After watching Jackson Koivun secure his first PGA TOUR win at the 3M Open, up next is the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club (par 70, 7,328 yards, bentgrass/POA annua greens). This venue has been the home of the Rocket Classic since it’s inception in 2019. Aldrich Potgieter (-22) won this event in playoff over Chris Kirk and Max Greyserman last season. This week will be the final Rocket Classic played at Detroit Golf Club, as Rocket Companies has decided to no longer sponsor this event. There will be 144 players competing and a top-65 and ties cut after the first two rounds.
Detroit Golf Club is a Donald Ross designed track that has been one of the easiest courses on the PGA TOUR since it joined the schedule seven years ago. Notably, 5-of-7 winners here have shot -22 or lower. In order to make Detroit Golf Club a more difficult test for the modern professional, the course has seen some renovations since last year’s Rocket Classic. New bunkers were added, greens were redesigned and most importantly, the course was converted from a par 72 with four par fives to a longer par 70 with two par fives.
While Detroit Golf Club should be more challenging, the original layout mostly remains intact and analyzing previous results at this venue is absolutely still a wise move for research. Strong drivers have had an advantage at this course in the past and that should continue to be the case this week. When Potgieter won here last season, he led the field in driving distance and ranked seventh in SG OTT.
Potgeiter also ranked fifth in SG APP, making him the third Rocket Classic winner over the last four years to finish top-six in the metric, putting a heavy emphasis on approach play at this venue. For four years in a row, the winner at Detroit Golf Club has finished the event top-five in par four performance and with this venue now playing as a par 70 with 12 par fours, scoring on the par fours will be even more important than before.
Let’s dive into three of my favorite DraftKings bargain plays for the Rocket Classic, each costing less than $7.5K.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $700K Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
Top DraftKings PGA TOUR DFS Bargain Plays for the 3M Open
Seamus Power ($7,300) – After withdrawing from the John Deere Classic with a back injury earlier this month, Power has looked fully healthy, finishing T11th at the Corales Puntacana Championship and T10th at the 3M Open. Power has only missed one cut in his last seven starts when excluding his withdrawal from the John Deere Classic and during his T10 at the 3M Open this past week, the Irishman ranked fourth in SG APP for the event. Power also gained strokes with his putter and he shot an 8-under 63 in the second round, tying his season low.
Power now makes his way to Detroit Golf Club, where has made 2-of-4 cuts with both those finishes being top-12 results. Power should keep his foot on the gas at this venue and has the potential for another high finish.
Kevin Yu ($7,200) – Yu posted a T31 in his last start at Detroit Golf Club and he should outdo himself with an even higher finish this week. Yu has only failed to make the cut once in his last six starts and he has finished inside the top-30 four times during this span.
Yu is coming off a T24 at the Corales Puntacana Championship and a T16 at the 3M Open. At both these tournaments, the 27-year-old impressively gained strokes in every major category and he shot under par in every round. When we compare this field’s last 24 rounds, Yu ranks 21st in total strokes gained.
Patrick Fishburn ($6,700) – Fishburn has only missed one cut in his last eight starts and he finished T16th at the 3M Open this past week. Outside of around the greens, Fishburn gained strokes in every major category at TPC Twin Cities and he improved in every round at the par 71, shooting 70, 68, 66 and 65.
Heading to Detroit Golf Club next, Fishburn is in a great position to stay hot. The 34-year-old missed the cut at this venue a year ago, but he finished T25th in his first attempt at the Ross design in 2024. Fishburn is very fond of Ross creations, ranking 11th in this field in strokes gained per round at courses designed by the famous architect. Fishburn finished T8th at the Ross-designed Sedgefield CC last year and he brings terrific upside relative to his cheap salary this week.
