Why are fans wearing Bowtie pins at Rocket Mortgage Classic? All you need to know

The 2024 Rocket Mortgage League is underway and fans got to see some thrilling golf in Round 1. After day 1 at the tournament, Akshay Bhatia is in the lead with a score of 8-under.

While his performance made headlines on Thursday, another thing that caught attention was fans wearing bowtie pins at the event. Many online were interested in knowing why.

The reason behind the choice is - it is a way to honor Rocket Mortgage CEO Dan Gilbert's son, the late Nick Gilbert. Nick struggled with a condition called neurofibromatosis. He died last year, and the bowtie pins were given to fans to raise awareness for The Gily Project which aims to find a cure for neurofibromatosis.

The first 10,000 spectators at the event received bowtie pins and the emblem was also spotted on hats in shops at the event and on the flags on the 8th and 9th greens.

Laura Grannemann, the Executive Director of the Rocket Community Fund, said Nick Gilbert was light to be around and was a lover of sports. Nick was popular for drawing the No. 1 pick at the NBA draft on three separate occasions for the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team owned by Rocket Mortgage CEO Dan Gilbert.

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A look at the leaderboard after Round 1 at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage League

While Akshay Bhatia is in first place at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage League, he is closely followed by Taylor Montgomery who shot 7-under to settle in second, tied with Michael Kim.

Here is the complete list of the leaderboard after Round 1 at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage League:

• 1 Akshay Bhatia -8
• T2 Taylor Montgomery -7
• T2 Michael Kim -7
• T4 Aaron Rai -6
• T4 Eric Cole -6
• T4 Rickie Fowler -6
• T4 Will Zalatoris -6
• T4 Matti Schmid -6
• T9 Nick Dunlap -5
• T9 Cameron Young -5
• T9 Ben Kohles -5
• T9 Ben Silverman -5
• T9 Jhonattan Vegas -5
• T9 J.J. Spaun -5
• T9 Ben Griffin -5
• T9 Neal Shipley -5
• T17 Lanto Griffin -4
• T17 Carl Yuan -4
• T17 Aaron Baddeley -4
• T17 Taylor Moore -4
• T17 Chris Kirk -4
• T17 Ryan Brehm -4
• T17 Chandler Phillips -4
• T17 Davis Thompson -4
• T17 Jacob Bridgeman -4
• T17 Roger Sloan -4
• T17 Justin Lower -4
• T17 Min Woo Lee -4
• T17 Cam Davis -4
• T17 Zach Johnson -4
• T17 Wesley Bryan -4
• T17 Robby Shelton -4
• T17 Michael Thorbjornsen -4
• T17 Blaine Hale, Jr. -4
• T35 Max Greyserman -3
• T35 Jason Dufner -3
• T35 Chad Ramey -3
• T35 Erik van Rooyen -3
• T35 Luke Clanton (a) -3
• T35 Dylan Wu -3
• T35 C.T. Pan -3
• T35 Charley Hoffman -3
• T35 Matt Wallace -3
• T35 Patrick Rodgers -3
• T35 Troy Merritt -3
• T35 Patton Kizzire -3
• T35 Sam Stevens -3
• T35 Pierceson Coody -3
• T35 Rico Hoey -3
• T50 Kevin Yu -2
• T50 Nate Lashley -2
• T50 Kevin Tway -2
• T50 Davis Riley -2
• T50 Peter Malnati -2
• T50 Luke List -2
• T50 Nick Hardy -2
• T50 Joel Dahmen -2
• T50 Kevin Streelman -2
• T50 Scott Gutschewski -2
• T50 Callum Tarren -2
• T50 Chan Kim -2
• T50 Nicholas Lindheim -2
• T50 Ben James (a) -2
• T50 Ryan McCormick -2
• T50 Vince Whaley -2
• T50 Daniel Berger -2
• T50 Keith Mitchell -2
• T50 Taylor Pendrith -2
• T50 Jake Knapp -2
• T50 Nico Echavarria -2
• T50 Matt Kuchar -2
• T50 Gary Woodland -2
• T50 Camilo Villegas -2
• T50 Alex Smalley -2