2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic: Top 10 power rankings at Detroit Golf Club

Webb Simpson made his debut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last year. He took a quick liking to Detroit Golf Club by firing 68-64 to share the 36-hole lead. He played the weekend 71-70 to fall to T-8th.

Simpson played steady golf with no double bogeys or worse all week. He was 13th in strokes gained tee to green (1.44) but was uncharacteristically leaky on and around the greens.

Expect those stats to tick back up now that he’s seen this course already.

“I’ve always loved a Donald Ross design. I grew up in Raleigh, an hour from Pinehurst where Donald Ross is famous there,” Simpson was quoted in 2020 by Tee Scripts. “I love playing golf courses every once in a while that you can go make birdies. You know, most of the weeks on the PGA TOUR, they’re very challenging and tough to make birdies, but this week is a great mix of the fairways are pretty wide, but there is rough, it is penal if you miss the fairways and the pins have been very tricky. These greens are constantly moving all different directions. So yeah, that’s what I enjoy about it, kind of old-school, dogleg golf course with big trees.”

The 35-year-old is coming off a week of rest after a missed cut at the U.S. Open. Torrey Pines was a tough setup for him, so I expect a bounce back.

The Wake Forest alum strung together three top-30s in a row previously at the Masters (T-12th), RBC Heritage (T-9th) and PGA Championship (T-30th). Simpson has played less golf this summer than most of the PGA Tour, so he may be ready to come on strong for the last major championship, FedEx Cup Playoffs and possibly the Ryder Cup.

Simpson’s last win was at the 2020 RBC Heritage. He has three top-10s in 2021, including T-4th at the Sony Open.

He ranks 11th on the PGA Tour in SG around the green (.417), thanks in part to a second rank (64.94%) in sand saves. Simpson also knows how to take it low at 19th in birdie average (4.17).