I feel the need to start this week’s rankings by feeling bad for Tommy Fleetwood.
I attended the Travelers Championship on Sunday with my buddy Geoff, and the whole time we followed along with the leaders, the more it seemed like Tommy would finally pull through for his maiden PGA Tour win.
It felt inevitable, until it didn’t. I like Tommy a lot, but he has fallen deeper into the Monty 2.0 allegations after this collapse. While it did benefit me in terms of the rankings getting a winner again, it was in the most gut-punchy way possible.
With that said, the Tour is off to Detroit Golf Club for the Rocket Classic (no more mortgages at this tournament). Coming off the final Signature Event of the season, the field at the Rocket Classic has some high-profile players, but it definitely leaves something to be desired.
But honestly, these types of tournaments can be the most fun to try and predict. With Detroit's wide fairways, driving distance and solid approach play will be the differentiators in the field this week in the Motor City.
As mentioned, we did find another winner last week in hometown hero Keegan Bradley, snapping our little losing streak. We’re going to keep the train going this week, so hop aboard with me.
Honorable Mentions: Akshay Bhatia, Ryan Gerard, Rasmus Hojgaard, Collin Morikawa, Aldrich Potgieter
9. Alex Noren
I really wrestled between which of my two guys to put in the No. 9 spot, Alex Noren or Aldrich Potgieter. The argument for Potgieter is clear: just let him pound the driver all over the course, and maybe we get a good iron week from him. However, I’d much rather ride with Noren’s approach play and sacrifice a tiny bit of distance in the pick.
Noren’s not a perfect pick. His driving has been suspect of late, and he hasn’t picked up a strong finish since his T17 at the PGA Championship. But his performance at the Travelers showed some signs of his irons bouncing back after a small cold spell, and the putter has been his best asset of late, which will help on these Donald Ross greens.
8. Karl Vilips
This is very much a hope and a prayer pick for me, but Vilips’s game sets up well for Detroit.
So far this year, we’ve only gotten a couple of peak weeks from Vilips (win in Puerto Rico, T11 at Charles Schwab), with a lot of futility in between. This is to be expected from a rookie who is still getting used to a PGA Tour schedule, and this type of event feels like the level of event that someone like Vilips can take advantage of.
We just need to see the putter work out for Karl, if we get that, then everything else should click into place.
7. Cameron Young
I’m taking the Potgieter thinking and attaching it to a player that is a bit stronger from an all-around standpoint.
After his opening 65 at the Travelers, it seemed like Cameron Young was going to make a run at his maiden PGA Tour victory, but he unfortunately could not keep it up. The wind whipping around TPC River Highlands last week got to him, but this week is a great spot for Cam to bounce back.
He’s such a strong driver of the golf ball that letting him run rampant on a course as open as Detroit is should spell danger for everyone. Being one more week removed from a deep run at the U.S. Open may help refill Young’s tank, and if he comes into Detroit feeling any sort of refreshed, then he will threaten for this title.
6. Keegan Bradley
I have now witnessed both of Keegan Bradley’s wins at the Travelers in person, and the amphitheater around 18 when he won on Sunday was as electric an atmosphere as you can get in golf.
Always great to see Boston Common Golf hold down their home turf with a win, especially from someone who should be a playing captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Bradley is hanging out down at No. 6 in these rankings because of pure exhaustion. With the heat that rolled through Connecticut and the battle between him, Fleetwood, and Russell Henley on Sunday, I’m sure Keegan is extremely tired right now. I’m a little surprised that he’s even in this field, but he absolutely deserves to be in these rankings regardless.
5. Stephan Jaeger
Stephan Jaeger is in a little bit of a cold stretch right now, having not finished in the top 10 in an event since the Truist. I was disappointed by him last week, as I figured that TPC River Highlands would kind of play into his skill set a bit more, but his subpar driving accuracy really limited his potential.
However, the shift in scenery to Detroit Golf Club should benefit the 36-year-old German. His skill set is well above average in all aspects except driving accuracy, so even if he does miss the fairways and end up in the Detroit rough that isn’t all that penal, Jaeger has the ability to still score very well.
He may not be top of mind for too many people coming into this week, but he should be.
4. Erik van Rooyen
Many golf fans may not remember because the main story was Scottie Scheffler running away with it, but Erik van Rooyen finished second at the Byron Nelson, even if was eight shots behind.
He basically won that tournament if you exclude the freak of nature that is Scottie Scheffler. EVR used to be one of those European Tour guys who would come over for a WGC, post a solid finish, and then disappear for a month until he repeated the same process. He hasn't quite been able to replicate his success on the PGA Tour as of late, but Detroit should offer him a turnaround.
Detroit Golf Club is going to play similarly to/favor the same skill set as TPC Craig Ranch. Although he missed the cut at the U.S. Open, I think that he may still be riding high off getting through qualification just to play at Oakmont for the U.S. Open. He could surprise some people this week.
3. Max Greyserman
A Sunday 74 ruined what was an overall solid week for Max Greyserman in Connecticut.
His skill profile comes out very similar to guys like Stephan Jaeger, where he does everything well except find the fairway off the tee. He has had a couple of cold starts recently with the putter, but to be fair, two of those weeks were on tough greens at the Memorial and the U.S. Open. I could see him easily bouncing back this week with the flatstick.
Greyserman's good results come in batches, and he's in the middle of one of those stretches right now with three top-25s in his last four starts. He has been a frustrating player to follow because he's much better than his finishes have shown, and hopefully, this week he can snap out of it.
2. Harry Hall
My favorite DataGolf darling, Harry Hall is in the midst of five straight top-25 finishes, including a T9 last week at Travelers thanks to a field-best 65 on Sunday.
Hall has had six straight starts of positive strokes gained performance, with the thing that keeps holding him back is that one skill will only be average for the week. Detroit Golf Club's forgiveness to people off the tee will definitely play into his hands, and he should be able to keep his good vibes going.
1. Ben Griffin
I am ready for emerging superstar Ben Griffin to pick up his third win of the season this week. The one issue he runs into is that he gets a little squirrely off the tee sometimes, but he doesn’t need to worry about that at Detroit Golf Club. His biggest weapon is his short game, which always helps when you’re mashing it around a Donald Ross design.
In all seriousness, the former mortgage loan officer (oh, the irony at this tourney) has been maybe the hottest golfer on the planet not named Scottie Scheffler in the last couple of months, and I don’t see why he would slow down this week.
He can clearly handle playing a bunch of tournaments all in a row, so coming into the Rocket Classic as his third straight week playing shouldn’t cause any concern. He almost took down Scheffler at the Memorial, so I think Griffin can handle this week’s field.