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Rocket Mortgage Classic: Dark Horse Candidates in Detroit

By Christopher O'Day

HONOLULU, HI - JANUARY 10: Brian Stuard of the United States plays a shot on the tenth hole during the first round of the Sony Open In Hawaii at Waialae Country Club on January 10, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
HONOLULU, HI - JANUARY 10: Brian Stuard of the United States plays a shot on the tenth hole during the first round of the Sony Open In Hawaii at Waialae Country Club on January 10, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The PGA heads to the Detroit Golf Club this week, to play the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Without a ton of big names in the tournament this week, it’s a prime opportunity for a dark horse to emerge.

If you are looking on the PGA schedule for the Quicken Loans National, I will go ahead and save you some trouble. The event is no longer there, as it has been replaced by this week’s tournament, the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Maybe we can pair this year’s new tournament with the continuing trend of new winners, and find a nice dark horse to pick up the honor.

The Quicken Loans National, which was formally the AT&T National, had been played since 2007. The event almost didn’t happen last year, but the PGA and Quicken Loans were able to come to an agreement inside a month from tee-off, as they sponsored the tournament for the fifth year in a row.

Now, it’s the first ever Rocket Mortgage Classic, and will be played at Detroit Golf Club. Before we get into picking some players, let’s look at how the dark horse picks did last week at The Travelers.

  • Phil Mickelson – 50/1 – MC – 67-76. Lefty lost it on the back nine on day two, shooting +6.
  • Jason Kokrak – 66/1 – MC – 75-74. It never got started for him, carding 12 bogeys and one double.
  • Viktor Hovland – 66/1 – T-54. Hovland lost a lot of ground Sunday, shooting a +3 73.
  • Matthew Wolff – 100/1 – Day Three cut. Wolff was -2 after Friday, but a 74 left him home on Sunday.
  • Chesson Hadley – 150/1 – MC – 69-72. Hadley missed the cut, shooting +1.

Woof. Not a good week for the dark horse candidates I chose. If it wasn’t for the first timers in Hovland and Wolff, my article wouldn’t have been needed when the weekend rolled around.

I promise to do better in my picks this week for some dark horse players to watch. Maybe I was suffering from a U.S. Open hangover.

We have the power rankings out. Our Draftkings picks are done as well. After heading over to Oddsshark for this week’s odds, we set the cutoff at 45-1. Let’s get started with a handful of dark horse candidates this week a the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.

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