-
Aaron and Akshay still lead in Detroit
-
Cam Young in the mix again
-
Cam Davis looking to win his second RMC title
14:15 - June 30, 2024
After the third round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai are still tied at the top, although the gap back to the remainder has been reduced from two to one.
Here's the 54-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 14:00.
Akshay Bhatia -17 3.6553/20
Aaron Rai -17 4.47/2
Cameron Young -16 5.69/2
Cam Davis -16 8.415/2
Erik van Rooyen -15 18.535/2
Sam Stevens -15 24.023/1
Min Woo Lee -14 24.023/1
Luke Clanton -14 50.049/1
Joel Dahman -14 80.079/1
-13 and 80.079/1 bar
Collin Morikawa shot 64 on Sunday to get into the playoff last year, having trailed by four after round three, and Bryson DeChambeau won by three in 2020 after a 65 in round four, having trailed by three with a round to go, but he only had one man ahead of him (Matthew Wolff) and this is a hard place to play catch up.
Last year's winner, Rickie Fowler, led by a stroke through three rounds and he was the third of the five tournament winners to be leading or tied for the lead with a round to go.
With all that in mind, I'm happy to stick with Bhatia and leave the event alone for now.
Aaron Rai is clearly the biggest danger to Bhatia but he's yet to win on the PGA Tour and he was disappointing in-contention on Sunday here last year, falling from fourth and three off the lead to ninth place with a pedestrian 71.
Cam Young is still in search of his first win and if forced to pick an alternative to Bhatia it would be the 2021 winner, Cam Davis, who won the event in a three-man playoff after catching the two men tied at the top with a round to go - Joaquin Niemann and Troy Merritt.
17:20 - June 28, 2024
The halfway leader at the Italian Open, Gunner Wiebe, and the man accompanying him in today's final two-ball, Jannik De Bruyn, have endured a poor day, with both players posting over-par rounds, and it's all change at the top, with four men tied for the lead with a round to go. Here's the 54-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 17:15.
Antoine Rozner -10 4.84/1
Shubhankar Sharma -10 6.25/1
Marcel Siem -10 7.413/2
Sebastian Friedrichsen -10 9.417/2
Adrian Otaegui -9 7.413/2
Joel Girrbach -8 26.025/1
Andrew Wilson -8 26.025/1
Gregorio De Leo -8 38.037/1
-7 and 36.035/1 bar
As highlighted yesterday, this is the first time we've seen this week's venue, the Adriatic Golf Club, used on the DP World Tour but it's created a very interesting 54-hole leaderboard.
The frontrunners haven't scored well today but Frenchman, Antoine Rozner, made the cut on the number, and he's now tied for the lead after a sensational nine-under-par 62 on Moving Day.
Rozner began his third round more than four and half hours before the final two-ball began their but having been matched at a high of 590.0589/1, he'll be in the final group tomorrow.
Rozner converted a two-stroke lead at the Mauritius Open in December 2022, on the last occasion he led or co-led with a round to go, so it's no surprise to see the experienced three-time DP World Tour winner heading the market, but as always, it's notoriously tough to back up a super-low round.
I'm sticking with Otaegui, who trails by a solitary stroke, but with as many as 35 players within five of the lead, it's a wide-open event and someone will make a move from off the pace.
Dylan Frittelli, who sits five adrift in a tie for 27th, looks a huge price at 300/1 with the Sportsbook, with four places up for grabs, and I'll be keeping an eye on the early play tomorrow morning for any early movers.
The third round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic has been delayed due to the weather, but they'll hopefully get done and I'll take a good look at that one in the morning when there's just one round to go.
08:35 - June 29, 2024
We've reached the halfway stage of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and after Aaron Rai's strong finish to his second round to catch Akshay Bhatia, we have an intriguing leaderboard to survey with two rounds to go. Here's the latest state of play with prices to back at 8:30.
Akshay Bhatia -13 3.814/5
Aaron Rai -13 4.47/2
Cameron Young -11 7.26/1
Erik van Rooyen -11 17.016/1
Troy Merritt -11 34.033/1
Taylor Montgomery -11 36.035/1
Cam Davis -10 21.020/1
Eric Cole -10 34.033/1
Joel Dahman -10 70.069/1
-9 and 42.041/1 bar
Although he didn't putt quite as nicely as he'd done on day one, Akshay Bhatia crafted a stress-free, bogey-free, five-under-par 67 on Friday morning to set the halfway target, and that was despite playing the four par fives in just one-under and a bizarre incident that saw his ball disappear down a drain after a perfect drive!
In addition to the two players tied at the top, Akshay Bhatia and England's Aaron Rai, the top of the leaderboard contains two of the three playoff protagonists at the 2021 edition, the winner, Cam Davis, and Troy Merritt, as well as the last two PGA Tour Rookie of the Year winners - Eric Cole (2023) and Cameron Young (2022).
Cole and Young are yet to win on Tour, Davis hasn't added to his sole success here three years ago and Merritt, although a two-time PGA Tour winner, rarely contends.
There are five players tied for 10th and just four behind the two leaders, but the stats suggest we probably can't scan that far down the leaderboard.
This is the sixth edition of the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit and the previous five winners have sat first, third, sixth, second and third at halfway. Davis, who trailed by two in sixth place, is the only winner to be further than a stroke adrift at halfway.
We've had two three-man playoffs here (2021 and 2023), and Adam Hadwin, 12 months ago, is the only one of the six men to make it to extra time to be any further back than Davis after 36 holes. He sat tied ninth and three back at halfway.
Although he's surely going to win a title soon, Young is hard to fancy until he does get across the line and I'm far from convinced that Rai represents value at less than 7/24.50.
Rai is still in search of his first PGA Tour title, and he looks opposable at that price, although he clearly likes it here. Rai sat tied for fifth and two off the lead at halfway last year and a 66 on Saturday saw him move up a place with a round to go before a 71 on Sunday saw him slip to ninth.
I thought Merritt and Cole were both slightly over-priced at 36.035/1 this morning so I've had tiny cover bets on them but it's hard to get away from the favourite at halfway.
Bhatia was an impressive winner of the Barracuda Championship from off the pace last year and he was even more imposing when taking the Texas Open wire-to-wire in April, despite a ridiculous run on the back-nine from Denny McCarthy, who took the tournament into extra time.
At only 22, Bhatia still has plenty of scope and he's the one to back with two rounds to go at around 11/43.75.
20:25 - June 28, 2024
The well-fancied 24.023/1 pre-event chance, Akshay Bhatia, has opened up the Rocket Mortgage Classic with rounds of 64 and 67 to lead by two but as the afternoon wave are still on the course, I'll be back in the morning with a look at that one.
Bhatia has already been matched at just 2.26/5 but Cam Young is charging. At the time of writing, he's played his first nine holes of round two in four-under-par and he's tied for fourth and within three of the lead.
Over on the DP World Tour, pre-event 1000.0999/1 shot, Gunner Wiebe, has found form from nowhere to lead the Italian Open but I like the halfway favourite, Ardian Otaegui, who was a pre-event selection at last week's KLM Open.
Given this is the first time this week's venue - the Adriatic Golf Club - has been used on the DP World Tour, we're in the dark as to what to expect over the weekend but Wiebe stated that the track was speeding up so I don't expect we'll witness many low rounds.
Wiebe leads the young German, Jannik De Bruyn by a stroke and Otaegui is one four players tied for third and just two back.
De Bruyn, who was a 280.0279/1 chance before the off, only got into the field on Tuesday so anyone that cracked on and placed all their bets on Monday will be scratching their heads but it's hard to see either of the front two kicking on for the win.
There are as many as 22 players within four of Wiebe's lead so it's a tough tournament to call but I was happy to chance Otaegui at an average of 7.87/1.
The 31-year-old Spaniard is no bigger than 6/17.00 on the Hogh Street and he's fairly priced to win his sixth DP World Tour title and his second in the space of two months following his impressive victory in China over last week's KLM Open winner, Guido Migliozzi.
Italian Open In-Play Picks:
Adrian Otaegui @ 7.87/1
Dylan Frittelli @ 300/1 (each-way)
Rocket Mortgage Classic In-Play Picks:
Akshay Bhatia @ 3.814/5
Eric Cole @ 36.035/1
Troy Merritt @ 36.035/1