Rocket Mortgage Classic: 2021 Tournament preview and picks guide

The PGA returns to Detroit, Michigan this week for the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic.

It took a long time, eight playoff holes to be specific, but Harris English finally closed the deal for us at last week’s Travelers, much to the dismay of the multitude of fans that were willing underdog Kramer Hickock towards his first PGA victory. Poor Harris even had to contend with the TV media that was trying their best to find every Spieth comparison for Hickock in the book.

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Nevertheless, it feels good to have had English come through for us last week at a very generous +4000 number and thus we move on to another event that figures to be even more of a scoring-fest than what was expected at TPC River Highlands last week.

The strength of the field this week is relatively expected considering that we are just two and a bit weeks away from the 149th Open Championship at Royal St George’s. The 156 man field this week features just four of the top twenty players in the Official World Golf Ranking with Bryson DeChambeau who comes in as the defending champion of this event following his win in 2020, and Patrick Reed as the only two players amongst the top ten.

2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club

Tournament established in 2019
North Course
Par 72
7,340 Yards
Donald Ross Design
Bent/POA Greens
156 Player Field/Top 65 and ties cutline

Past Champions

2020: Bryson DeChambeau (-23)

2019: Nate Lashley (-25)

The Favorites at the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic

The odds used in this article are provided by WynnBet and are current at the time of the article, for more betting news and information be sure to check out Betsided

Bryson DeChambeau 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Last year’s champion Bryson DeChambeau +800 comes into this week as the substantial favorite to repeat at a course that he absolutely took apart in 2020. The bomb and gouge strategy worked last year to the fullest extent for DeChambeau, and there is little reason to believe this year will be any different. Bryson was nine holes away from a second U.S. Open victory two weeks ago, and he finished 19th at the Travelers last week. It’s tempting to roll with Bryson in this spot, but I’ll pass in favor of some at longer odds this week.

Patrick Reed +1300, Webb Simpson +1700, and Hideki Matsuyama +1750 close out a small group of players under 20/1 this week. Patrick has been playing well recently but this is an awfully short number to get behind this week, even with the fact that he was 5th here in 2019.

Hideki has had a couple of nice finishes in his first two starts at the Rocket Mortgage Classic with a 13th place finish in 2019 and a 21st here last year. The concern with Hideki revolves around his putter as he now lost a ridiculous twelve strokes combined in that department in two of his last three starts, and ranks 242nd with the flat stick in 2021.

Simpson would be the most intriguing in this range as he has a terrific record on Donald Ross courses, but after not playing often at all in recent months and not looking great when he has played is an easy pass this week.

The Midtier

(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Jason Kokrak +2500 can be found in the mid-range this week and is the first selection for this week’s card. Jason fits into the Bryson mold of success this week, in that he is both long off the tee and is an excellent putter, Kokrak ranks 21st in total driving in 2021 and 2nd in putting, and while he was just 29th in his debut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic back in 2019, he is historically great on Donald Ross designs.

Jason Day +3000 and Matthew Wolff +3000 are both interesting this week for different reasons. Day had a terrific week last week at the Travelers on route to a 10th place finish, but once again the Aussie looked hobbled towards the end of the third round and into the final round of play. Health is always a concern with Jason and that along with a missed cut at Detroit Golf Club last year is reason enough to pass at the number on offer this week.

Conversely, Wolff did not have a good Travelers Championship but was terrific at the U.S. Open. Wolff has the Bryson-Esque skillset to succeed in this spot, and he showed that when he finished runner-up to DeChambeau at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last year. It’s difficult to determine the state of his game at the moment though, and even with the tools in place to succeed at this event he has too many questions to side with confidently at this price.

Instead, it’s young South-African Garrick Higgo +5000 who I’ll side with next. Higgo won at the Palmetto Championship just several weeks ago for his first PGA win and third win overall in 2021 so far. Garrick crushes it off the tee and can get hot with the putter when required, a combination that bodes well for great scoring this week. Outside of the Palmetto victory both of the South African’s other wins came with scores totaling in the mid-twenty range, so he shouldn’t have a problem keeping up on the scoreboard at a birdie-fest.

Long Shots

Sepp Straka +7500 is the first add at long odds this week, he showed up at the Travelers last week with a 10th place finish after a string of missed cuts in his previous starts. The Austrian has played well at the Rocket Mortgage Classic with an 8th and 11th place finish in two starts at Detroit Golf Club, he also plays Donald Ross courses well and consistently show’s up at birdie-fests.

Speaking of guys that have played well on Donald Ross designs, Ryan Armour +15000 is another. Armour is certainly not long off the tee but he still managed a nice 4th place finish at this event last year and is currently on a run of three consecutive made cuts, this includes an 8th place finish at the Palmetto several weeks ago.

Mark Hubbard +15000 and Austin Eckroat +20000 will wrap up the card for this week. Hubbard had a nice week at TPC River Highlands last week on his way to a 13th place finish and he was 12th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last year. Mark has also had success at the Wyndham Championship, another Donald Ross design where he finished 15th last year. Hubbard gained strokes off the tee last week for the first time in a while, so if he can combine that with the normally reliable putter he should do well this week.

Next. 2021 Travelers Championship: Winners and Losers from Connecticut. dark

Eckroat is another talented young player to come out of Oklahoma State University who has shown an ability to compete on the PGA scene already after a 12th place finish at last year’s Mayakoba Classic. Austin is coming off a made cut last week at the Travelers and just like fellow Oklahoma State Cowboy Wolff before him, he can crush it off the tee. Eckroat gained strokes in the tee to green department last week and is worth a shot at the long odds on offer this week.

2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic Card

Jason Kokrak +2500

Garrick Higgo +5000

Sepp Straka +7500

Ryan Armour +15000

Mark Hubbard +15000

Austin Eckroat +20000

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