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It is Moving Day at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai are tied for the lead at 13-under and remain the only two players without a bogey on their scorecards. For the second week in a row, the tournament is a birdie fest.
The PGA Tour chose to take precautions for Saturday’s round and have the players go off on split tees again as inclement weather is headed toward Detroit Golf Club. Who can take advantage of the track on Saturday and post a low number headed into the final day?
Brew a pot of coffee, grab some breakfast, and settle in as we get you ready for the third round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Notable names who missed the cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic
The cut line for the Rocket Mortgage Classic sat at 4-under, the second lowest in the tournament’s short history. The top 60 and ties make the weekend in Detroit, but check out the biggest names that are headed home early.
Popular golfers who missed the cut at Rocket Mortgage Keith Mitchell: 3-under, 70-71 Michael Thorbjornsen: 3-under, 68-73 Tom Kim: 3-under, 73-68 Francesco Molinari: 2-under, 72-70 Daniel Berger: 2-under, 70-72 Robert MacIntyre: 1-under, 71-72 Brendon Todd: 1-under, 71-72 Jackson Koivun (a): E, 72,72 Miles Russell (a): 74-70 Kevin Kisner: 2-over, 75-71 Gary Woodland: 2-over, 70-76
Rocket Mortgage Round 3 Tee Times (ET):
*tees off from 10th tee
10:48 a.m. — Ben Silverman, Vince Whaley, Justin Lower
10:48 a.m.* — Ryan Fox, Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler
10:59 a.m. — David Skinns, Jacob Bridgeman, Luke Clanton (a)
10:59 a.m.* — Matti Schmid, Patton Kizzire, Ben Griffin
11:10 a.m. — Bud Cauley, Davis Thompson, Ben Kohles
11:21 a.m.* — Hayden Buckley, Kevin Streelman, Ryan McCormick
11:32 a.m. — Nick Dunlap, Dylan Wu, Will Zalatoris
11:32 a.m.* — Maverick McNealy, Blaine Hale Jr., Carl Yuan
11:43 a.m. — Michael Kim, Robby Shelton, Hayden Springer
11:43 a.m.* — Max Greyserman, Peter Malnati, Taylore Moore
11:54 a.m. — Zach Johnson, Patrick Rodgers, Nicolai Højgaard
11:54 a.m.* — Callum Tarren, Patrick Fishburn, Harry Hall
12:05 p.m. — Roger Sloan, Min Woo Lee, J.J. Spaun
12:05 p.m.* — Chris Gotterup, Taylor Pendrith, Nico Echavarria
12:16 p.m. — Neal Shipley, Joe Highsmith, Jhonattan Vegas
12:16 p.m.* — Mark Hubbard, Pierceson Coody, Ryan Moore
12:27 p.m. — Jake Knapp, Wesley Bryan, Sam Stevens
12:27 p.m.* — Brandon Wu, Kevin Yu, Davis Riley
12:38 p.m. — Eric Cole, Cam Davis, Joel Dahmen
12:38 p.m.* — Luke List, Beau Hossler, Ryo Hisatusne
12:49 p.m. — Troy Merritt, Erik van Rooyen, Cameron Young
12:49 p.m* — Chandler Phillips, Nicholas Lindheim, Ben Jones (a)
1:00 p.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Aaron Rai, Taylor Montgomery
ICYMI: Top stories from the Rocket Mortgage Classic and across professional golf
Check out these stories:
PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh stepping down; not renewing contract
Paige Spiranac reveals eye-popping handicap; quiets trolls with impressive receipts
Former Rocket Mortgage Classic champion making more memories, records first PGA Tour hole-in-one
Padraig Harrington deep dives into worst golf swing advice ahead of U.S. Senior Open
U.S. Senior Open: Golfer makes mind blowing consecutive holes-in-one that will make your jaw drop
Rocket Mortgage: Neal Shipley finds no learning curve, contends in 1st professional PGA Tour start
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
Akshay Bhatia put together another strong round at Detroit Golf Club to maintain his lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He signed for a bogey-free 5-under 67 to sit at 13-under total.
The two-time PGA Tour winner leads the morning wave by two shots as Taylor Montgomery and Troy Merritt sit at 11-under. Merritt fired off an 8-under 64 to move up 38 spots.
Bhatia did not make as many birdies but kept his scorecard clean for the second straight day. He began his day on the back nine and recorded three birdies. Two more birdies came at the 1st and 7th hole.
One of the wildest moments of the morning came at the par-5 17th when his ball rolled into a drain on the course.
“Never seen it. Rules official’s never seen it, so it was kind of one in a million chance that ball goes in that small hole in that drain, so it was pretty funny,” Bhatia said. “That’s probably the craziest [lost ball].”
Detroit Golf Club and left-handed golfers do generally not mix well, but Bhatia’s game is nearly perfect for this track.
“It’s a ball-striker’s golf course, a lot of wedges,” he said. “That’s my strong suit, especially inside, I would say, 150 yards, so I think that’s why I like this golf course. I don’t think there’s a difference lefty or righty.”
He currently leads the field in strokes gained total at +10.372 and in strokes gained approach to the green, picking up +5.666. The 22-year-old has also only missed three greens in the past two days.
This week will be about who can make the most birdies and avoid costly mistakes. After such a strong round, Bhatia built off that momentum.
“I feel like when you know you’re playing well, then you feel like you can hit all the golf shots that you need to hit to make a good golf score,” Bhatia said. “I think the difference in situations maybe it’s a little harder, but out here, you can easily make five, six, seven birdies.”
So far, he has 11 birdies, one eagle and 24 pars on the week. If the No. 29 ranked golfer avoids disaster and can keep down the pedal, his third career win and second after the Texas Open might be within reach.
With the afternoon groups left to play, Bhatia will have to wait and see if anyone matches his score and who will likely join him for Saturday’s final tee time.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
Akshay Bhatia brought his momentum from finishing runner-up at the Travelers Championship to Detroit for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
He carded an 8-under bogey-free 64 at Detroit Golf Club on Thursday with six birdies and an eagle.
“I guess I missed one green today, so I got that up and down,” Bhatia said. “All in all, I hit it pretty nice with the irons and made some putts.”
Bhatia birdied two of his first four holes but would settle for seven straight pars. Then his putter got red hot for him.
In his final seven holes, the 22-year-old went 6-under, coming home in 30 shots. That included a birdie-eagle-birdie finish.
“Yeah, it’s always nice to finish like that,” he said. “This tournament’s always kind of a birdie-fest, so birdies and eagles help a lot. It’s nice to finish that way.”
Last week’s Travelers Championship was also a birdie fest. Prior to that, the U.S. Open and Memorial tournaments put players to quite the test.
For Bhatia, though, he appreciates both challenges.
“Played the U.S. Open, it was really hard. Then you come last week and this week, and you’re making a lot of birdies, so you feel like it’s pretty fun again,” Bhatia said. “I think a mix of it is really good, and I’m just happy we get to play an old-school golf course for once.”
The two-time PGA Tour winner enjoys classic golf courses like Detroit Golf Club. It fits his game well. As one of the better iron players on Tour, he likes the shot choices that come with playing this track.
“I feel like I can be creative like I normally am,” he said. “It’s also nice because these greens are pretty tricky. They have a lot of small slopes, but they’re soft, so you can still be aggressive towards a couple of these pins.”
Bhatia leads the Rocket Mortgage Classic by one shot after the first 18 holes. Taylor Montgomery and Michael Kim sit behind him at 7-under.
He plays Friday at 7:18 a.m. ET alongside Stephen Jaeger and Min Woo Lee.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
Forty-one-year-old Nate Lashley, who won the Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2019, started this year’s tournament with a bang.
He aced his second hole of the day, the par-3 11th, which measures 217 yards and is typically known as one of the more difficult holes at Detroit Golf Club. It also marked the first hole-in-one of his PGA Tour career.
“It was one of those shots, just a little right of the pin. I hoped it would carry the bunker, but it must have just taken a perfect bounce and gone in the hole,” Lashley said after his 2-under 70 on Thursday.
“Pretty decent shot, but also a lot of luck involved there.”
Lashley pushed his 4-iron a tad, but it caught the side-hill perfectly and rolled right into the hole. After his round, the former Arizona Wildcat revealed that he had previously posted an ace in a Korn Ferry Tour event. He also said he had a hole-in-one on Pebble Beach’s 7th hole, perhaps the most famous par-3 in the world, during an AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am practice round three years ago. Lashley said he had 11 holes-in-one before Thursday’s ace, marking his first during a PGA Tour competition.
“Something I’ll always remember,” Lashley added.
“This golf course has a lot of memories, so just another one right there. Having a hole-in-one, being my first on Tour will be another fun thing for me here in Detroit.”
The highlight of Lashley’s career came at Detroit Golf Club in 2019, when he won the Rocket Mortgage Classic in wire-to-wire fashion. He opened with a 9-under 63 that year and never looked back, winning his first PGA Tour event by six strokes.
He has not won another PGA Tour title since, but he did tie for third at the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this season. His next best finish came at The Players Championship, where he tied for 13th. On the flip side, Lashley has missed nine cuts in 15 events he has played, as he has made plenty of bogeys this season.
More bogies followed after his ace on Thursday.
“A little disappointed with my round today, a lot of bogeys really,” Lashley said.
“I hit it okay, missed a few fairways, and got in some bad spots, but can’t make five bogeys around this golf course. It’s a lot of birdies out there, so hopefully something to improve on [Friday].”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
The PGA Tour is in Detroit, Michigan, for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where Rickie Fowler will attempt to defend his title. After an entertaining three-week stretch of golf, this tournament does not feature some top-ranked players, but it still employs a strong field of golfers looking to push their way up the FedEx Cup standings.
Detroit Golf Club, a Donald Ross design, is one of the flattest courses players face this season. It will likely be a birdie fest as scores tend to be low.
Nate Lashley won at 25-under in 2019 at the inaugural event. The last couple of years have seen similar results. Tony Finau won at 26-under in 2022, and Rickie Fowler ended his drought with a 24-under final score. Even the cut line is low, as players typically have to finish 36 holes at 5-under or lower to make the weekend. The last five cut lines of this tournament have been: 4-under, 3-under, 3-under, 5-under, and 5-under.
Get ready for a birdie barrage.
Here is the one-stop information shop for the Rocket Mortgage Classic
Rocket Mortgage Classic:
Where: Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, MI (Par-72, 7,370-yards)
When: Jun. 27-30th
Purse: $9,200,000 ($1,650,000 1st place)
FedEx Cup Points: 500
Defending Champion: Rickie Fowler
Photo by Jorge Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images
How to Watch The Rocket Mortgage Classic
Golf Channel and CBS Sports will share television coverage. Check out the full schedule below:
Thursday, June 27: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Friday, June 28: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)
Saturday, June 29: 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 3:00-6 p.m. ET (CBS)
Sunday, June 30: 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); 3:00-6 p.m. ET (CBS)
How to Stream The Rocket Mortgage Classic
ESPN+ will exclusively air early round and featured group coverage all four days of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Peacock will have simulcasts of the Golf Channel’s broadcast.
Coverage on Peacock can be streamed here.
In addition, fans can tune into CBS Sports streaming service Paramount+ while CBS airs its third and final round broadcasts.
The Rocket Mortgage Classic Preview:
Defending champion Rickie Fowler ended his four-year-long drought last year when he defeated Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa in a playoff.
However, he recorded only one top-20 finish since that victory, which came at the Travelers Championship last week. He tied for 20th, which, considering he began the championship with a 6-under 64, proved to be a rather disappointing finish—much like how his entire 2024 season has gone.
Nevertheless, Fowler looks to become the first back-to-back winner in this tournament’s history.
Cameron Young, who shot a 59 at TPC River Highlands last week, is in the field. He finished second to Finau in 2022.
Michael Thorbjornsen, who made his professional debut last week at the Travelers, will play again this week in Detroit. The former Stanford Cardinal tied for 39th, which included a second-round 6-under 64.
The headliner of this event is Tom Kim, who fell to his best friend Scottie Scheffler in a one-hole playoff at the Travelers. This week will mark Kim’s ninth straight event on tour. He is someone to watch because his game is so sharp right now. His best finish at the Rocket Mortgage is a T-7 in 2022.
The sponsor exemption list is also impressive. Miles Russell will make his PGA Tour debut at 15-years-old. He won the Junior PGA Championship and Junior Players. Russell took the world by storm by making the cut earlier this year at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic.
Neal Shipley is also in the field, making his first non-major start. He finished as the low amateur at the Masters and the U.S. Open.
This field may not feature any of the world’s Top 10 players, but it will be a fascinating week with plenty of talented players to watch.
The Rocket Mortgage Classic Round 1 Tee Times (ET):
*indicates starts on 10th tee 6:45 a.m. — Martin Laird, Lanto Griffin, Doug Ghim
6:45 a.m.* — Garrick Higgo, Kelly Kraft, Carl Yuan
6:56 a.m. — Aaron Baddeley, Sam Ryder, Max Greyserman
6:56 a.m.* — Tyler Duncan, Ryan Moore, Brandon Wu
7:07 a.m. — Matt NeSmith, Hayden Buckley, Kevin Yu
7:07 a.m.* — Nate Lashley, Kevin Tway, Jason Dufner
7:18 a.m. — Taylor Moore, Adam Svensson, Brandt Snedeker
7:18 a.m.* — Davis Riley, Peter Malnati, Brendon Todd
7:29 a.m. — Luke List, Chad Ramey, Adam Schenk
7:29 a.m.* — Nick Dunlap, Chris Kirk, Erik van Rooyen
7:40 a.m. — Brice Garnett, Vincent Norrman, Ryan Brehm
7:40 a.m.* — Robert MacIntyre, Tom Kim, Cameron Young
7:51 a.m. — Martin Trainer, Tim Wilkinson, Andrew Novak
1:38 p.m. — Chesson Hadley, Tyson Alexander, Sami Valimaki
1:38 p.m. * — Kevin Streelman, Bud Cauley, Scott Gutschewski
1:49 p.m. — Davis Thompson, Callum Tarren, Ryo Hisatsune
1:49 p.m.* — Ben Kohles, Chandler Phillips, David Skinns
2:00 p.m. — Jacob Bridgeman, Jorge Campillo, Danny Guise
2:00 p.m.* — Alejandro Tosti, Patrick Fishburn, Jackson Koivun (a)
2:11 p.m. — Nicholas Lindheim, Erik Barnes, Brandon Berry
2:11 p.m.* — Chan Kim, Trace Crow, Luke Clanton (a)
2:22 p.m. — Ryan McCormick, Kevin Dougherty, Angelo Giantsopoulos
2:22 p.m. — Ben Silverman, Wilson Furr, Ben James (a)
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
After three straight weeks of non-stop action at the Memorial, the U.S. Open, and the Travelers Championship, the PGA Tour heads to the Midwest for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Rickie Fowler prevailed in a playoff over Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa a year ago, as all three players finished at 24-under-par at the end of the final round. Expect a birdie barrage again this year at Detroit Golf Club, a Donald Ross design that PGA Tour pros seem to attack year in and year out.
Since the tournament’s inception in 2019, the average winner has been 23.2 strokes under par, with only one player finishing higher than 20 under: Cameron Davis, who, in 2021, won in a playoff at 18 under.
Like TPC River Highlands in Connecticut, this golf course plays into ball-strikers’ hands. That said, unlike what we saw at the Travelers Championship, this course does not have many lateral hazards and penalty areas. Bombers can bomb and gouge it around the property without hesitation, using their length to set up better opportunities. That helps explain why Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, and Davis have all won here.
But at the end of the day, this event will come down to putting. You need to putt well to post a low score, and whoever can consistently do that over four days will win in Detroit.
Rickie Fowler and his caddie celebrate their win at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic.Photo by Brian Spurlock/Getty Images
Rocket Mortgage Classic Odds
Here are the current odds for players to win in Michigan this week, provided by DraftKings.
Tom Kim +1200
Cameron Young +1400
Min Woo Lee +2000
Akshay Bhatia +2000
Will Zalatoris +3000
Stephan Jaeger +3000
Maverick McNealy +3000
Keith Mitchell +3000
Alex Noren +3000
Taylor Pendrith +4000
Robert MacIntyre +4000
Davis Thompson +4000
Aaron Rai +4000
Rickie Fowler +4500
Michael Thorbjornsen +4500
Erik van Rooyen +4500
Taylor Moore +5000
Ryan Fox +5000
Chris Kirk +5000
Nicolai Højgaard +5000
The clubhouse at Detroit Golf Club during the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic.Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images
Rocket Mortgage Classic Insight, Predictions
Tom Kim continues to shine
Fresh off a solid performance at the Travelers Championship, where he fell just short to World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a playoff, Tom Kim arrives in Michigan for his ninth straight start on the PGA Tour.
He also arrives as the favorite, an exciting development for the young man who recently turned 22. But he deserves to have odds this low at +1200 to win. This golf course is not long by tour standards, and Kim does not have the length many of his peers possess. Instead, he relies heavily on his short-to-mid irons, an attribute that was on full display in Connecticut. He ranked third in strokes gained on approach in Cromwell.
Of course, ball-striking is meaningless if you cannot convert those birdie opportunities. He will have to hole some putts to give himself a chance again, but Kim’s putter worked well for him last week, ranking 20th in strokes gained with the putter. Sure, he could have made a few more, but overall, his game is in solid form. He has not missed a cut since the Valero Texas Open and has two top-five finishes in the past month.
We like him to post his third top-five this week in Detroit at +320.
Cameron Young continues to rise from slump, and contend
Before Friday’s second round at the Travelers Championship, where he shot a 4-under 66, Cameron Young had 10 straight rounds in the 70s dating back to his missed cut at the RBC Canadian Open. Of those 10, Young posted only one score of even par or better, a second-round 72 at the Memorial.
But something clicked for him in Connecticut. After his Friday 66, Young fired a historic 59, vaulting himself into contention going into the final day. He then began Sunday’s round with four straight birdies, leading many to ask if he could shoot another sub-60 score on back-to-back days. Alas, that mantra was short-lived, as he wound up with another 66 on Sunday.
Cameron Young at the 2024 Travelers Championship.Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Still, Young recorded a tie for ninth, his best finish since the Masters.
Now, he heads to Michigan with some confidence, as he will compete in the Rocket Mortgage Classic for the first time since 2022, when he tied for second. He has the length to bomb it all over Detroit Golf Club, and we like his short-iron play and wedge game to show up again. Give us Young to finish in the top five at +360.
Young Gun Lurks
Michael Thorbjornsen got a taste of the big stage last week in New England in his professional debut. The former Stanford Cardinal, who earned his PGA Tour card via the PGA Tour University rankings, played well, all things considered. The Wellesley, Massachusetts native tied for 39th as he fired a 6-under 64 during round two and a 4-under 66 on day three to post a respectable finish.
But we like him to play even better this week. Thorbjornsen oozes confidence, much like Ludvig Åberg this time a year ago. If you recall, Åberg played alongside Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald at last year’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. The young Swede impressed the European captain, as Donald compared him to a young Rory McIlroy. Of course, only a few months later, Donald selected Åberg to join the team, a testament to his meteoric rise into the top 10 of the world.
Granted, this is not to say that Thorbjornsen will have a similar experience, but he does boast a ton of talent. He can hit the ball a mile and has a nifty short game. So we believe that he will post his first top-10 finish as a pro, doing so at a +500 price.
2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic Champion is…
In my U.S. Open Dark Horses piece, I selected Alex Noren as one of my picks. At the time, his game was trending in the right direction, fresh off a tie for 12th at the PGA Championship. He had missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open, his first of the year, but rebounded with a tie for 22nd at the Memorial. Hence, I figured Noren’s ball-striking acumen would serve him well at Pinehurst No. 2.
I was wrong. Noren missed the cut, as he could not garner any momentum at the U.S. Open. But he has not played anywhere since then.
Now, Noren, who ranks ninth on the PGA Tour in overall strokes gained, will show up in Michigan well-rested and ready to go. He also plays well at Detroit Golf Club, recording a T-4 in 2021 and a T-9 in 2023, with six of those eight rounds being in the 60s.
Noren may not make many birdies, which could hinder his chances this week, but the 41-year-old Swede rarely makes mistakes—a much more critical factor. He ranks third on the PGA Tour in bogey avoidance and third in overall scrambling, two facets that help at any golf tournament.
So, give me Noren to win this week at +3000, as Sweden will have its first winner on the PGA Tour in 2024.
For all other sports betting content, check out SB Nation’s DraftKings site.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThroughfor more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
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