2026 Rocket Classic: Expect a low-scoring birdie-fest with Sedgefield form key says the Punter

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Rocket Classic tournament history

The Rocket Classic, formerly the Rocket Mortgage Classic, replaced the National, formerly the Quicken Loans National, on the PGA Tour schedule just seven years ago.

It was the first PGA Tour event to be staged in Michigan since the final edition of the Buick Open at Warwick Hills back in 2009 and it's the first PGA Tour event to ever be played in Detroit, but it looks like this is going to be the final edition.

The PGA Tour's shift towards an emphasise on "elevated" events has made it hard to attract quality fields and Rocket Companies declined its option to continue beyond this year.

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Venue

Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan.

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Course details

Par 72, 7,370 yards

There are two courses at the Detroit Golf Club, the North and the South. Both were designed by Donald Ross, and the tournament is predominantly staged at the longer North, although the third hole is the par four first hole on the South Course.

Detroit's fairways are tree-lined and the small Poa Annua greens usually run at around 12 ½ on the Stimpmeter.

Detroit is not a stern examination by any means. The two-time winner, Cam Davis, only got to 18-under-par on the two occasions he lifted the trophy, but Tony Finau won with a tournament record 262 -26 total in 2022 and the 2020 scoring average of 70.06 was the lowest among all par 72s during the 2019-20 season.

Detroit averaged just 69.92 in 2023, and three players reached 24-under-par - the winner, Rickie Fowler, and the two beaten playoff protagonists, Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa.

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Weather Forecast

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TV coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days with full coverage starting at 19:00 on Thursday.

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First seven winners with pre-event Betfair Exchange prices

2019 - Nate Lashley -25 1000.0999/1
2020 - Bryson DeChambeau -23 6.05/1
2021 - Cam Davis -18 (playoff) 120.0119/1
2022 - Tony Finau -26 19.018/1
2023 - Rickie Fowler -24 (playoff) 17.533/2
2021 - Cam Davis -18 75.074/1
2025 - Aldrich Potgieter -22 (playoff) 200.0199/1

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A statistical look at the Rocket Classic

Here's the top three and ties at the first seven renewals with all the traditional and Strokes Gained stats.

(Key: DD - Driving Distance; DA - Driving Accuracy; GIR - Greens in Regulation; SC - Scrambling; PA - Putting Average)

2019
1 Nate Lashley -25 DD 43 DA 11 GIR 4 SC 3 PA 2
2 Doc Redman -19 DD 34 DA 47 GIR 18 SC 8 PA 16
T3 Wes Roach -18 DD 30 DA 28 GIR 25 SC 5 PA 13
T3 Rory Sabbatini -18 DD 43 DA 1 GIR 47 SC 25 PA 4

2020
1 Bryson DeChambeau -23 DD 1 DA 58 GIR 13 SC 29 PA 7
2 Matthew Wolff -20 DD 5 DA 25 GIR 54 SC 61 PA 1
3 Kevin Kisner -18 DD 39 DA 16 GIR 39 SC 13 PA 2

2021
1 Cam Davis -18 DD 7 DA 29 GIR 24 SC 16 PA 15
T2 Troy Merritt -18 DD 48 DA 1 GIR 24 SC 30 PA 2
T2 Joaquin Niemann -18 DD 24 DA 37 GIR 24 SC 1 PA 22

2022
1 Tony Finau -26 DD 34 DA 3 GIR 1 SC 1 PA 35
T2 Patrick Cantlay -21 DD 5 DA 38 GIR 33 SC 11 PA 7
T2 Taylor Pendrith -21 DD 22 DA 16 GIR 8 SC 58 PA 2
T2 Cameron Young -21 DD 7 DA 18 GIR 17 SC 5 PA 6

2023
1 Rickie Fowler -24 DD 24 DA 62 GIR 4 SC 71 PA 5
T2 Adam Hadwin -24 DD 64 DA 51 GIR 45 SC 7 PA 1
T2 Collin Morikawa -24 DD 44 DA 1 GIR 19 SC 1 PA 7

2024
1 Cam Davis -18 DD 28 DA 7 GIR 23 SC 19 PA 16
T2 Akshay Bhatia -17 DD 37 DA 14 GIR 1 SC 3 PA 24
T2 Min Woo Lee -17 DD 2 DA 57 GIR 26 SC 17 PA 13
T2 Aaron Rai -17 DD 64 DA 9 GIR 6 SC 37 PA 11
T2 Davis Thompson -17 DD 29 DA 18 GIR 12 SC 53 PA 2

2025
1 Aldrich Potgieter -24 DD 1 DA 46 GIR 3 SC 81 PA 24
T2 Max Greyserman -24 DD 11 DA 30 GIR 36 SC 32 PA 1
T2 Chris Kirk -24 DD 26 DA 25 GIR 7 SC 20 PA 14

(Key: SG-T - Strokes Gained: Off the Tee; SG-A - Strokes Gained: Approach; SG-ATG - Strokes Gained: Around the Tee; SG-T2G - Strokes Gained: Tee to Green; SG-P - Strokes Gained: Putting)

2019
1 Nate Lashley -25 TEE 31 APP 6 ATG 13 T2G 3 PUTTING 2
2 Doc Redman -19 TEE 25 APP 18 ATG 11 T2G 10 PUTTING 11
T3 Wes Roach -18 TEE 32 APP 9 ATG 5 T2G 1 PUTTING 31
T3 Rory Sabbatini -18 TEE 9 APP 25 ATG 39 T2G 14 PUTTING 10

2020
1 Bryson DeChambeau -23 TEE 1 APP 51 ATG 26 T2G 4 PUTTING 1
2 Matthew Wolff -20 TEE 13 APP 16 ATG 37 T2G 10 PUTTING 5
3 Kevin Kisner -18 TEE 24 APP 10 ATG 48 T2G 13 PUTTING 11

2021
1 Cam Davis -18 TEE 34 APP 9 ATG 5 T2G 4 PUTTING 22
T2 Troy Merritt -18 TEE 23 APP 33 ATG 29 T2G 17 PUTTING 2
T2 Joaquin Niemann -18 TEE 7 APP 24 ATG 31 T2G 7 PUTTING 8

2022
1 Tony Finau -26 TEE 2 APP 6 ATG 9 T2G 1 PUTTING 15
T2 Patrick Cantlay -21 TEE 10 APP 8 ATG 17 T2G 7 PUTTING 12
T2 Taylor Pendrith -21 TEE 7 APP 5 ATG 52 T2G 8 PUTTING 10
T2 Cameron Young -21 TEE 3 APP 45 ATG 2 T2G 4 PUTTING 24

2023
1 Rickie Fowler -24 TEE 30 APP 2 ATG 16 T2G 3 PUTTING 12
T2 Adam Hadwin -24 TEE 80 APP 10 ATG 6 T2G 20 PUTTING 2
T2 Collin Morikawa -24 TEE 8 APP 7 ATG 13 T2G 2 PUTTING 24

2024
1 Cam Davis -18 TEE 28 APP 12 ATG 9 T2G 5 PUTTING 19
T2 Akshay Bhatia -17 TEE 23 APP 2 ATG 48 T2G 8 PUTTING 16
T2 Min Woo Lee -17 TEE 15 APP 40 ATG 1 T2G 3 PUTTING 35
T2 Aaron Rai -17 TEE 32 APP 3 ATG 45 T2G 12 PUTTING 10
T2 Davis Thompson -17 TEE 3 APP 19 ATG 22 T2G 2 PUTTING 36

2025
1 Alderich Potgieter -22 TEE 7 APP 6 ATG 31 T2G 2 PUTTING 35
T2 Max Greyserman -22 TEE 34 APP 10 ATG 8 T2G 7 PUTTING 22
T2 Chis Kirk -22 TEE 8 APP 52 ATG 53 T2G 31 PUTTING 2

The stats don't tell us an awful lot but unsurprisingly, given the event is essentially a straightforward low scoring birdie-fest, putting has often been key.

The first two winners ranked first and second for Strokes Gained: Putting and four of the top five in the Putting Average rankings finished inside the top five and ties at both of the first two renewals.

Troy Merritt ranked second for both SGP and PA when finishing second in 2021 and Taylor Pendrith, who finished tied second 12 months later, ranked second for PA. And all three playoff protagonists putted superbly in 2023.

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Donald Ross form well worth checking out

Form at Donald Ross courses often transfers well so check out results at East Lake, home of the Tour Championship, Sedgefield Country Club, which hosts the Wyndham Championship, and Aronimink, which staged the BMW Championship in 2018 and the US PGA Championship in May, as well as the National way back in 2010 and 2011.

The 2023 US PGA Championship was staged at Ross-designed Oak Hill and last year's US Open was staged at Donald Ross' masterpiece - Pinehurst.

The 2020 winner here, Bryson DeChambeau, won the US Open at Pinehurst and this year's US PGA winner, Aaron Rai, who has also won the Wyndham, finished second here two years ago.

Form at the Ross designed Holston Hills, the host course for the Knoxville Open on the Korn Ferry Tour, often shows up here too. Greyserman, who was beaten in the playoff last year, was fourth in the Knoxville Open at Holston Hills on debut in 2021, an event that the other beaten playoff protagonist, Chis Kirk, won back in 2010, but the Wyndham Championship is arguably the best tournament to ponder.

The runner-up here in 2022, Cameron Young, won the Wyndham last year, Greyserman finished second to Aaron Rai in the Wyndham two years ago and Rai traded at just 2.186/5 before finishing tied for second here in 2024.

The Sedgefield specialist, Webb Simpson, led here at halfway in 2020, the 2021 Wyndham winner, Kevin Kisner, has finished eighth and third here, one of the Tour's lesser lights, Doc Redman, has form at both venues, and Tom Kim won the Wyndham in 2022, one week after finishing seventh here.

The Country Club of Jackson - home to the Sanderson Farm Championship may also be worth a close look.

Although they fell away a bit over the weekend, three SFC winners were in the top ten at the halfway stage in the first edition of this event - Cameron Champ, Ryan Armour, and the 2013 Knoxville Open winner, Peter Malnati.

Cameron Young boosted the link in 2022 when he finished second in this event, nine months after finishing runner-up in the Sanderson Farms and Lucas Glover finished third here in 2023 and third at the Country Club of Jackson in 2024. Glover also won the Wyndham Championship in 2023, so he ties the three tracks together nicely.

The composite used at Jackson for the SFC was designed by Dick Wilson so it didn't come up in my initial research seven years ago (looking at other Donald Ross courses) but it was extensively remodelled in 2008 by John Fought - a designer described as being heavily influenced by Ross - so form there might be worthy of close inspection.

Form at last week's event, the 3M Open, often crosses over, and it may also be worth taking a little look at the Mexico Open at Vidanta.

Tony Finau won the Mexico Open at Vidanta Villarta in 2023, a year after he won this, Alex Knapp, who shot 61 on Friday to set the new course record here last year (finished tied for fourth, beaten by a stroke), won in Mexico in 2024 and last year's champ, Potgieter, was a very unlucky loser in a playoff at Vidanta in February last year.

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Check out players on the FedEx Cup bubble

Now that the majors are all done and dusted, the FedEx Cup Series is looming large.

There are now just two events left before the Playoffs kick off and everyone's desperately trying to get into the opening event - the FedEx St Jude Championship.

Only the top 70 on the Fed-Ex Cup standings make it to the event so anyone in and around that mark may well play better than they have for some time.

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Winner's position and Betfair Exchange price pre-round four

2019 - Nate Lashley - Led by six 1.222/9
2020 - Bryson DeChambeau - T2 and three off the lead 3.55/2
2021 - Cam Davis - T3, trailing by a stroke 8.07/1
2022 - Tony Finau - Tied for the lead 1.865/6
2023 - Rickie Fowler - Led by a stroke 2.0421/20
2024 - Cam Davis - T3, trailing by a stroke 8.415/2
2025 - Alderich Potgieter - Led by two 4.03/1

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Concentrate on the early pacesetters

This is a low scoring event and making up lots of ground is extremely difficult.

Lashley won the first edition wire-to-wire, DeChambeau and Cam Davis (twice) were never far away, Finau almost led from start to finish, seven of the top eight in 2023 were inside the top nine places at halfway and last year's winner sat tied for first after round one, tied fifth at halfway and he was two clear with 18 to play

All seven winners have been inside the top three places with a round to go and four of the seven were leading or tied for the lead.

Concentrating on the leaders from very early on will probably play dividends.

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