Tony Finau captured the 3M Open last week as the favorite, so will we see chalk reign supreme as the PGA Tour heads to the Detroit Golf Club for the Rocket Mortgage Classic? If so, that would give world #4 Patrick Cantlay the value as the highest ranked player in this field and the low man at 10/1 odds.
This is an interesting tournament, sandwiched in the weeks before the Scottish Open / Open Championship and the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs. This is the penultimate regular season tournament before the FedEx Cup playoffs, in a different spot in the rotation after being held the first weekend in July the first three years of its carnation.
Let’s see how the course and the field are expected to play out this weekend in Motown.
About Detroit Golf Club
No course on the Tour is easy, but the Detroit Golf Club has fewer challenges than a lot of other locations. Winning scores here have been Nate Lashley (150/1) at -25 in 2019, Bryson DeChambeau at -23 in 2020, and Cam Davis (28/1) winning in a playoff a year ago at -18.
One of the big reasons the scores have been so low is because the course is on the shorter side for a par 72. That creates a layout of all four par 5’s being very close to reachable in two and four of the 10 par 4’s checking in at under 400 yards.
2020 winner DeChambeau is obviously a bomber, but 2019 winner Lashley was 43rd in driving distance for the weekend. What makes the Rocket Mortgage Classic betting handicapping so difficult is that a long driver could win – or somebody who has a great weekend with the irons and the putter.
The Rocket Mortgage Classic Field
Cantlay will look for his first solo win of the season after also winning the Zurich Classic in a team event with Xander Schauffele earlier in the season. Cantlay is the highest ranked golfer in the field at #4, but he’s joined by #13 Will Zalatoris, #16 Finau, #19 Cameron Young, and #20 Max Homa in the top 20.
Finau is a popular play this week after capturing the 3M Open while making up a five stroke deficit last Sunday in the Twin Cities. Finau is a 10X runner-up on Tour events in his career, a trend Young may be headed towards as he has placed second four times this year in looking for his first career victory.
DeChambeau has left the Tour for the LIV, but Lashley and Davis both return to try and become the first two-time winner at this course. Troy Merritt (66/1) could have been a returning victor but he lost in the fifth playoff hole to Davis. Merritt also finished eighth here in 2020.
Kevin Kisner (33/1) has played well at this event the last two years, finishing third in 2020 and eighth last year. Cameron Tringale (40/1) has also played the Rocket Mortgage Classic three times at Detroit Golf Club, finishing 14th, 30th, and 5th.
