Rocket Mortgage Classic: Top 10 power rankings at Detroit GC
While a good chunk of the PGA Tour begins its fourth week in a row of competition, Webb Simpson comes to Detroit with some rest on his side.
He was set to tee it up last week at the Travelers Championship before withdrawing out of caution due to some positive COVID-19 tests by players and caddies. Simpson also probably didn’t mind rejuvenating after his win at the RBC Heritage.
Simpson masterfully outdueled a loaded leaderboard at Hilton Head Island to grab his seventh career PGA Tour win and second of 2020. The 34-year-old also won at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Simpson had a streak of 13 straight made cuts until a hiccup at the Charles Schwab Challenge a week before his win.
The former U.S. Open champ comes to the Rocket Mortgage Classic for the first time. Detroit Golf Club is not an ideal fit for a dying breed of Simpson who gets it done as a short hitter.
What he lacks in distance off the tee he more than makes up for in precision and course management.
Simpson ranks 114th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee (.003) but is fourth in SG approach (.937). It was tough sledding on the greens after the anchored putter ban was enacted in 2016.
He’s been getting it together in the last couple years, ranking 11th in SG putting last season (.608) and 13th now (.695).
Bombers will win a lot of Rocket Mortgage Classics, but Simpson can see from Nate Lashley’s win in 2019 that a plodder can get it done here, too.