Out of the Rough: Rocket Classic (2026)

Positioned in a new portion of the PGA Tour schedule and following a massive $16.1 million renovation, Detroit Golf Club takes center stage this week for the Rocket Classic.

This season marks the eighth playing of the Rocket Classic.

This event was first played eight years ago, taking over for the National, formerly the Quicken Loans National on the PGA TOUR schedule.

The Rocket Classic became the first event staged in Michigan since the final edition of the Buick Open at Warwick Hills back in 2009. It is the first PGA TOUR event to ever be played in Detroit.

Detroit Golf Club was established in 1899 and has a long history, but is still very fresh to the PGA TOUR with it first being played in 2019.

As previously mentioned, the course was completely renovated following the conclusion of last year’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.

The Field

The new position in the PGA Tour schedule has worked out for the Rocket Classic as the field slated for this week is the best that this event has ever seen.

Leading the charge is World No. 3 Cameron Young who is the highest ranked golfer within the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) to be playing this week.

He’ll be joined by Russell Henley (No. 5,) Chris Gotterup (No. 7,) Wyndham Clark (No. 9,) J.J. Spaun (No. 14,) Xander Schauffele (No. 15,) Si Woo Kim (No. 18,) Ben Griffin (No. 19) and Ryan Gerard (No. 24) as those ranked within the top-25 of the OWGR.

Aldrich Potgieter emerged victorious out of the playoff against both Max Greyserman and Chris Kirk a season ago to claim his maiden PGA Tour title. Both Greyserman and Kirk will be playing this week looking to better their position from a season ago.

Cam Davis won this event in both 2021 and 2024 and will look to make it a third Rocket Classic title this week.

Other former winners of this event playing this week include Rickie Fowler (2023) and Tony Finau (2022.)

The Course

As previously mentioned, the Detroit Golf Club’s North Course underwent an extensive $16.1 million renovation following the completion of last year’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.

With the renovation, the course was decreased from a par-72 to a par-70 as two of the short par-fives were changed to long par-fours. It also now plays at 7,328 yards.

Tyler Rae and NMP Golf Construction led the renovation which also saw the removal of numerous trees and a large focus in recreating the course’s bunkering. The goal was to return the course to Donald Ross’s original design.

The recent renovation saw the course visually return to Ross’ original design along with returning the greens to the original contours.

Bunkers were a major staple of the renovation. They were repositioned to be brought into play for the modern golfer. They were deepened and returned to Ross’ original design as well.

Additionally, the pond that once stood in the front of the par-five 14th was removed and replaced with a tall-fescue waste area.

Deep cross-ditches were added back to the course. These cross-ditches were part of Ross’ original design.

These cross-ditches, some upwards of 18-feet deep, also help with the course’s storm and drainage system. Additionally a new irrigation system was put into place as well.

In all, the renovation was geared to toughen the golf course. It saw several trees removed, rebuilt greens, brand new tee boxes and completely refreshed fairways.

The consensus is that these renovations will make the golf course play two-to-three strokes tougher.

Detroit Golf Club can best be described as a bomb-and-gouge venue.

Around 50-percent of all drives have been over 300-yards here at Detroit Golf Club.

Detroit Golf Club as a whole lacks the bells-and-whistles of the PGA TOUR courses we are used to seeing.

The fairways are tree-lined but are rather wide, making it less of a positional course than other parkland courses we’re used to seeing.

There are very few hazards this week. There is also non-penal rough.

The past installments of this event have boiled down to putting contests. This is true for most Ross designs such as East Lake and Sedgefield CC.

This is also a course where poor putters simply don’t catch fire and find themselves in contention. There will be a premium on the TOUR’s best putters.

The greens are a combination of Bentgrass and Poa.

Two of the par-threes play over 200 yards and play rather difficult while the other two play around 160-yards and play much easier.

Greens in regulation percentage is also higher here, coming in at 72-percent. Missing greens isn’t the end-of-the-world however as scrambling is easier here with the lack of hazards and non-penal rough as well.

Winners have more than doubled the field in sand saves over the last five years however.

Around 40-percent of all approach shots come from 125-175 yards with another 21-percent coming from over 200 yards.

In all, hitting greens and creating as many scoring opportunities as possible will be key. Any golfer who does not capitalize on these opportunities will quickly fall off pace and will find themselves out of contention quickly.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, Thursday calls for just a ten-percent chance of precipitation. Friday is calling for a 60-percent chance of late afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Saturday is calling for a 40-percent chance of scattered thunderstorms, mainly in the afternoon. Sunday calls for just a ten-percent chance of precipitation. Temperatures will be the highest on Thursday at 85-degrees before dropping to 84-degrees on Friday. Temperatures will drop to 83-degrees on Saturday before returning to 84-degrees on Sunday. Winds will begin the week at eight miles-per-hour on Thursday before peaking at nine miles-per-hour on both Friday and Saturday. Winds will return to eight miles-per-hour on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT)

• Average Driving Distance

• Strokes Gained: Putting on Bentgrass (SG: PUTT Bentgrass)

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Birdie or Better Percentage / Birdie or Better Percentage from less than 150 Yards

• Proximity to the hole from 75-to-150 Yards

• Proximity to the hole from 200-plus yards

• Good Drives Percentage

• Par-Four Average Scoring

• Greens in Regulation Percentage (GIR%)

• Sand Saves Percentage 

Betting Card

Check back Monday (7/27) for my full betting card!

2025 Betting Card

• Harry Hall (+4000) - T13th

• Keith Mitchell (+4500) - MC

• Alex Smalley (+6000) - MC

• Jesper Svensson (+9000) - MC

• Lee Hodges (+11000) - T34th

2024 Betting Card

• Tom Kim (+1200) - MC

• Keith Mitchell (+3500) - MC

• Ryan Fox (+5500) - T67th

• Erik van Rooyen (+7000) - T6th

• Patton Kizzire (+27500) - T20th

2023 Betting Card

• Tony Finau (+1400) - MC

• Max Homa (+1800) - T21st

• Stephan Jaeger (+4100) - T9th

• Kevin Yu (+12000) - MC

• Joseph Bramlett (+15000) - MC

Gambling Disclaimer

I am not responsible for any losses associated with gambling. The suggestions listed above are simply that, suggestions. All of the information listed above was acquired from my own personal research. There are some statistics I reference that I have created myself. Again, I am not responsible for any monetary loss associated with using my suggestions, research or statistics. Please bet responsibly.