2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic: PGA Tour Betting Odds
Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler are favoured on the golf odds.
The Rocket Mortgage Classic has only been around since 2019 and it is the first-ever PGA Tour event to be held completely within the Detroit city limits. That area is a golf madhouse. This is not an “elevated” event this year and thus one of the lower purses, so it’s not the best of fields (156 golfers) with the British Open only a few weeks away and many Europeans already overseas preparing. Four players will earn entry to this event in an open qualifier on Monday.
Detroit Golf Club’s North Course is the host, a par 72 at around 7,370 yards. It’s considered possibly the flattest course on Tour – this event actually uses 17 holes from the North and one from the South Course. The fan-favorite this week likely will be Kyle Martin, a Grand Rapids native and University of Michigan grad who has worked at Lochmoor Club in Grosse Pointe Woods (ritzy suburb of Detroit) for 13 years. Martin won the Michigan PGA Professional Championship last summer to get a sponsor exemption to the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
A large contingent from Lochmoor Club as well as family and friends will be on hand: “I don’t get to practice like those guys with my obligations at the club,” Martin said. “We’ll see what happens. I hit it plenty long to be dangerous, and if my putter gets hot, we’ll see. The goal is to make the cut and then see what happens.”
Americans have won this tournament three of the four years and the defending champion is Tony Finau, as he shot a tournament record 26-under 262 to beat out Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Young and Canadian Taylor Pendrith by five shots each. Finau, who was tied with Pendrith entering the final round, also won the week before in Minnesota to at the time become the first PGA Tour player in three years to win consecutive regular-season events.
There is a LIV tournament this week in Spain, the first event on that Tour since the U.S. Open. Bryson DeChambeau is with the LIV and won the second Rocket Mortgage Classic in 2020.
Rocket Mortgage Classic Golf Odds
Americans Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler are both +1200 favourites. It seems like Fowler has been around forever but he’s only 34 still and appears rejuvenated of late with four straight Top 13 finishes on Tour. He still hasn’t won since 2019 in Phoenix. Fowler’s best finish here is 12th. Thomas had been struggling for a few weeks but finished T9 on Sunday at the Travelers Championship. It’s his debut here.
Collin Morikawa and defending champion Tony Finau are each +1300, with Max Homa +1800, and Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama both +2000. Finau tries to become the first multiple-time winner of the tournament. It’s the tournament debut for Morikawa. Homa has been T25 here the past two years. Matsuyama’s best finish is 13th. Im was eighth in 2021.
Keegan Bradley, who won the Travelers Championship on Sunday outside of Hartford, is +3400. Bradley finished at 23-under 257 at TPC River Highlands, a shot better than Kenny Perry’s previous tournament record from 2009. Bradley’s best finish here is 14th.
No Canadian has won here. As we noted above, Taylor Pendrith was one of three runners-up last year. Adam Svensson was T24, Adam Hadwin T37 and Roger Sloan T49. Nick Taylor, Michael Gligic and Mackenzie Hughes missed the cut. Hadwin is +6400 this week with Pendrith +7700, Svensson +9100 and Gligic +81100.
Rocket Mortgage Classic Golf Predictions
We like an American winner at -263 but for an individual value stake go with England’s Matt Wallace at +13100. He has played the tournament twice with an average score of 68.25 and two Top 12 finishes.