The PGA Tour heads to the Detroit Golf Club for the 2024 edition of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Damien Kayat previews.
2024 US PGA Tour
Rocket Mortgage Classic
Detroit Golf Club
27 – 30 July
Last week’s trip to TPC River Highlands really had a bit of everything, didn’t it? Cameron Young wowed the spectators on Saturday, shooting 59 to become just the 13th man in history to shoot a sub-60 round on the PGA Tour (and the first in four years).
Climate protesters managed to invade proceedings, interrupting play while the two leaders were coming down the stretch. There was one predictable thing that happened amid all that unpredictability: Scottie Scheffler managed to win again.
The World No.1 bounced back from a poor US Open showing to outduel Tom Kim in a playoff, claiming his sixth title of the season.
It makes him the first man since Arnold Palmer in 1962 to win six times before July!
Rocket Mortgage Classic
The tour moves to Detroit this week for the sixth staging of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Created in 2019, this event became the first US PGA Tour stop in Michigan since the 2009 Buick Open.
This isn’t an illustrious Signature Event and there will be a significant downgrade in field depth this week.
Every single edition of this event has been hosted at the rather originally named Detroit Golf Club.
Detroit Golf Club
Opened in 1916, this Donald Ross design is a traditional parkland-style venue with tree-lined fairways. It is technically a composite of the North and South Courses (though only the third hole is featured from the South Course).
This course was actually selected to host the 1941 Ryder Cup but that was cancelled due to WW2 (talk about a bad break). You can certainly expect similar scoring conditions to those at TPC River Highlands last week.
This is regularly ranked as one of the easiest par-72s on tour and last year’s edition featured a scoring average of 69.92.
This is an exceptionally flat course that just invites the bombers to open their shoulders. But putting will probably prove to be the most crucial stat this week (as it often is on flat, low-scoring birdie fests).
The Contenders
Tom Kim makes an understandable betting favourite following his Traveller’s playoff defeat to Scottie Scheffler. He has the capacity to go really low and that will undoubtedly be required this week.
Cameron Young can’t be discounted after his heroics at TPC River Highlands. He must have a strong claim to being the best player currently operating without a tour title. In any event, his fearsome ball-striking should give him plenty of opportunities to score this week.
Akshay Bhatia has become a bit of a cult hero after a few striking performances and he will be near the top of the markets this week.
Rickie Fowler will be back to defend his title while the likes of Min Woo Lee and Will Zalatoris stand out in a pretty depleted field.
Past Winners
2023: Rickie Fowler (-24) *playoff
2022: Tony Finau (-26)
2021: Cam Davis (-18) *playoff
2020: Bryson DeChambeau (-23)
2019: Nate Lashley (-25)
To Win Outright:
Tom Kim 14/1 | Cameron Young 18/1 | Min Woo Lee 18/1 | Akshay Bhatia 22/1 | Alex Noren 25/1
Value Bets
Alex Noren – To Win 25/1 | To Place 11/2
Alex Noren’s missed cut at the US Open was only his second in eleven starts. In fact, the accurate Swede has finished inside the top 25 in nine of his last 11 outings!
He is probably the most consistent player in the field and he also has some very good course form, finishing ninth and fourth in his two previous starts at Detroit Golf Course.
He doesn’t hit the ball particularly far but he is a birdie machine who can plot his way around forgiving courses.
Matt Wallace – To Win 55/1 | To Place 12/1
Matt Wallace looks like he could be a nice dark horse contender this week.
The 34-year-old Englishman finished 15th at the KLM Open last week and had made five consecutive cuts on the PGA Tour prior to that.
That included a fourth at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Wallace has two top-12 finishes at this course in his last three visits.
He won his only previous US PGA Tour title at last year’s Corales Puntacana event (showcasing his ability to win a low-scoring tournament). He can putt the lights out on top form and he could be one to watch this week.
The Man to Beat – Cameron Young- To Win 18/1 | To Place 39/10
Surely this is Cameron Young’s week. Young hasn’t been at his most consistent this season but still boasts four top-10 finishes on tour (including a runner-up at the Valspar Championship).
Young obviously had that incredible 59 last Saturday and he would have been right in the mix were it not for a few errant shots on Sunday.
He is a terrific driver and a birdie machine and should be ideally suited to this course. He currently ranks 10th on tour for Total Driving and 21st in Birdie or Better Percentage.
He also leads the field in Strokes Gained: Total at Detroit Golf Club and he just makes more sense than Kim this week (and at a better price).
