The Cheat Sheet provides DraftKings fantasy golf players with course info, player history and the most noteworthy trends of the week to help them with their roster selections.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $800K Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
The Field
This week marks another full-field event (150+ players) on the schedule in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, which is now in its sixth year as an official event on the PGA TOUR.
The field is being headlined by Collin Morikawa (+1200) and Patrick Cantlay (+1800), who are two of the top three names in odds on the DraftKings Sportsbook for 2024, along with last week’s winner Keegan Bradley (+1600). Both Morikawa and Cantlay are looking to break long winless droughts and have both finished runner-up at this event in years prior. Cameron Davis won at approximately +6500 last season.
Despite the larger field, the cut this week will feature its normal positioning (top 65 and ties make the weekend), and this venue has featured a Friday cutline as low as five-under-par in the past. For DraftKings purposes, getting 6/6 players through the cut will prove much more difficult than normal, given the size of the field.
The Course
Detroit Golf Club (North Course)—Detroit, Michigan
Par 72, 7,330 yards; Greens: Bentgrass/Poa Annua
The Rocket Mortgage Classic replaced the old Quicken Loans event that was always played out East around this time of the season. The new event has found its new home at the North Course at Detroit Golf Club, a revamped and revitalized Donald Ross-designed venue that has roots in Detroit as far back as 1916.
In order to prepare for hosting duties on the PGA TOUR, many holes at Detroit GC were altered, lengthened, or even moved around. Some highlights of the reconfigured venue include a long par 5 which plays at 625 yards for the pros and a closing stretch of holes that includes a solid risk-reward par 5 (the 14th) with water guarding the green. Ultimately, even with the changes, this remains a very straightforward setup for players as the parkland setting (in the middle of Detroit) is very flat and offers clean lines to the flag on almost every hole — assuming you don’t miss the bigger fairways off the tee.
The venue played quite easily in its first season, as it produced the eighth-best scoring average on the PGA TOUR, with the field shooting an average of 70.113 for the week and the winner reaching 25-under-par. Some firmer greens in 2021 helped keep scoring higher that season, but the players had no trouble with the venue again in 2022, with the winner reaching 26-under-par, and a handful of names reaching 20-under or better. Last year, it was a bit more of a grind with four players tying at -17 and the winner reaching -18.
The fairways and greens at Detroit GC rank out as easy to hit compared to the average PGA TOUR venue, and the overall average driving distance at this venue has been about 10 yards longer than at the average PGA TOUR stop. The driver will be a popular club this week, and big hitters (who don’t spray the ball too much) have benefited from this setup in the past. While off-the-tee play isn’t necessarily the most important thing to focus on this week, two of the last three winners (DeChambeau and Finau) gained over 5.0 strokes off the tee during the week of their win. Cameron Davis (2024) and Rickie Fowler (2023) also gained over a stroke off the tee in their wins.
The benefits of power aside, this course also caters to those who can find range on the poa greens and bring a solid enough iron game in to give themselves plenty of chances at birdies (and Eagles). Nate Lashley proved that you don’t have to be a big hitter to find success in Detroit, as he rode a +9.1 putting week into his first PGA TOUR win in 2019, getting to 25-under par that season — despite ranking just 44th in driving distance and gaining less than a stroke off-the-tee. Lashley used superior iron play to give himself a ton of mid-to-short range putts that season, and other names like Troy Merritt and Kevin Kisner have found success at Detroit GC with a similar formula. Fowler himself gained 7.6 strokes on approach on his way to victory in 2023. However, if you’re targeting players with less distance off the tee, make sure they’re coming in with some decent form in proximity stats from 150+ yards. Fowler was one of the leaders in proximity from 150-175 and 200+ yards in the year of his win.
For fantasy players looking at possible correlations between this venue and others on the PGA TOUR, looking at results from other Donald Ross-designed venues may be something to note. Pinehurst No. 2, Plainview, East Lake, and Sedgefield (host of the upcoming Wyndham Championship) are all Ross designs. The 3M Open, played later in the summer at TPC Twin Lakes, has also produced some heavy leaderboard correlation as its bigger fairways and flatter parkland setting do compare well to Detroit GC.
2025 Weather Outlook
There isn’t a whole lot to report from a weather perspective. The highs will be in the low 80°F range most of the week, and there is a little bit of rain expected on Wednesday and Thursday. It looks like intermittent rain will fall during the day on those two days, so the course should play soft on the first couple of days of the event. Despite a little rain in the forecast, the wind isn’t projected to be above 10mph until Friday afternoon. The Thursday PM/Friday AM wave may have a slight advantage in that regard, especially if the skies clear up on Thursday afternoon and give them a clear shot at a soft course in Round 1. Right now, that wave is the one I would target, just given that Friday PM wind is expected to get above 10mph.
Last 5 winners
2024–Cameron Davis -18 (over 4 players at -17)
2023—Rickie Fowler -24 (in a playoff, over Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa)
2022—Tony Finau at 26-under (over Cameron Young, Taylor Pendrith, Patrick Cantlay 21-under)
2021—Cameron Davis at 18-under (over Troy Merritt and Joaquin Niemann playoff)
2020—Bryson DeChambeau at 23-under (over Matthew Wolff 20-under)
Winners Stats and Course Overview
2023 Winner: Cameron Davis (18-under-par)
2024 lead-in form (MC-T56-T50-MC-T48)
SG: OTT—+1.3
SG: APP—+4.4
SG: TTG—+8.7
SG: ATG—+3.0
SG: PUTT—+3.6
- Bryson DeChambeau was in fine form when he came into this event in 2020, having racked up five top-10s in a row before breaking through for his win.
- Rickie Fowler was also trending well coming into this event last season. He’d reeled off three top 10s in four starts just prior, including a T5 at the US Open; an event he led going into the final round.
- It should be noted that in 2019 Nate Lashley didn’t carry much form into this event before breaking through here for a big week.
- Neither did Cameron Davis, who also had two MCs in his last five starts before winning in 2021 and 2024, so great recent results haven’t meant much to two of the past five winners. Davis also missed the cut at the US Open last season two weeks prior.
- While SG: Approach is always a metric to lean on, Finau, DeChambeau, and Davis were helped by their length off-the-tee and some superb on and around-the-green play. Davis gained 6.3 strokes putting and around-the-green combined in 2021, while Finau bested that mark by gaining 7.0 strokes putting and around-the-green.
- From a venue perspective, Detroit Golf Club is a driver-heavy course and has been a great stop for the big hitters. The average driving distance of the field this week is approximately 10 yards above the PGA TOUR average.
- Wolff, Finau, DeChambeau, and Davis all stick out in terms of big hitters who have had success at this week’s venue, but Brandon Hagy and Bubba Watson (guys who also regularly reach 330 yards or more off the tee) also both placed top 10 at this event in 2021.
- Last season, three of the top five finishers (Min Woo Lee, Davis Thompson, and Davis) were all ranked highly in Driving Distance.
Finding Values (DraftKings Sportsbook)
Odds to win are one factor to think about when picking players (but not the only thing, so be careful putting too much weight on them). This section is going to detail a few of the players who have the best fantasy value compared to their DraftKings Sportsbook odds of winning this week.
Wyndham Clark +3500 and $8,600
Comparables:
Davis Thompson +4500 and $8,100
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
HORSES FOR COURSES
1. Cameron Davis ($7,400; best finishes: win-2021, win-2024): Davis won this event back in 2021 and then survived another close finish down the stretch in 2024 to grab his second Rocket title. His form is woeful at the moment, but guess what? It was last year at this point too. You have to boost his projections given the course.
2. Tony Finau ($8,700; best finishes: win-2022): Finau didn’t play this event last season, but he won dominantly back in 2022. Despite a boom or bust career record at this event, he does profile well given the bigger fairways and emphasis on distance.
3. Chris Kirk ($7,500; best finishes: T12-2021, T14-2023): Kirk’s done well on Donald Ross’s designs in the past. He’s finished T21 or better at this event now in four of the past five seasons and made the cut at this event in five straight appearances.
4. Rickie Fowler ($8,900; best finishes: 2nd-2022, T14-2023): Fowler won this event back in 2023 after coming off a huge US Open, where he finished T5. The American has slipped since his win here, but has finished top 35 in four of five appearances at this event and does offer some appeal in GPPs.
5. Alex Noren ($7,800; T9-2023; T4-2021): Noren has done well at this event despite not being a big hitter off the tee. He’s traditionally been a great Poa putter and gained over 3.5 strokes putting each of the years he finished in the top 10. His ball striking needs to take a tick up this week, but he has been putting well and had a nice run at the PGA last month.
RECENT FORM
1. Keegan Bradley ($10,400; win-T33-T9): Captain Keegan is coming off a spectacular win where he reeled in Tommy Fleetwood late Sunday for his second Travelers win. He does set up well for this venue, but could be ready for a little regression after the monster week.
2. Harry Hall ($9,500; T9-T24-T6): Hall has been playing very solid golf of late. A decent driver of the ball, he’s also capable of spiking anywhere with his putter and is coming off a top 10 at the Travelers.
3. Emiliano Grillo ($7,400; T19-T24): Grillo missed out on making the field at the Travelers, but the Argentine has looked close to putting a big week together. He played great in tough conditions at Oakmont, landing a top 20 finish, and has gained over a stroke on approach in five straight starts.
4. Victor Perez ($7,400; T19-T9): Perez is another player who is playing very solid, tee to green at the moment. The Frenchman gained over 5.5 strokes on approach at the Canadian and US Opens and is coming in off of back-to-back top 20 finishes. He’ll be playing the Detroit Golf Club for the first time this week.
5. Byeong Hun An ($7,600; T14-MC-T6): An was solid at the Travelers, landing a T14 finish, while gaining strokes everywhere but on the greens. He’ll need a better putting week to contend, but as one of the longest drivers on TOUR, he does set up well for a driver-heavy venue like Detroit Golf Club.
DRAFTKINGS DFS STRATEGY
Cash Games: Thompson and Clark, good value
We have a weaker top of the leaderboard this week, with a couple of players who haven’t won in well over a year headlining. Making your core lineups more balanced this week has appeal, and both Wyndham Clark ($8,600, see below) and Davis Thompson ($8,100) are names I like going overweight on in this spot. I mentioned Clark below, who had a decent start in Connecticut, but Thompson is also coming off a nice week. He lost big on the greens at River Highlands but gained 5.6 strokes on approach and over 2.5 strokes ATG. He also finished runner-up at this event last season. Both Chris Kirk ($7,500) and Emiliano Grillo ($7,400) are coming off great US Opens and have solid records at this event. In terms of value, they should be at the top of your list when targeting the 7k range this week.
Tournaments: Dive deep with Schenk, Tosti, and Mullinax
This event has produced some longshot winners (Nate Lashley in 2019), and we have also seen players with huge odds like Troy Merritt, Taylor Pendrith, Peter Kuest, and Adam Hadwin finish in the top five of this event of late. If we are targeting specific player profiles this week, then driving distance is something I like focusing on. All three of Adam Schenk ($6,700), Alejandro Tosti ($6,800), and Trey Mullinax ($6,800) are great in that area and rank inside the top 40 in driving distance (Mullinax and Tosti are top 10). They have also flashed some great play of late (in spurts) with Tosti landing a runner-up at Corales a couple of months ago and Schenk landing a Top 5 at the CJ Cup. If you want to go even deeper, Norman Xiong ($6,300) and Trevor Cone ($6,400) are a couple of other big hitters who profile nicely for this week.
MY PICK: Wyndham Clark ($8,600)
It seems like there is still a lot of hate for Wyndham Clark out there after he smashed up a 100-year-old locker at Oakmont. The negative sentiment may be warranted, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that we are getting a very good price on a high-quality player who has three wins (one a major) since May 2023.
Clark has struggled for much of 2025, including a missed cut and temper tantrum at the US Open two weeks ago. However, he bounced back well at the Travelers with a T17 finish, where he gained over a stroke off the tee and on approach. Two of his three career wins have come on Poa greens (including the 2023 US Open), and he’s gained over 3.9 strokes putting at Detroit Golf Club in two career appearances (T8 in 2022 and T17 in 2019).
While I don’t condone the destruction of golf history, he’s available at a great price this week for DFS at just 8.6k on DraftKings. For betting, his +4000 outright number also looks like great value given the lack of depth in this field and the fact that he struck the ball well in Connecticut.
MY SLEEPER: Trey Mullinax ($6,800)
There are a lot of bombers available at cheap prices this week that I think make sense for DFS GPPs and placement bets on the DraftKings Sportsbooks. One of my favorites is Trey Mullinax, who is coming off a decent start in Canada, where he gained 6.1 strokes tee to green and 4.4 strokes off the tee.
Mullinax sets up well for this course, given his ability with the driver (ninth in driving distance), and while he’s yet to break out for a big week in 2025, there are some good signs from his game of late. He’s been great off the tee in three of his last five starts and also gained around the greens in two straight events as well. From an approach perspective, he can be up and down, but gained over a stroke on approach in two of his four rounds in Canada, where he opened strong with a 64. While he’s yet to challenge at this venue, the big fairways of Detroit Golf Club align well with his strengths and should give him a chance at breaking out.
For DFS, he makes for the sort of boom or bust player I like targeting this week on this driver-heavy course, and for betting, his top 20 and top 10 odds (+500/+1200) make him a nice player to target for placement bets.
