2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic: Top 10 power rankings at Detroit Golf Club

Tom Kim has fond memories of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Detroit Golf Club was the site of his first top-10 on American soil. Just weeks later, he would become a PGA Tour champion at the ripe age of 21.

“I mean, this event kind of has a special place in my heart because that's when I realized that my dream came true,” Kim was transcribed by Tee Scripts in 2023. “I remember I just made the cut on the number and I had a really good weekend to give me a top-10 to secure my card. Great memories.”

Kim was unable to make the same great memories here in 2023, but he still played fairly well. He bounced back from an opening 1-over-par 73 with a 69 in round two, only to miss the cut by two.

Speaking of bouncing back, that’s what Kim seeks to do this week. He fell victim to good buddy, Scottie Scheffler, falling in the first hole of a sudden death playoff at the Travelers Championship.

Kim played well all week at TPC River Highlands, setting the first-round pace with an 8-under 62. He followed with 65-65 and was the 54-hole leader.

Scheffler led for a good chunk of Sunday until Kim poured in a birdie on the 72nd hole to force a playoff.

Kim’s swing was on automatic, ranking first in driving accuracy (85.71%) and greens in regulation (91.67%). The recent birthday boy was also first in scrambling, getting up and down on all six tries. Kim only made two bogeys and no “others” all week.

He may never replicate these types of numbers in a tournament ever again, yet it still wasn’t enough to topple Scheffler.

“...I'm going to definitely look at this week as a positive,” Kim was transcribed by ASAP Sports, “it's my best finish of the year, despite almost coming through having the lead last night, I just, against the best players in the world I fought really hard.”

This was Kim’s second top-five in his last four starts, joining a T-4th at the RBC Canadian Open. He also had a decent showing a couple weeks ago with T-26th at the U.S. Open.

This will be his eighth straight week competing, which is the lone concern for Kim heading to Michigan.