The Punter's De-Brief: Thorbjornsen off the mark in Detroit

---

15:00 - August 3, 2026 - Thorbjornsen fires a five-under-par 30 on the back nine to win by two

The final edition of the Rocket Classic was a tough event to get to grips with in-running but at several points on Sunday I thought I was going to end the week with the winner.

Pre-event 22/123.00 pick, Xander Schauffele, was matched at as low as 2.447/5 when he posted a four-under-par front nine, my halfway 46.045/1 fancy, Chris Kirk, was matched at 3.613/5 after he'd played his first six holes in three-under, and the man I backed before the final round, Michael Brennnan, traded at a low of 1.748/11 when he played the first three hole in two-under but it was the pre-event 60.059/1 chance, Michael Thorbjornsen that eventually claimed the title.

Thorbjornsen had looked an unlikely winner when he sat tied for 63^rd after an opening round of one-under that saw him trail the early leader, Peter Malnati, by eight and he was matched at a high of 250.0249/1 before a six-under-par 64 on Friday saw him climb up into a tie for 14^th at halfway.

Having been a 25.024/1 chance when trailing by four in a tie for seventh with 18 to play, he was matched at as high as 27.026/1 in round four before he birdied three of the last five holes to win by two.

Schauffele plugged on to finish second, but Kirk ended the week in a tie for eighth after a level par 70 and poor Brennan lost his way completely, eventually finishing tied for 15^th after a three-over-par 73.

Thorbjornsen had started the week in 69^th place in the FedEx Cup Standings (now up to 38^th) so he was definitely one of the Bubble Boys and with just this week's Wyndham Championship to be played before the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin a week on Thursday, as highlighted in the preview, that's something to consider again this week.

---

09:50 - August 2, 2026 - Favourite fancied at the Rocket Classic

After Peter Malnatti's super low round on Thursday, and Cameron Young's on Friday, for the third day in-a-row we witnessed a course record equalling nine-under-par 61 at the Rocket Classic, this time by Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard, who has moved up 60 places up into a tie for third with 18 holes to play.

The three men tied for the lead at halfway, the pre-event favourite, Young, Patrick Cantlay, and Patrick Fishburn, all struggled to varying degrees with Young being the only one to break par.

The world number three has slipped to tied third after his two-under-par 68 but Cantlay has fallen to tied 11th, after a lacklustre level-par 70 and poor Fishburn has tumbled all the way down to tied 44^th after he shot a disastrous four-over par 74.

Michael Brennan, who got off the mark on the PGA Tour at the Utah Championship in his third start as a professional last year, bogeyed the 18^th to leave long-shot, Davis Riley, who was a 1000.0999/1 chance before the off, showing the way with 18 to play.

Here's the 54-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 9:40.

Davis Riley -15 5.14/1
Michael Brennan -14 4.57/2
Cameron Young -12 6.25/1
Rickie Fowler -12 13.012/1
Chris Kirk -12 17.016/1
Rasmus Hojgaard -12 20.019/1
Xander Schauffele -11 17.533/2
Michael Thorbjornsen -11 25.024/1
Michael Kim -11 40.039/1
Kristoffer Ventura -11 50.049/1
Si Woo Kim -10 40.039/1
Patrick Cantlay -10 50.049/1
Matt Wallace -10 95.094/1
Ben James -10 100.099/1
Luke Clanton -10 150.0149/1
Justin Lower -10 310.0309/1
-9 and 150.0149/1 bar

---

History suggests we should concentrate on the leaders

This is the eighth and final edition of the Rocket Classic so here's a list of the first seven winners with where they were sitting on the leaderboard with a round to go, together with the prices they were trading at on the Betfair Exchange.

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

Cam Davis is the only winner to be trading at bigger than 3/14.00 with a round to go and all seven winners have been inside the top three places.

That's not surprising for a low scoring event, when making up ground is tricky, but the front two here are bound to feel the heat today.

Both the leaders, like Chris Kirk and Hojgaard in tied third, are trying to break into the top 70 in the FedEx Cup Standings to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs in a fortnight. That could be a factor but I'm still happy to chance the favourite, Brennan, with 18 to play.

He cooly converted a two-stroke lead at the Utah Championship in October last year and prior to that he won twice on the PGA Americas Tour from the front, so he's proven to be very reliable in contention.

The leader, Riley, won the Charles Schwab Challenge comfortably from the front in 2024 but he finished tamely at the Sony Open in January, tied for sixth, beaten by five, having led by two with a round to go.

---

Brennan the fancy with 18 to play

Both players are putting superbly but I'm not surprised to see the market favouring the man in second. He's been in far better form than Riley of late and he looks better equipped to cope with the stresses and strains of a final round in contention.

With poor weather forecast, Brennan and Riley kick off their final round alongside yesterday's big mover, Hojgaard, as early as 17:45 in the UK.

Due to forecasted storms and rain overnight and into Sunday morning, tee times for the final round of the Rocket Classic will run from approximately 10:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. ET in groups of three from Nos. 1 and 10.

-- PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) August 1, 2026

---

08:30 - August 1, 2026 - Tight at the top with 20 players within three of the lead

In his first start since his narrow defeat in the Open Championship two weeks ago, the pre-event 12.523/2 favourite, Cameron Young, started the Rocket Classic slowly on Thursday afternoon with a lacklustre one-under-par 69 that saw him trailing the first-round leader, Peter Malnati, by eight strokes.

The world number three drifted all the way out to 44.043/1 but he got his skates on yesterday morning and, after a nine-under-par 61, he's now tied for the lead with Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Fishburn.

Here's the 36-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 8:20.

Cameron Young -10 3.929/10
Patrick Cantlay -10 6.411/2
Patrick Fishburn -10 28.027/1
Rickie Fowler -9 15.529/2
Matt Wallace -9 23.022/1
Xander Schauffele -8 12.523/2
Ryan Gerard -8 25.024/1
Doug Ghim -8 30.029/1
Michael Brenan -8 32.031/1
Michael Kim -8 40.039/1
Chris Kirk -8 46.045/1
Davis Riley -8 120.0119/1
Peter Malnati -8 180.0179/1
-7 and 55.054/1 bar

Nate Lashley won the inaugural edition of the Rocket Classic wire-to-wire in 2019, and no winner has trailed by more than three strokes at halfway, but Langley is the only one of the seven winners to date to be leading or tied for the lead after two rounds.

That's a bit of a negative for the three co-leaders and, with as many 20 players separated by three strokes, this is a very difficult tournament to assess with two rounds to go.

---

World number three the man to beat

The obvious place to start is with Young and he's quite rightly heading the market.

He found form this time last year, finally getting off the mark on the PGA Tour at next week's event, the Wyndham Championship, which is also staged at a Donald Ross-designed course - Sedgefield Country Club.

Young was three clear in the Wyndham at halfway and he was five in front at this stage when he won the Cadillac Championship by six in May.

Young also converted a couple of clear halfway leads on the Korn Ferry Tour back in 2021, but he finished sixth in the John Deere Classic in 2023, having led by two at halfway, and he finished third in the Dubai Desert Classic in January 2024, having led by three after 36 holes. He's never been tied for the lead at halfway on any Tour.

Now that he's won three times on the PGA Tour, we should be able to rely on Young to kick on here and get the job done but it's only two weeks since he lost his way in round three at Birkdale.

Trailing by two at the halfway stage, Young was a 6.411/2 chance with two rounds to play but he was trailing by seven in a tie for 20^th with 18 to play after a 73 on Saturday.

He bounced back in style on Sunday and, but for a bogey five at the last, he'd have been in a playoff with Ryan Fox.

Whether we can read too much into that Saturday slip up is debatable but given how condensed this leaderboard is, how hard it is to back up a super low round, and that we've seen a dozen men lead or co-lead since Lashley won here wire-to-wire in 2019 without going on to win, Young looks short enough at less than 3/14.00. And that's before we look at his putting stats.

Unsurprisingly for a traditionally low scoring event, putting has been key to success at Detroit Golf Club and, at the halfway stage, Young ranks 24^th for Putting Average and only 51^st for Strokes Gained: Putting.

Looking at the stats, Matt Wallace, Ryan Gerard and Michael Brenan are all putting very nicely so far this week but the one I'm going to chance modestly is one of last year's beaten playoff protagonists, Chris Kirk, who trails by two in a tie for sixth.

---

Course specialist chanced at halfway

Kirk needs to hole a few more putts over the weekend but given he clearly loves the venue, he looks fractionally big at 46.045/1.

Kirk was tied for the lead at halfway 12 months ago before getting beat in extra time and he was also tied at the top through 36 holes back in 2020.

He fell to 21^st over the weekend in 2020 and he finished 14^th 12 months later, having sat third at halfway, but last year's improved weekend performance will give him some encouragement.

Kirk partners my pre-event pick, Xander Schauffele, who also looks nicely priced at halfway at around 12/113.00.

---

Bookmark Betting.Betfair for golf betting tips every week