon, made DGC right there for the taking, and, as usual, a whole lot of players took — they got to play with preferred lies in the fairway — including Putnam, 36, who used nine birdies en route to an 8-under 64.

Like Lee, he's trying to win his second PGA Tour title, as well, but first since 2018.

"If it firms up, there's still a lot of birdie holes," Putnam said of the upcoming forecast, which calls for little rain and hot temps to close out a week in which the grounds crew promised to get the course fast and firm as ever. "I don't think it's going to play too much harder."

The group at 7 under included Johnson, who, hasn't played since early May and is looking for his first win since the 2015 British Open. Also at 7 under were Chris Kirk, Henrik Norlander, Lee Hodges, Kris Ventura, Michael Thorbjornsen and Hayden Springer, who actually played in Monday's qualifier at Fieldstone in Auburn Hills and had just completed his round (1 under, not nearly enough to get him in) when he got word that a WD had pushed him into the field.

Another stroke back at 6 under was a group that included world No. 17 Ben Griffin, who holed out for eagle from 75 yards his first hole, the par-4 first. (Later, on the par-5 14th, his approach landed in the passenger's seat of a golf cart; he got a free drop, but he couldn't get the birdie.) Also at 6 under were Cantlay, world No. 29 and former U.S. Open champ Clark, Luke Clanton, Victor Perez, Nico Echavarria, Harry Hall, Davis Thompson, Matthew Riedel, Kevin Velo, Philip Knowles and Jackson Suber.

"It's nice for us players to sometimes shoot some low scores," Clark said after his bogey-free 66.

World No. 12 Hideki Matsuyama had a wild round en route to a 67. He was 2 over through his first four holes, before righting the ship to get it back to even. He then holed out from the greenside rough for a birdie at the par-4 12th, then, on the next hole, holed out from 94 yards on the par-4 13th. He made four birdies and an eagle in a six-hole span on the back nine, but the one other hole was a disaster, when he missed a 23-inch putt for par at the par-3 15th.

Also among the large group at 5 under were the likes of Tom Kim, former U.S. Open champs Matthew Fitzpatrick and Gary Woodland, Michael Kim, and Adam Hadwin, who lost in a playoff to fan favorite Rickie Fowler in 2023.

Grand Rapids' Brett White led a large contingent of players with Michigan ties, with an opening 5-under 67, making just his fourth PGA Tour tournament start.

Other notable scores from the opening round included Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley at 68 and world No. 4 Collin Morikawa at 69. Fowler opened with 71; he was 4 under before making bogey on three of his last seven holes. Max Homa also shot 71.

More than 100 players were under par in the first round Thursday.

"It's gettable," Lee said. "Took advantage of it."

And The Chef wasn't alone. There were a whole lot of cooks in that kitchen.

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