By J.T. CHADWELL
RECAP
When you have the excitement of a young superstar battling late into the weekend with the number one player in the world, it’s a little easier to forget how bad your picks for the week were. Not a single pick from the 3M even sniffed the top 10, so we move on and make better picks for this week. Nevertheless, what a battle we were treated to over the weekend. Stock was not going to be available for long on Jackson Koivun, and it took less than a month and a half for him to notch his first PGA Tour win. Koivun sizzled over the weekend, going 36 bogey-free holes and a combined 15 under par to hold off a charging Scottie Scheffler on Sunday. Koivun was unconscious on Saturday’s back nine, firing three approach shots all from outside 235 yards to inside 15 feet. He made two eagles and just missed a third en route to a 10 under par 61, and carried a three-shot lead into the final round. Koivun will seemingly be a household name on leaderboards for many years to come, and he will now try and go back to back at the newly renovated Detroit Golf Club for the Rocket Classic.
Past Rocket Classic Winners, Odds, And Trends
- 2025, Aldrich Potgeiter (100/1) – In 10 events prior, made three cuts with a pair of top-five finishes.
- 2024, Cam Davis (75/1) – In 10 events prior, made seven cuts with a top-10 finish.
- 2023, Rickie Fowler (14/1) – Made nine cuts in his 10 prior events, with eight finishes in the top 15.
- 2022, Tony Finau (14/1) – Made the cut nine times with four top-five finishes, including a win, in his 10 prior events.
- 2021, Cam Davis (125/1) – In 10 events prior, made six cuts with a top-25 finish.
Rocket Classic
We head east to Michigan for potentially the final edition of the Rocket Classic. For the many recent events Detroit Golf Club has held, handicapping has been fairly easy. The course was always one of the most predictable golf courses on tour and always favored players who could hit it as far as possible with no penalty of a wayward drive. Four of the past five winners of this event are some of the most inaccurate drivers of the golf ball the tour has seen. However, after last season’s edition, the course underwent some major renovations and will look completely different than previous versions of this tournament. The scorecard has seen a major overhaul, some par-5 holes have been converted to par-4s, and some par-3s have been moved. It is hard to tell what that is going to favor, although length will seemingly still be very important.
THE BETTING CARD
- Cameron Young (+1200) .4 units to win 4.8 units – A lot to like about Young this week, but the price might be the best part. I really thought this would be closer to 8 or 9/1 but MGM gives us 12/1. While this is the strongest field at the Rocket in some time, it’s still not a very formidable field overall. Young was brilliant at The Open Championship and just missed making the playoff by a shot. Before the renovations, Young had the lowest scoring average in the field at this course, which is generally a horse for course venue. He is a threat to win every event he plays in right now, and I think the price is more than fair.
- Jake Knapp (+3600) .15 units to win 5.4 units – This guy is going to be widely picked this week by many, but this course fits him better than just about any other and he enters the week off a final round of 63 at the 3M. Knapp was sidelined shortly with an injury, but he seems to be coming right back into form, and if he holds that form this week he will absolutely be near the top.
- Michael Thorbjornsen (+3900) .15 units to win 5.85 units – Thorbjornsen is the shiny flashy object I cannot get my eyes to look away from. There are times he looks like a top 10 player in the world, and times he looks like he doesn’t belong on the Korn Ferry Tour. Nonetheless, this is a course that should play into his strengths, and he comes into this event gaining strokes in every category over the last couple of events.
- Michael Brennan (+5100) .1 units to win 5.1 units – Going to take another long hitter whose irons and wedges are hot right now. Brennan hits the ball a mile and has backed it up with some nice approach play lately, which has seen him at the top of some leaderboards early in the week.
- Marco Penge (+6700) .1 units to win 6.7 units – Sticking with the long hitter theme, here is another golfer who, like Knapp, went through some medical struggles early in the year. Penge thrives on long tracks where strokes gained approach and off the tee are integral. On top of that, Penge comes to Detroit with 2 top 20’s in his last 3 events. The sky is the ceiling and he seems to be on an upswing of form.
- Davis Thompson (+7800) .1 units to win 7.8 units – Little bit of an outside the box flyer here from a name I don’t typically lean on, but Thompson was very impressive over the weekend at the 3M and this number seems a little high if he carries that form over to this week. Thompson is a sneaky long hitter with a great approach game. His putter is a massive Achilles heel, and he will need to get it going to have a chance, but at this number it’s a chance I am willing to take.
SKIP THE STARBUCKS LONGSHOTS
- Stephen Jaegar 120/1
- Matti Schmid 190/1
- Thorbjorn Olesen 240/1
- Vince Whaley 460/1
- Gordon Sargent 825/1
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