PGA Tour Golf Betting Odds: Rocket Mortgage Classic Predictions
Originally scheduled to be played May 28-31, the Rocket Mortgage Classic from Detroit instead will be contested on the PGA Tour starting Thursday on the American Independence Day weekend as part of the coronavirus schedule shuffle. Bryson DeChambeau is the favourite on the golf odds.
Speaking of the coronavirus, it had an impact on last week’s Travelers Championship outside of Hartford as six players had to withdraw due to COVID-19. Former world No. 1 Brooks Koepka and four-time PGA Tour winner Graeme McDowell both did because their caddies tested positive. Koepka’s brother Chase and Webb Simpson (who recently won the RBC Heritage) also withdrew simply out of caution. None of those four players have tested positive as of now.
Two-time Tour winner Cameron Champ did because he tested positive as did Denny McCarthy (after playing Round 1). On Sunday night after his final round and ahead of traveling to Detroit, Dylan Frittelli tested positive too. Champ and Frittelli joined Nick Watney as the only players known to have tested positive thus far. Watney did at the RBC Heritage in South Carolina on June 22.
No sport, sadly, is safe from the coronavirus and potential withdrawals are going to be part of betting on golf going forward. Might be wise to wait until late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning before wagering at Sports Interaction. If a player withdraws before a tournament, all bets on him are returned. The PGA Tour has announced that it would enforce extra testing and stricter monitoring of protocols going forward.
The Rocket Mortgage Classic is a tough one to handicap because it only debuted last year. Nate Lashley, the last alternate in the field, went wire-to-wire for his first PGA Tour victory. He finished at 25-under 263. No alternate had won on Tour since 2016.
Detroit Golf Club’s North Course is a par 72 at 7,334 yards. The winner in the field of 156 earns $1.35 million (U.S.) and 500 FedExCup points. No fans will be allowed in attendance.
Rocket Mortgage Classic Odds
It’s clearly the weakest overall field since the PGA Tour restarted its season. Dustin Johnson, who won in Hartford on Sunday, is among the bigger names taking the week off.
Simpson is the highest-ranked player in the field and is +1100. Technically, he is looking to win back-to-back tournaments on Tour since he never did tee it up last week. Simpson didn’t play here a year ago. World No. 10 DeChambeau is the +667 favourite. He hasn’t been worse than eighth in the three tournaments in the restart and makes his Motor City debut.
Tyrell Hatton and Patrick Reed round out the betting favourites at +1300 each. Hatton didn’t play here last year, while Reed was fifth.
Obviously, no Canadian has won this tournament. Mackenzie Hughes and Roger Sloan were both T21 last year at 13-under 275. Nick Taylor was T35 at 11 under, while Corey Conners, Mike Weir, Ben Silverman and Adam Svensson all missed the cut.
Hughes shot a career-best 60 in Round 1 of the Travelers Championship last Thursday – a long birdie putt on No. 18 for a 59 came up short. His previous round on Tour was a 78 in Round 4 of the RBC Heritage, which in retrospect became the worst score by a player immediately preceding a 60 or better on the Tour since 1950. However, Hughes would finish third in the event at 17 under and is skipping this week.
Adam Hadwin is +4500 to win in his debut in Detroit. Sloan is +40000; he was T66 last week.
Rocket Mortgage Classic Golf Predictions
Take DeChambeau and Hideki Matsuyama for Top 10s, but the winner is Viktor Hovland at +1700. He comes off a T11 on Sunday and was 13th in Detroit last year.
