The Rocket Classic
The Rocket Classic
Jun 23, 2025The Rocket Classic
It was a frustrating week for us at the Travelers as all of our picks played solidly in patches but none could quite do enough to make the frame with the putter a particular source of frustration for Patrick Cantlay over the weekend and infuriatingly to Denny McCarthy on Saturday.
The event itself was won by Keegan Bradley who broke the hearts of all of the English tuning in hoping to finally see Tommy Fleetwood get over the line on US soil.
All credit to Bradley who buoyed by his home support produced a clutch birdie on the 72nd hole to bag the title however this will be very much known as one that Tommy threw away as after bogeying 16 he contrived to then make bogey on 18 having found the middle of the fairway with his tee shot.
Fleetwood had clearly been battling the nerves all day however he appeared to have got things under control early on in the back nine, however he then stumbled when it mattered once more and this will clearly take some getting over for him.
Onwards we go then and the Tour heads from the Travelers to Detroit in Michigan for the sixth edition of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, which debuted in 2019.
On the back of a Major and a signature event the field unsurprisingly takes a bit of a hit however Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay are both in town as is last weeks winner Keegan Bradley.
This trio head up the market and they are then followed by Ben Griffin, Cameron Young and Hideki Matsuyama.
COURSE
Detroit Golf Club plays to a Par 72 measuring at 7334 yards.
The greens are Poa Annua with an approximate 20% bentgrass mix.
There are two courses at Detroit Golf Club, the North and South, which were both designed by Donald Ross and completed by 1916. For this event the North Course is used.
The course is a fairly typical Ross design with undulating fairways and greens. Despite the defence of the greens the track has been there for the taking in the first five editions and I would expect more of the same this year.
With the course still being pretty new to us aside from looking at the previous leaderboards we have seen to date the logical leap is to look at form on other Donald Ross courses used on tour and these include the following;
East Lake – Tour Championship
Sedgefield G&CC – Wyndham Championship
Aronimink – 2018 BMW Championship
Plainfield – 2011 & 2015 Barclays
In addition Oak Hill the scene of the 2023 PGA Championship and Pinehurst No 2 host of the 2024 US Open are also Ross designs.
HISTORY
Here’s a look at the final top ten from each of the first six editions.
2024
1 Cameron Davis -18
T2 A Rai, MW Lee, D Thompson, A Bhatia -17
T6 E V Rooyen, E Cole, C Young, r Hoey. -15
T10 T Moore, N Dunlap, L Clanton, D Wu, JJ Spaun, S stevens, H Springer. -14
2023
1 Rickie Fowler -24 [Play Off]
T2 C Morikawa, A Hadwin -24
T4 L Glover, T Moore, P Kuest -21
7 A Schenk -20
8 J Lower - -19
T9 A Noren, A Rai, S Jaeger, P Malnati, B Harman.
2022
1 Tony Finau – 26
T2 P Cantlay, Cam Young, T Pendrith – 21
5 S Jaeger
6 T Moore
7 T Kim
T8 JJ Spaun, W Clark
T10 C Hoffman, R Henley, M Wallace, S Stallings.
2021
1 Cameron Davis -18 [Play Off]
T2 Troy Merritt -18
T2 Joaquin Niemann -18
T4 Alex Noren -17
T4 Hank Lebioda -17
T6 Bubba Watson -16
T6 Brandon Hagy -16
T8 Mark Anderson -15
T8 Sungjae Im -15
T8 Kevin Kisner -15
T8 Seamus Power -15
2020
1 Bryson Dechambeau -23
2 Matthew Wolff -20
3 Kevin Kisner -18
T4 Ryan Armour -16
T4 Tyrrell Hatton -16
T4 Adam Hadwin -16
T4 Danny Willett -16
T8 Maverick McNealy -15
T8 Sepp Straka -15
T8 Webb Simpson -15
T8 Troy Merritt -15
2019
1 Nate Lashley -25
2 Doc Redman -19
T3 Wes Roach -18
T 3 Rory Sabbatini -18
T5 Joaquin Niemann -17
T5 Ted Potter Jnr -17
T5 Patrick Reed -17
T5 Brandt Snedeker -17
T5 Brian Stuard -17
T5 Cameron Tringale -17
So what do these leaderboards tell us? Well not unsurprisingly for someone who posted a six shot victory Lashley in 2019 was dominant in pretty much all statistical categories, finishing the week third from tee to green, sixth in approach play and second in putting, a pretty lethal combination!
Looking further down that leaderboard second place home Doc Redman is known for his strengths from tee to green and he allied that with a warm putter while three of those who finished tied for fifth Potter Jnr, Reed and Snedeker are all renowned for their short game wizardry giving us an early indication that a strong putter maybe the key ingredient here.
Looking then at the 2020 leaderboard and Bryson Dechambeau used a combination of big hitting and a hot putter to triumph leading the field in distance and strokes-gained-off-the-tee and ranking second in putting, while second and third place home Matthew Wolff and Kevin Kisner both performed strongly on the greens as well.
With Dechambeau and Wolff finishing first and second in 2020 clearly distance off the tee can be seen as beneficial however the success of the likes of Kisner, Armour and Redman over the first two editions shows clearly that shorter hitters can flourish here.
Looking at the 2021 winner Davis and he allied his power off the tee, ranking tenth in distance on the week, to some solid approach play, ranking ninth in the department, however he was relatively less productive on the greens as he ranked 22nd for the week with the flatstick.
A look further down the leaderboard from 2021 again rubber stamps that big hitting can be a route to success here as big hitters Joaquin Niemann, Bubba Watson and Brandon Hagy all finished in the top six.
2022 winner Finau, who triumphed by five shots, produced a dominating performance ranking first from tee to green, second off the tee, sixth in approach and 14th in putting.
Meanwhile a closer look at the 2022 top ten, which as well as featuring Finau included Cam Young and Taylor Pendrith in a tie for second, again gave more mileage to the fact that distance off the tee is certainly an advantage here.
2023 winner Fowler ranked second in approach play and 12th in putting for the week.
Finally to bring us up to date and on the way to bagging his second trophy here last year Davis ranked 12th in approach play and 19th in putting while he was also seventh in Driving Accuracy.
Meanwhile a look down the leaderboard showed us that with Davis Thompson and Min woo Lee tied second and Cameron Young in sixth that big hitters once more flourished. Equally though with Aaron Rai also tied second there was room for the shorter hitting, accurate type as well!
As mentioned earlier it may also pay this week to look at form on other Donald Ross courses and one thing that strikes me on that basis is that two players who tied for fifth place in 2019 Reed and Snedeker are former Wyndham Championship winners.
Furthermore Ryan Armour who was fourth here in 2020 has two top ten’s over recent years at the Wyndham, Kevin Kisner who was third here that same year took the title at Sedgefield last fall and Doc Redman has also figured prominently in both events.
2021 and 2024 champion Davis has posted a 15th and 22nd in two appearances at the Wyndham. Finally last years Wyndham Champion Tom Kim finished eighth here while Taylor Moore backed up his sixth place here with a fifth at Sedgefield.
Fourth place finisher here in 2023 Lucas Glover went on to bag the Wyndham trophy a month or so later, while last years runner up here Aaron Rai also triumphed later in the year at Sedgefield CC. Furthermore JJ Spaun, Eric Cole and Luke Clanton finished top ten in both events.
Away from Donald Ross tracks and whether coincidence or not, another link that had struck me prior to the 2020 edition is to the Greenbrier. This is because both Potter Jnr and Niemann who also tied for fifth in 2019 have been victorious there while Lashley finished third at the Greenbrier the year prior to his win here.
Furthermore Sabbatini, Stuard and Tringale who all finished top 5 here in 2019 have all posted top ten finishes at the Greenbrier in the past.
Looking at the 2020 leaderboard here while there was no links as obvious to this event, Mark Hubbard played well here to finish 12th having finished 10th at the Greenbrier the previous fall so this does seem a link still worth pursuing.
Finally 2021 runner up Joaquin Niemann posted his maiden tour win at the Greenbrier.
Another track that seems to correlate well is Copperhead, the home of the Valspar. 2023 Valspar champion Taylor Moore has posted back to back top tens here the past two years, last years beaten play off protagonist here, Hadwin, bagged his lone PGA title at the Valspar, while this years Valspar champion Peter Malnati was ninth here last year, while the man he pipped to the title this year Cam Young was a runner up here in 2022.
From the point of view of form coming in and 2019 champion Lashley had finished no better than 28th in his previous eight starts, all be it that performance had come in his previous outing at Pebble Beach in the US Open.
Bryson Dechambeau meanwhile had come out of lockdown in blistering form finishing third, eighth and sixth in his previous three starts so a win was clearly telegraphed.
Davis, similarly to Lashley had produced nothing noteworthy leading in with his previous eight starts yielding a best of 25th however Finau of course triumphed here on the back of winning the previous week at the 3M Open.
2023 winner Fowler though had been undoubtedly trending towards a come back win with four top thirteen finishes including three top tens in his previous four starts.
To bring us up to date then Davis had been really struggling for form through last year prior to notching his second title here and he arrived here without a top 30 since his 12th place at Augusta in April.
Finally low scoring here is clearly the order of the day with winning scores of 23- under and 25- under posted in the first two years. Things did toughen up slightly in 2021 with Davis triumphing on an 18- under total, however it was birdie fests again in 2023 and 2024 with Finau posting -26 and Fowler -24 before his play-off win with Davis’ winning number last year 18- under.
WEATHER FORECAST
We look set for a week of hot humid conditions sitting with temperatures sitting around the 90 degree mark. Unfortunately with those kind of temperatures comes the risk of storms and there is potential for interruptions through the week.
Wind as a whole does not look to be too much of an issue with the exception of Friday, which does show the potential for gusts of 20mph +
As I always say though this could all change!
PICKS
I have gone with five players this week as follows.
BYEONG HUN AN – 66/1 - 1pt E/W - 1/5 odds 1st 8
I will start what in all honesty is a fairly speculative team this week with Ben An.
It’s been a solid if unspectacular campaign for Ben so far with two top tens, a handful of missed cuts and a bunch of mid division finishes, all of which adds up to a current standing of 57th place in the Fedex Cup.
After a lean spring Ben has found some form of late though with a sixth place in Canada and a 14th last weekend at the Travelers with a missed cut at the US Open sandwiched in between.
Looking at Ben’s week at the Travelers and he played nicely across all four days posting four under par rounds. Encouragingly as well he closed out the week with his best effort a round of 67.
So on to this week then and alongside his recent uptick in form the main reason Ben appeals is his correlating form at Sedgefield CC, which has seen him finish second and third on his past two visits. Furthermore Ben has a 13th place on his CV here so we know he can handle the track.
At 44th in driving distance the South Korean is certainly longer than average off the tee. In addition while as we know Ben can struggle with the putter he is excellent around the greens, which is certainly an advantage on Donald Ross layouts.
An is long overdue a maiden win on the PGA Tour and this to me seems an ideal opportunity for him to strike.
RYO HISATSUNE – 80/1 – 1pt E/W – 1/5 odds 1st 10
Next up I can’t avoid the obvious correlating credentials of Ryo Histasune.
Having earned his card via the DP World Tour at the end of 2023 Ryo is starting to make quite a name for himself on the PGA Tour and he currently sits 66th in the Fedex standings courtesy of four top tens this year including two top fives.
The first of those top five finishes came at the Valspar in March when he was fourth and that immediately gives us our first link to this week as that event as noted earlier correlates well here.
Since that fourth place Hisatsune has teed it up on eight further occasions missing only one cut so he has been in a really solid run of form.
Not the longest off the tee the Japanese star is neat and tidy across the bag and a look at his stats this season show he is gaining strokes in all key departments, while he can’t take this course apart with length then as we saw with Aaron Rai last year short and tidy can also prosper here.
Talking of Rai and that brings us to our second strong correlating link as the Englishman was runner up here last year before landing the trophy at the Ross designed Sedgefield CC at the Wyndham. With Ryo finishing third then at the Wyndham to go with his fourth at the Valspar we have two great links.
A winner on the DP World Tour in France in 2023 and a three time winner in Japan prior to that the next step is for Ryo to win on the PGA Tour and this looks a great opportunity for the highly talented 22yr old to do just that.
CAMERON CHAMP – 90/1 – 1pt E/W – 1/5 odds 1st 10
Next up is Cameron Champ.
It is still one of the great mysteries to me of recent years on the PGA Tour that a player of Champ’s undoubted talent managed to lose his full card last year but that is exactly what happened and the 30yr old now finds himself on the outside looking in.
After a poor start to 2025, which saw Cameron struggle both on the Korn Ferry Tour and on his occasional foray on to the PGA Tour, things have perked up of late for him as two top 15 finishes in his last three starts including a ninth last time out in Canada have seen him move up to 146th in the Fedex standings and within striking distance of the top 125, which, even with only the top 100 now gaining full cards for 2026, would give him some level of starts.
As we know with Champ on his day he can truly look a top ten player and there were certainly signs of that form over the first two days in Canada where he held the 36 hole lead.
Perhaps understandably there with all at stake he then struggled on the Saturday however he rebounded nicely on the Sunday to notch the top ten finish and book his slot in this weeks field. That in itself is something that should serve Champ well as up until now many of his starts this year have come when he has got in the field late as an alternate.
Long off the tee of course Champ certainly has the game to thrive here, while we can take plenty of encouragement from two previous top 20s in five visits here with 2022s rounds 66, 67 and 67, alongside one poor day particularly eye catching.
Cameron has always been a player who telegraph’s his wins with an upturn in form and this was very much the case in 2021 when he snapped a run of poor form with an 11th place at the John Deere before winning next time out at the 3M Open.
We took the clues back then and were onboard in Minnesota that week and I am keen to have him onside here again this week.
ADAM HADWIN – 150/1 –1pt E/W - 1/5 odds 1st 8
One player who has enjoyed his time over the years in Detroit is Adam Hadwin and I am happy to chance the Canadian here at juicy each way odds.
Starting with the elephant in the room and the reason we find Hadwin available at the price he is, is due to the fact that he has seriously struggled in 2025.
Looking at his results this year and he has just one top 10 to his name, a ninth place in Phoenix back in February since when he has managed nothing better than a 27th place, which came a couple of starts ago in Canada.
Focusing on that performance though and Adam’s long game was actually strong that week as he ranked 14th in approach play, 15th in driving accuracy and seventh in good old fashioned GIR, with the putter the club that let him down.
Similarly while a closing 75 saw him tumble down the leaderboard at the Travelers last week he again produced some decent stuff in patches with Thursday where he ranked eighth off the tee, 15th in approach play and third in GIR the highlight.
Clearly to me then the Canadian is close to producing some good stuff.
Looking at Adam’s current position of 112th in the Fedex standings and that ‘good stuff’ had better come soon as otherwise he could find himself losing his card. Fortunately then this week sees him return to an event he has finished second and fourth at in four visits, with the second place coming when he missed out in a play off to Rickie Fowler two years ago, a result, which I should add came again when he had been in patchy form and had not had a top 10 since Phoenix!
Hadwin has always been a player who tends to repeatedly play well at the same venues, with the aforementioned Phoenix, the Amex and off course here obvious examples. I am happy to chance him here this week then to come good in Detroit once more.
BRANDT SNEDEKER – 350/1 –1pt E/W - 1/5 odds 1st 10
Finally I shall wrap things up this week by taking a flyer at huge odds on Brandt Snedeker.
Sneds has shown this year that he is not yet done with the PGA Tour and at 104th in the Fedex standings he has a good shot at bagging a full card for 2026
This year has seen Brandt post two top tens the most recent of, which came when he stormed through the field a couple of starts ago at the Memorial with a Sunday 65 to finish seventh.
Looking at Brandts stats for the season and clearly it is the flat stick that is doing the damage as he sits third in putting, that said he is also accurate off the tee still as he sits 15th in that department.
Brandt’s most recent trophy came at the Wyndham Championship in 2018 and as a two time champion there we know he enjoys the challenge of a Donald Ross layout, meanwhile he was also fifth here on debut in 2019.
An assistant captain for this years Ryder Cup we know Sneds is close to Keegan Bradley so he will surely have been inspired by the captains performance at the Travelers last week. I’ll take Brandt this week then to follow the skippers lead and produce a big performance at big odds.