The PGA TOUR has just two weeks left before the FedExCup Playoffs get underway, and this week’s tournament will be the final Rocket Classic at the Detroit Golf Club. The week features a strong field and a renovated course, which should set up another fun week of action as players look to improve their status and climb into a playoff spot. The new-look course will likely play much tougher relative to par, presenting players with a good test before next week’s Wyndham Championship. Let’s look at Round 1 and pinpoint a few of my best bets for Round 1 of the Rocket Classic on DraftKings Sportsbook.
The 147 players in the field will tee off in two waves from hole No. 1 and hole No. 10. The early wave starts at 7:00 a.m. ET, with the later wave beginning at 12:10 p.m. ET. The weather at the course has been dry lately and the fairways should be much firmer than usual as a result. The wind isn’t expected to be too much of a factor but will pick up during the day. A bigger impact to anticipate this week is that the course has shifted from a par-72 to a par-70, so birdies will be harder to come by than they have been in past years at this week’s venue.
In this post, we’ll focus on my three best bets for Round 1 of the Rocket Classic on Thursday, July 30.
Seamus Power (+175) over Michael Kim and Zac Blair – 3 Ball – Round 1
Let’s dive right into the action right off the top in Round 1. At 7:11, the trio of Power, Kim and Blair tee off from hole No. 10. Rather than try and predict a pure score, let’s attack the matchup here with the three players facing the same conditions in the same group.
Kim is the odds-on favorite in this group since he shot a sizzling 59 that got everyone’s attention last week at the 3M Open and finished up T-10. That impressive round was a big turnaround for Kim, who had missed the cut at the John Deere Classic, the Genesis Scottish Open and The Open Championship in his three previous events. Kim has also missed the cut in three of his five previous appearances at this week’s venue, although he did post a personal-best T-26 in last year’s tournament.
Power quietly matched Kim’s T-10 last week and actually scored lower than Kim in three of his four rounds. The 39-year-old from Ireland has four top-20 finishes in his last eight events, with a T-11 at the Corales Puntacana Championship before his T-10 at the 3M Open.
Aside from the 59, Power comes in with better form overall than Kim, and he also has a strong history at Detroit Golf Club. He posted a T-12 in 2020 and a T-8 in 2021 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic before missing the cut at this venue last year. His improving recent form, though, should set him up for a better showing in his return this year. He has a good chance to go lower than Kim based on that form and his course history.
The third player in the trio is Zac Blair, who is +210 to win the 3 Ball. However, Blair has found some very good form lately, with a T-9 at the John Deere Classic, a T-8 at the ISCO Championship and a T-13 at the 3M Open. Blair has also had some success on the Korn Ferry Tour and is looking to earn his full-time membership on the PGA TOUR. At this week’s venue, the 35-year-old missed the cut in 2023 and 2024 before sitting out the event in 2025.
Based on his high finishes here in the past and his good form, Power brings good value at plus-money odds in this 3-ball.
Russell Henley over 3.5 Birdies or Better (-116)
Depending on how the course plays, this line has the potential to radically shift before Henley starts his first round. The 37-year-old Henley has had a very solid season, so getting him to make at least four birdies at close to even money seems like great value.
He already picked up a win this season at the Colonial Country Club and is coming off four top-25 finishes in his last five events. He didn’t play last week at the 3M Open but finished T-9 at The Open in his most recent event, going over this prop line in his last two of his four rounds at Royal Birkdale. In his previous event at the Travelers, he went over this prop line in three of his four rounds on his way to a T-12.
Henley hasn’t played this event since 2022, when he finished T-10. He went over this prop line in three of his four rounds that week and started with four straight birdies in Round 4. Henley ranks eighth in the field in Total Strokes Gained and 12th in Strokes Gained: Approach over the last three months, so he typically gives himself plenty of birdie chances.
Even though the recent renovations adjusted two par-5s to par-4s, there should be enough birdies out there for Henley to get at least four par-breakers in his first round in Detroit. His accurate and precise work tee-to-green plays well on just about every course and setup.
Jacob Bridgeman (+136) over Nicolai Hojgaard and Cameron Davis – 3 Ball – Round 1
To minimize the unknowns of how the course will play, I’m going back to another 3 Ball to close out Round 1. In this matchup, which begins at hole No. 10 at the 1:16 p.m. ET tee time, Jacob Bridgeman will take on Nicolai Hojgaard and Cameron Davis.
Bridgeman and Hojgaard are very even in odds, while Davis is a long shot at over +300. He has won this event twice in his career, for his only two PGA TOUR career victories. He won in 2021 and again in 2024 while posting a T-14 and T-17 in the two years in between. However, last year, he missed the cut and has had a very rough season overall on the PGA TOUR. Davis has only made four cuts in 14 starts on the PGA TOUR and his only top-25 finish was a T-21 in Scotland. He played last week in Minnesota and wasn’t able to build on that momentum, adding another missed cut to his disappointing season.
Hojgaard and Bridgeman didn’t play the 3M Open, and Hojgaard missed the cut at The Open in his most recent tournament. He finished T-26 in Scotland after a solid T-14 at the Travelers, but he has had a rough summer aside from those finishes, missing the cut in four of his last six events. Earlier in the year, he did have two runner-up finishes, so he’s in good shape for the playoffs, but he’ll continue to chase his PGA breakthrough this week as he tees it up in Detroit, where he has made the cut three times with a T-21, a 66th place and a T-24 in the last three years.
Bridgeman has also made the cut in his two trips to this week’s venue, posting a T-31 in 2024 and a T-26 last year. He had his breakthrough win earlier this season as he came out of the gate with excellent form, posting eight straight top-25 finishes, including his win at The Genesis Invitational. He quieted down from the Masters through the PGA Championship, though, and he has only one top-25 finish in his last 10 events.
Even though he hasn’t been at the very top of the leaderboard, he only missed one cut all year, which came at the PGA Championship. In his last two starts, he gained strokes off the tee, on approach and on the green. He finished T-26 at the John Deere Classic and T-28 at The Open Championship in those two events, and he seems to be trending in the right direction. Over the last six months, he ranks 12th in the field in Total Strokes Gained and 25th in Strokes Gained: Approach.
It should be a close and fun duel between Bridgeman and Hojgaard, but I’m going with Bridgeman, who has been more consistent and is gathering momentum again. Playing him in this format gives him juicy plus-money odds in the afternoon of Round 1 at the Rocket Classic.
