Following the Travelers Championship, the PGA Tour heads to Detroit this week for the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic. Detroit Golf Club has played host to this event annually since 2019, with Tony Finau coming in as the defending champion. Last year, Finau held off Patrick Cantlay, Cam Young, and Taylor Pendrith with a low score of 262 (-26). With the last major of the season just a few weeks away, here is everything you need to know for the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club.
Detroit Golf Club
Detroit Golf Club will play just shy of 7,400 yards as a Par 72 this week. We have seen some low winning scores here in the past five years, the lowest being Finau’s 262 (-26) last year. Previous winning scores also include youngster Cam Davis in 2021 (-18), Bryson DeChambeau in 2020 (-23), and Nate Lashley in the event’s debut (-25). We should see more of the same this week, as the course will be playing very similar to previous years.
Although we will see birdies, there are some difficult holes throughout the course.
Holes to Watch
Holes 2 and 6 will most likely be the most difficult on the front. 2 is a 453-yard par-4, with out-of-bounds and bunkers in play. Look for plenty of players to take a wood or iron off the tee. Hole 6 is another long par-4 with a large fairway bunker down the right side. This hole played as the third most difficult for the field last year, producing 91 bogeys over the course of the week. Aside from these two holes, the front nine should be pretty score-able for the field.
After a gettable 10th hole, 11 and 12 will likely play as the toughest two-hole stretch on the course. 11 is a 233-yard par-3 with a heavily sloped green, and will challenge the field with a long iron in. The 463-yard par-4 12th hole has a false front leading up to a steep elevated green, where the field only made 52 birdies on this hole in 2022. These two holes also combined for a brutal 207 bogeys throughout the week last year.
Overall, Detroit Golf Club will play similar to years past. Expect the winning score this week to be somewhere around 266 (-22).
The Field
Let’s take a look at the full field and betting odds.
With eight of the world’s top 30 ranked players in the field, we could very well see a first-time PGA tour winner this week. Three of the four past champions will be in the field, with the exception of Bryson DeChambeau. Defending champ Tony Finau comes in as the favorite (+1300), with Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, and Rickie Fowler all right behind him (+1500).
Other notables in the field include Max Homa, Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, and last week’s Travelers Champion Keegan Bradley. Don’t be surprised to see a few of these names headlining the leaderboard on Sunday.
Players to Watch
Although Rickie missed the cut here last year, he has been red hot lately. His recent finishes include a T-9, T-6, T-5 at the US Open, and a T-13 last week at TPC River Highlands. We haven’t seen Rickie display this level of consistency for years, so expect more of the same from him this week as he navigates Detroit Golf Club.
Zac Blair, Brian Harman, and Chez Reavie all finished top five last week at the Travelers and will be in the field at Detroit Golf Club. Look for these guys to make the cut and continue their solid play, as this week’s layout is fairly similar to last week at TPC River Highlands.
Harris English has made nine out of his last ten cuts. His best recent finishes include a T-5 finish at the US Open, and a T-3 at the Wells Fargo in May. His putter has been the difference for him so far this season, as he ranks 11th on tour in putting inside of 10 feet, and 17th in strokes gained putting. If his putter can stay hot, he should be right in the mix come Sunday.
First Timer?
Englishman Aaron Rai is coming off of a T-3 finish last week, and a T-24 at the RBC Canadian Open earlier this month. Coming into this week, Rai ranks 6th on tour in driving accuracy. He looks to build on his momentum this week in Detroit.
Justin Suh has made 21 of his last 23 cuts. His best finishes this year are a T-5 at the Honda Classic, and a T-6 just a few weeks later at the Players. He has continued to put himself in position to compete this season, so expect him to make the cut once again at Detroit Golf Club. Suh has driven the ball well so far this year, and he’s 3rd on tour putting from 10-15 feet. On a somewhat shorter course, this could be the week Suh finally puts all of the pieces together.
Ludvig Aberg, a Swedish PGA Tour rookie out of Texas Tech will be in the field this week. He has made the weekend in all four events he has played in so far this year, most recently the RBC Canadian Open, and last week at the Travelers. He finished T-25 or better in three of the four. If he can build off of last week, we might see him make some noise when the Sunday rolls around.
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