Is it just me or should the Rocket Mortgage Classic take place in Houston instead of Detroit, Michigan? We have NASA and the NBA Franchise, the Houston Rockets, I just think it could be marketed to a whole new level. Alas, this is just a dream and this week, the PGA is heading to the Motor City with a beautifully manufactured field. Here is a quick preview for the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic.
The Tournament:
The Rocket Mortgage Classic was first staged in 2019 making it one of the newest stops on the PGA Tour. This event is apart of the Open Qualifying Series which meant that it gave two non-exempt players a spot in The Open Championship. However, due to Covid-19, there is no Open Championships this year. Since the tournament is only a year old, the past winner is only Nate Lashley who led wire-to-wire. Lashley was so dominate that he was 6 shots clear of the field when all was said and done.
The Course:
Detroit Golf Club was established in 1899 and was designed by Donald Ross. This 36 holes complex is located on the north side of Detroit and architecturally has shared tee boxes making for a fun routing. The scoring average last year was almost 2 strokes below par (70.11). With no modifications and a temperate weather forecast, it is safe to assume that the scoring average will only improve from last year. The course will be a composite course (a combination of the North and South course) that is roughly 7,300 yards.
The Field:
eing the first event back, the field for this event is uncharacteristically deep with talent and numerous in entrants. The large PGA Tour field trend continues as 156 players will be slugging it out. The PGA Tour Power Rankings have Tyrrell Hatton as the favorite with high hopes for other players such as Webb who is coming off a win two weeks ago, Beefy Bryson and Captain America, Patrick Reed (can we really call him Captain America anymore?).
My personal pick is Bryson. Since the return of the tour, there has been no one better then him from week to week. What is even scarier about that, is that it doesn’t even seem like he is playing that well with all things considered. When it doubt, bet it on the guy that can hit over 330 yards. Someone that I am looking forward to watching this week is James Nicholas. A football playing Yale graduate turned golfer is in the field on a sponsors exemption. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about his story and following him on social media the last couple of months. Good luck to James Nicholas!
Quick Hits:
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-Mason
A Good Walk Spoiled 