After the U.S Open and final signature event at the Travelers Championship, regular action returns to the PGA Tour with this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.
With just one major left to play, the vast majority of players on the PGA Tour will be hoping to cement their positions in the FedEx Cup standings ahead of the playoffs starting in August.
The 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic will see the majority of top PGA stars give this week a miss, but it is a vital week for some of the Tour’s lesser lights with money, ranking points and a place in the FedEx Playoffs all on the line.
Ahead of what is bound to be a low scoring four days of golf, join us as we preview the course and who will hope to end the week in glory.
The Course
This will be the sixth iteration of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, one of the newest tournaments on the PGA Tour the tournament has been held at Detroit Golf Club and it's fair to say that its layout is one of the easiest that the players will face this year.
In the previous five tournaments only once has the winning score not been in the -20s, last year’s winner Rickie Fowler won the tournament with a winning score of -24, the year before that Tony Finau won by shooting -26.
Measuring over 7,300 yards, the course certainly isn’t short, but its four par 5s are holes where the field will expect to target.
Detroit Golf Club is a classic PGA Tour venue, a traditional parkland course, trees line either side of the fairway but even if a player finds the woods they would have to be unlucky not to have a clear second shot towards the green.
The one element that the players will need to be careful of is bunkers, most holes around the course are protected by sand and with the greens not being the biggest, any player struggling with their accuracy may find themselves having a tough time.
The Favourites
With an abundance of stars missing, the feeling heading into the week is that this is anybody’s tournament to win.
Likely to start at the top of the betting markets is Tom Kim. Headlining the field when it comes to overall world ranking, it’s easy to forget that Kim is still just 22 years old.
Already a three time winner on Tour, Kim started 2024 slowly but is slowly clicking into gear. Having notched two top five finishes in his last four starts, Kim seems to have found his form ahead of the FedEX Playoffs.
At last week’s Travelers Championship he was unlucky not to have won, finding just Scottie Scheffler too strong in the playoff. Bound to have a lot of support heading into the first round, Kim will hope for an improvised performance at the Detroit Golf Club after he missed the cut at last year’s tournament.
Hot on the heels of Kim in the betting is Cameron Young. The PGA Rookie of the Year back in 2022, it’s remarkable that Young is still yet to win on the PGA Tour. A hugely talented ball striker, Young hit the headlines last week when he became only the 13th player in PGA Tour history to record a 59.
Despite being around the top of the leaderboard, he would end up finishing in a tie for 9th, recording his first top ten finish in six starts.
Sneaky long off the tee, where it can sometimes go wrong for the American is with his approach play and scrambling around the greens, if that part of his game is in sync, he has the game to challenge anybody in the game. Young opted to miss this event last year, but did finish second when he last played in 2022. He clearly has the game to succeed this week and could represent some tremendous value.
Rounding out the top three in the betting is the talented Australian, Min Woo Lee. Having developed a bit of a cult following on Tour, Min Woo is looking for his first top ten finish since finishing second in the Cognizant Classic back in March.
Like Young, Min Woo is yet to win on the PGA Tour but is a multiple winner on both the Australian and DP World Tours, set for a huge future in the game, you feel that a win Stateside is close and there isn’t anything to suggest that he couldn’t be successful this week.
Value picks
In events like this where several top stars are missing, it is usually a great opportunity for those down the world rankings list to make a real splash. Bound to be a popular selection at a decent price is the defending champion Rickie Fowler.
After spending years in the golfing wilderness, 2023 was where everything clicked for the popular American and his crowning achievement of last year was his victory in this tournament.
Since finding himself back in the upper echelons of the game, Fowler hasn’t quite been able to kick on as he would have liked. Now ranked 50 in the world, he has missed the cut in two of his last three starts and hasn’t posted a finish in the top ten since winning this tournament twelve months ago.
In desperate need of a boost of form, a return to a venue which yields happy memories could provide the lift that Fowler desperately needs. At a huge price, it could be too good to ignore.
Like Fowler, one man who is trying to make his way back to the top of the game is Will Zalatoris. Once ranked as high as seven in the world, Zalatoris has finished second in three majors and looked destined to win the game’s biggest prizes before injury struck.
Needing surgery to fix nagging back and ankle injuries, Zalatoris has steadily been climbing the rankings and will be looking for a first victory since capturing the St Jude Classic in 2022.
Having missed all of 2023, it isn't surprising that Zalatoris has experienced mixed fortunes on the course. Having made six starts since recording his last top ten finish, top five finishes at both the Arnold Palmer and Genesis can provide serious hope for those looking to back him this week.
Long Shots
This year on the PGA Tour has seen many surprise winners and on a course where we are guaranteed to see low scoring, it wouldn’t be a shock if we were to see another big priced winner this week.
One man who could be worth following is Cam Davis. The venue of Davis’s sole victory on the PGA Tour came at this tournament back in 2021, so he clearly has form around this course.
Whilst he has hardly been pulling up trees this season, his power game has proved in the past that it suits this course and there is no reason why he couldn’t work himself into contention for a finish back inside the top ten this week.
Troy Merritt is a name known to only the most devout PGA Tour followers but he could be a name to watch out for this week. Merritt finished as a runner up at this tournament back in 2022 and recorded another top twenty effort last year. He has made the cut in four of his last five starts and finished inside the top ten at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson last month.
Merritt brings in some decent form and priced at 125/1 with most bookmakers he represents one of the best long shots of the entire week.
Jack Hartman
A keen golfer and huge fan of the game, Jack has been covering golf for the last five years. Bringing you all the latest coverage and news from the PGA, LIV, LPGA and DP World Tours, never before has golf been so popular and Jack can’t wait to bring all the excitement to his readers.
