2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic Betting: Picks, Odds, Predictions and Best Bets

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Published on June 25, 2024

Rocket Mortgage Classic Betting Preview

The PGA Tour heads to the Midwest this week for the sixth installment of the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club. Following three consecutive tournaments of signature events/majors, it's a weaker field than we're accustomed to with just nine players in the top-50 of the OWGR highlighted by tournament favorite Tom Kim (12-1 odds). Last year, Rickie Fowler (14-1 odds) defeated Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin with a birdie on the first playoff hole for his sixth Tour victory.

All odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 6:00 ET Tuesday

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Course Overview

Par 72, 7,370 yards

Average Strokes Gained Rankings: Rocket Mortgage Classic Winners Since 2019

SG: Off-the-Tee: 19.0
SG: Approach: 14.8
SG: Around-the-Green: 13.0
SG: Putting: 10.2
SG: Tee-to-Green: 3.0
Driving Distance: 26.2
Driving Accuracy: 33.2

In looking at the stats above, SG: Tee-to-Green stands out as the most notable metric as the winner has ranked fourth or better in the category in all five years. Off the tee, players are faced with generous landing zones as the fairways average 35 yards wide and are surrounded by trees and playable rough. Without much penalty for errant drives with just one water hazard, expect players to use driver often. There aren't a lot of mid iron approaches here, so we're looking for good wedge players inside of 125 yards as well as those from 225+ to take advantage of the par-5s. The champions have averaged 23-under and with plenty of rain recently, expect a lot of birdies with the soft conditions. Longer hitters and good putters are the ones I'll be mostly targeting.

Motown Magicians

The following players have the lowest scoring average at Detroit Golf Club (minimum two appearances).

Pendrith tops the list with results of T2 and T14, and the third-year professional is amid an excellent season in which he picked up his first Tour victory and has seven top-25s over his last nine starts. Interestingly, he's failed to shoot under par in the final round in his two trips to the event but has shot 67 or better the other six rounds. Right behind him on the list is Moore, who has just one round in the 70s across eight rounds en route to back-to-back top-10s here. Something will have to give between his success at the event and his current play, as he enters this week on the heels of three straight missed cuts on top of beating just one player at the Travelers last week. He comes in at 45-1 odds.

Tee-to-Green Tacticians

These five players, on a per-round basis, gained the most strokes from tee to green over their last 20 rounds.

Statistically, Rai is having an excellent season, ranking seventh in SG: Approach and 11th in SG: Total but its only led to a pair of top-10 finishes. He posted a top-10 in his debut here last year in which he was fourth in approach. At 30-1 odds, the bookmakers are giving him the respect he deserves, and this looks like a good opportunity for him to get into contention if the putter cooperates. Right next to him on the odds board at identical odds is Thompson, who is coming off his first top-10 at a major two weeks ago at Pinehurst. He's made the cut in both of his trips to Detroit, ranking fourth in SG: Off-the-Tee last year on his way to finishing T24. The 25-year-old has a top-25 finish in half of his starts this year.

Rocket Mortgage Classic Bets: Outright Picks

Min Woo Lee (20-1)

With Scottie Scheffler not in the field, it feels like an outright bet has a much better shot than usual. Could this be Lee's breakthrough opportunity in his event debut? He's finished no worse than T26 over his last five starts and is eighth in SG: Off-the-Tee this year.

Akshay Bhatia (22-1)

Bhatia already has a win this year and was in the final threesome at the Travelers last week. It's difficult to find much of a weakness in the youngster's game, as he ranks in the top-40 in every strokes gained category except for around the green. That shouldn't be much of a deterrent here.

Matt Wallace (60-1)

Wallace is trending in the right direction with three top-20s over his last five events, most notably finishing T4 at the Byron Nelson. He's also made all three of his cuts at the venue including two top-15s.

Rocket Mortgage Classic Bets: Top-10 Wagers

Michael Thorbjornsen (13-2)

Thorbjornsen made his professional debut last week after acquiring his card by leading the PGA Tour University standings, and the 22-year-old has some serious length off the tee. He should feel more comfortable dropping down from a signature event to this birdie-fest.

Luke Clanton (7-1)

The Florida State junior is fifth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, and he's building up a nice resume with four collegiate wins and a T41 finish at the U.S. Open two weeks ago. He ranked fifth in SG: Off-the-Tee at Pinehurst and should be able to overpower Detroit Golf Club.

J.J. Spaun (11-1)

Spaun has a solid track record at the venue, finishing no worse than T33 across five apperances with a best result of T8 in 2022. The results haven't been there this year, but he's gained strokes on approach in six straight tournaments. I'll take the risk at lofty odds.

Rocket Mortgage Classic Bets: Head-to-Head Matchup

Cam Davis (+100) over Erik van Rooyen

These two have much different track records at the event, with Davis being a former champion with three straight top-20s compared to van Rooyen's pair of missed cuts. Van Rooyen hasn't shown much form recently, either, with his only top-25 finish over the last three months coming at an alternate event.

Rocket Mortgage Classic Bets: To Miss the Cut

Chris Kirk (+160)

These are generous odds for a guy that hasn't posted a top-25 in over two months and has missed three of his last five cuts. Considering he finished T63 at the Travelers, he likely would've missed the cut there had there been one. The normally reliable iron player has lost strokes on approach in four consecutive events.

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