Rocket Mortgage Classic: Expert Picks

Tournament Information

Rocket Mortgage Classic – A replacement for the Quicken Loans National Tournament
Date: June 27^th – 30^th
Course: Detroit Golf Club
Purse - $7.3MM ($1.3MM to winner)
FedEx points – 500 to winner(s)
2018 Winner: N/A

Course

Detroit Golf Club. Built in 1899 by William Farrand the 100 member club was built off 45 acres of farmland. The North Course is 6,936 (Par 72, course rating 73.6) much longer than the South Course at 5,967 yards (Par 68, course rating 68.7). The North Course is full of trees on either side of a number of holes, the greens waver and deep punishing bunkers liter the areas around the greens. Most of this will be played on the North Course with a minor piece occurring on the South Course, this will fall among the shorter courses on the tour – placement is key over power here.

My Starting 4

Ryan Moore (1^st selection this year) – He is 3^rd in driving accuracy this year. He’s 50^th in FedEx points and in his last ten starts he has four top 30 finishes (with two missed cuts). He’s 26^th in total strokes gained, 23^rd in strokes gained approaching the green.

Austin Cook (1^st selection this year). One could say it’s bold to pick Austin fresh off back to back missed cuts at the RBC Canadien Open and the Travelers Championship. Fun fact about Austin, dating back this year AND last here is how he fares after back to back missed cuts: 22^nd, 19^thand 6^th. He’s 22^nd in driving accuracy and 155^th in driving distance.

Cameron Champ (1^st selection this year). Behind Tiger Woods, Cameron Champ has the best average score on Par 3’s scoring a birdie 18.34% of the time. Cameron is among the best rookies this year and this tournament should provide a good opportunity for him to excel.

Rickie Fowler (4th selection this year) —How many times will the Rocket Mortgage Commercial be made “What does PMI even mean Rick?” I feel like he has to shine at this tournament which could be the “Rickie Fowler Classic”. Rickie has three top 15 finishes in his last six tournaments.

My Bench 2

Michael Thompson (1^st selection this year). Currently 14^th in driving accuracy and 174^th in driving distance, Michael took some time off after The Memorial Tournament where he finished 14^th. He will have to make good use of the greens as he is 24^th in strokes gained putting.

Andrew Landry (1^st selection this year). Andrew is the model for a golfer who prefers placement over power. Currently 6^th in driving accuracy and 178^th in distance, he doesn’t have a lot of top 10’s but he has a comfort area in the 20 – 50 range having finished there in six of his last nine tournaments.

2019 Stats

Starting 4: Avg finish 46th (35th percentile)
Bench 2: Avg finish 60th (44th percentile)