The PGA Tour travels to Detroit this week for the Rocket Mortgage Classic. This tournament drew the short straw because it follows a major (U.S. Open) and an elevated event (Travelers Championship). Only 14 of the top 15 golfers in the world rankings will be teeing it up Thursday. Some of these golfers are in poor form. We need to watch out for WD’s this week, because some golfers my take some time off to rest or to work on their games. We were spoiled in the previous tournaments. DFS will not be as fun this week.
Here is the recent form and course history for each golfer this week: History and Form
COURSE BREAKDOWN
The Detroit Golf Club will be the course this week. The PGA Tour tournament has only used this course four times so there is not a lot of course history to use this week.
Detroit Golf Club is a par 72 which plays 7,340 yards in length. The course has a bit of everything. There are short par 3s, long par 3s, short par 4s, long par 4s, short par 5s and long par 5s. It should test every aspect of a golfer’s game this week. The fairways are lined with trees and the rough is expected to be rather long this week for a normal tour event. Accuracy off the tee will be important. The greens will have Poa grass and they have a lot of slope to them. Poa can get bumpy this time of year so we need golfers who putt well on this type of grass.
The recipe for success at the Detroit Golf Club has been to bomb it and wedge it into the greens. I will be looking at the golfers who lead the field in Shots Gained Off-the-Tee and can putt well on Poa Greens (Shots Gained Putting on Poa). I also want golfers who are in good form, because the Detroit Golf Club hasn’t been an easy course for a golfer to find his game.
Click here to see the course: Detroit Golf Club
KEY STATS FOR ROCKET MORTGAGE
– Stroke Gained Off the Tee
– Distance Off-the-Tee
– Shots Gained Approach (75 – 150 yards)
– Strokes Gained Putting (Poa Greens)
– Birdie or Better %
TOP 30 GOLFERS
- Harris English Withdrew
ROCKET MORTGAGE STRATEGY
This is going to be a tougher tournament to win our Cash Contest lineups. We were able to use Scottie Scheffler and take his guaranteed top-five finish the last two weeks. We could then pair the No. 1 golfer in the world with players from the $7K range, like Rickie Fowler. That is not the case this week. Fowler in priced in the $10K range and we are left with scraps in the $7K price range. I will use three “studs” from the $9K range and hope to get lucky with some of the golfers from the $7K range this week.
This tournament is very top-heavy. That means we need to fit as many of the golfers from the core that are priced over $9K into our lineups as possible. I will be building “stars and scrubs” lineups for the Tournament Contests this week. Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, Tom Kim, Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im have a great chance to finish in the top-10. I will have a lot of exposure to these golfers and sprinkle in many of the golfers from the $7K price range.
CORE GOLFERS FOR ROCKET MORTGAGE
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST LINEUP
TOM KIM ($9,800): I thought about starting my Cash Contest lineup with Tony Finau or Rickie Fowler, but I think it would be a better idea to use three golfers from the $9K range, instead of Finau/Fowler and a bunch of $7K golfers. Kim went through a slump in early June, but he has bounced back with an 8th-place finish at the U.S. Open and a 38th-place finish last week. He finished 7th in his debut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last year. He should finish in the top-10 again Sunday.
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA ($9,600): Matsuyama is one of my favorite plays for Cash Contests this week. He has made 8 cuts in a row on the PGA Tour. It looks like his neck problems are healed and we are finally seeing a healthy Matsuyama on the course. He ranks No. 4 in the key stats this week and he has good course history. Matsuyama should finish in the top-10 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
SUNGJAE IM ($9,400): You would think I am building an LPGA lineup with all of the Asians at the top, but Tom Kim, Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im are all good ball-strikers and this course sets up well for their game. There were reports that Im was injured after his win in South Korea in May. That may explain his missed cuts. He said he felt better and I believe him after his 29th-place finish last week.
DOUG GHIM ($7,400): When I ran the key stats this week I thought I messed up somewhere entering the data. I entered the stats three times and Ghim had his name at the top of the list. Ghim ranks No. 1 in Shots Gained Tee-to-Green, No. 8 in Shots Gained Approach (75-150 yards), No. 1 in Ball-Striking, No. 26 in Scrambling and No. 2 overall in the key stats. I cannot fade these type of numbers.
CARSON YOUNG ($7,000): Cameron Young finished in the top-five of this tournament last year. Could Carson Young do the same? I am not sure he will play that well, but he should make the cut and have a decent chance for a top-25 finish. Young has made four of his last five cuts. His only cut was at the U.S. Open and he was out of his league at the L.A. Country Club. Young ranks No. 18 in the key stats this week. He should be a good value pick for our Cash Contest lineup.
GREYSON SIGG ($6,700): Sigg doesn’t pop when I run the key stats (He ranks No. 49), but when you take a closer look, Sigg is a top-25 golfer this week. Sigg played poor for most of the 2023 season, but he finished 19th last week and 38th earlier this month at the RBC Canadian Open. Sigg ranks No. 22 in the key stats when you compare him to the field over their last two rounds. There are no golfers priced under $7, 400 who are100% safe plays, so I will save some salary and roll the dice with Sigg this week.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
RICKIE FOWLER ($10,400): Fowler has been close to getting a win on the PGA Tour this year and I think he can get the job done in Detroit. Fowler ranks No. 4 in Shots Gained Tee-to-Green. No. 3 in Shots Gained Approach (75-150 yards, No. 1 in Scrambling, No. 4 in Shots Gained Putting (Poa) and No. 1 overall in the key stats. Fowler will be popular, but I will play him anyways.
SUNGJAE IM ($9,400): I want to pair Rickie Fowler with a golfer from the $9K range. My choices were Tom Kim, Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im. I went with Im because he should have the lowest ownership and he has the same upside to win as Kim and Matsuyama. Im finished 8th in his last trip to Detroit Golf Club. He should finish in the top-10, with top-five upside this week.
BYEONG HUN AN ($8,200): Ben-An burned a lot of people with his missed cut last week. He only missed the cut by one shots and his putt on No. 17 bounced out of the hole. I expect some people will be afraid to go back to Ben-An, so I will play him. He ranks No. 3 in Shots Gained Tee-to-Green. No. 2 in Shots Gained Off-the-Tee, No. 21 in Shots Gained Approach (75-150 yards) and No. 9 overall in the key stats. Those numbers are too good to fade this week.
AUSTIN ECKROAT ($8,000): Eckroat is going to be a popular pick this week, but he should be. Eckoat has made seven cuts in a row on the PGA Tour and he hasn’t finished outside the top-30 since early May. Eckoat ranks No. 8 in Shots Gained Tee-to-Green, No. 6 in Shots Gained Approach (75-150 yards), No. 7 in Scrambling and No. 3 overall in the key stats. I am betting Eckroat to win Sunday and he will be in many of my DFS lineups too.
HARRY HALL ($7,100): The popular pick at the bottom of the $7K price range will be Carson Young. I will pivot to Harry Hall. He has made seven of his last 8 cuts on the PGA Tour. Hall ranks No. 21 in the keys stats and No. 7 in Birdie of Better %. The golfers are going to need to post some low scores this week. Hall has a history of doing that when he gets on a hot streak.
CALLUM TARREN ($6,900): There are many ways I could have went with the last pick in my Tournament Contest lineup. I really like Greyson Sigg this week, but so do a lot of other people. Sigg may be too popular for this spot. Sam Bennett is another great choice, but I think he will have some ownership too. I will pivot to Callum Tarren. This English Bomber finished 20th in the Rocket Mortgage Classic last year. He ranks No. 10 on the PGA Tour in Driving Distance and that is important this week. I will play Tarren and hope he can bomb and chip his way to another top-20 finish.
* The golfers in this lineup will have more ownership than I would like, so I will be playing this lineup in Single-Entry Tournament Contests.
Here are my lineups for Multi-Entry Tournament Contest: (Tournament Lineup Download)
** Harris English W/D so I had to update the Tournament Lineup Download. Make sure English is not in your lineups.
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST LINEUP
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the fourth tournament of Segment 4. This is the toughest Segment to navigate because there are two majors (U.S. Open and the Open Championship), one elevated event (Travelers Championship) and four FedEx Playoff Tournaments). Use your golfers wisely.
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: RICKIE FOWLER (ROCKET MORTGAGE)
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Scottie Scheffler (4), Brooks Koepka (17th), Justin Rose (8th), Patrick Cantlay (30TH) (Memorial), Tommy Fleetwood (MC), Jon Rahm (50th), Adam Scott (8th), Viktor Hovland (43rd), Tony Finau (Win), Sungjae Im (7TH), Jordan Spieth (4th), Si Woo Kim (39th), Tyrrell Hatton (60th), Adam Hadwin (MC), Rory McIlroy (MC), Will Zalatoris (53rd), Matt Kuchar (MC), Tony Finau (20), Xander Schauffele (10th), Seamus Power (15th), Max Homa (1st), Brian Harman (MC), and Corey Conners (12th)
SEASON LONG ONE & DONE PICK: RICKIE FOWLER (ROCKET MORTGAGE)
Players Used This Season in One & Done: Scottie Scheffler (4), Dustin Johnson (10th), Justin Rose (8TH), Patrick Cantlay (30TH), Tommy Fleetwood (MC), Brooks Koepka (Win), K-H Lee (50th), Cameron Young (59th), Tony Finau (Win), Keith Mitchell (6th), Tom Kim (MC), Brooks Koepka (2nd), Matt Kuchar (3rd), Wyndham Clark (6th), Adam Hadwin (MC), Rory McIlroy (MC), Will Zallatoris (53rd), Sungjae Im (42nd), Max Homa (2), Xander Schauffele (10th), Jordan Spieth (63rd), Jon Rahm (7th), Taylor Montgomery (5th), Russell Henley (32nd), Seamus Power (25th), Brian Harman (2nd), Maverick McNealy (27th), Emiliano Grillo (42nd), Nick Hardy (28th), Terrell Hatton (13TH) Christian Bezuidenhout (29th), Cameron Davis (37th), Denny McCarthy (39th), Brendon Steele (MC)
BEST BETS FOR ROCKET MORTGAGE
RICKIE FOWLER (14-1)
TOM KIM (20-1)
LUDVIG ABERG (45-1)
AUSTIN ECKROAT (50-1)
DOUG GHIM (75-1)
SAM BENNETT (110-1)
Good Luck This Week!!!!
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