The PGA Tour is back in Detroit this week for the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic, an event that was added to the schedule in 2019. Players will be teeing it up at Detroit Golf Club’s North course for the penultimate event of the regular season before the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin in a couple of weeks.
Below, we search for the best value prop bets among the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic odds and make our PGA Tour picks and predictions.
It’s a stronger field this week, headlined by Patrick Cantlay, Tony Finau and Will Zalatoris. Cantlay is the No. 2-ranked golfer in this week’s Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, the highest of any player in the field. No other players in the top 10 will be teeing it up in Detroit, but Zalatoris is 13th, Finau 25th and Cameron Young 42nd in this week’s poll. Last year’s champion, Cameron Davis, is ranked 67th in Golfweek’s rankings.
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Rocket Mortgage Classic – Top-5 picks
Odds provided by Tipico Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday at 12:01 p.m. ET.
Cameron Young (+450)
Is this the week Young finally breaks through and wins his 1st PGA Tour event? It feels like he has a great shot to, especially in a field that is absent of many huge stars at the top. Young’s length off the tee will be a major advantage this week, and he’s coming in hot after finishing 2nd at the 150th Open Championship.
Will Zalatoris (+380)
Zalatoris took last week off after the Open, resting up for the playoffs ahead. And I think he’ll bounce back nicely from a T-28 at the Open by notching another top-5 finish this week, which would be his 7th – including team and match play events. I’m not at all about his 77th-place finish last year at this event.
Davis Riley (+750)
This course is largely about approaches into the greens, and Riley is an excellent iron player. He already has 4 top-5 finishes this season, 3 of which came in a span of 5 starts. It’s his 1st time playing this event, but the course should fit his game nicely.
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Rocket Mortgage Classic – Top-10 picks
Kevin Kisner (+400)
Kisner’s putter kept him in contention at the Open, particularly on Sunday when the flat stick really heated up. He’s made the cut in all 3 starts at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, including top 10s in the last 2 years. He tied for 6th at the Travelers Championship last month, so he’s been playing well lately.
Patrick Cantlay (+130)
This is a chalky pick since Cantlay is the betting favorite this week (+1000), but he’s a top-10 machine so I can’t pass up this line. In his last 8 starts, Cantlay has 5 top-10 finishes. There’s a reason he’s only +130 to come in the top 10, and it’s because more often than not he does (9 in 16 starts this season).
Cameron Champ (+600)
Champ bounced back from 5 straight missed cuts by notching a T-16 at the 3M Open last week, even after shooting 75 in the first round. He’s carrying some momentum into Detroit where he tied for 12th in 2020. These wide fairways should keep him in play and allow him to score even after he hits wayward tee shots.
Rocket Mortgage Classic – Top-20 picks
Russell Henley (+230)
Henley hasn’t had a top-20 finish since The PLAYERS in March, but he’s been making cuts consistently all year – 16 of 18 starts, to be exact. He’s accurate off the tee and deadly with his irons into greens, ranking 3rd on tour in Strokes Gained: Approach the green.
Callum Tarren (+380)
Tarren is a longer shot this week, even after notching 2 top-25 finishes in his last 2 starts, including a T-7 last week in Minnesota. I’ll take a shot on him to come in the top 20 again this week, riding his strong play into Detroit.
Other T20 contenders (in order from longest odds to shortest):
- Harris English (+400)
- Doug Ghim (+380)
Rocket Mortgage Classic – Matchups
Suggested play is golfer in bold.
Davis Riley (-125) vs. Webb Simpson (+105)
Simpson has been hit or miss all year. He has 4 top-25s, but he’s also missed the cut 6 times, including in 3 of his last 4 starts. Riley has been slightly more consistent and I like his chances to finish higher than Simpson.
Kevin Kisner (-110) vs. Adam Scott (-110)
Kisner has the edge in experience on this course, having played the Rocket Mortgage Classic in each of the last 3 years. This will be Scott’s debut, and with the odds equal, I like Kisner thanks to his always-reliable putter.
Rocket Mortgage Classic – Top European
Callum Tarren (+500)
It’s a weaker field for European players this week, with Danny Willett being the favorite at +480. I like Tarren overall this week, and as the 2nd favorite to be the top European, I think he’s worth a wager at +500.
Rocket Mortgage Classic – First-round leader
Cameron Young (+4000)
Young has the 9th-best first-round scoring average this season, and he’s found himself at the top of the Round 1 leaderboard quite a few times this year. He was alone in 1st at the Open Championship and I can see him doing the same this week in Detroit.
Russell Henley (+6000)
Only 3 players have a lower 1st-round scoring average than Henley: Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar and Joaquin Niemann. Henley is more than capable of going really low in a single round, and he could grab an early lead this week.
More expert prop bet predictions
Group E winner: Cameron Champ (+300)
Champ takes on Maverick McNealy (+280), Joohyung Kim (+320), Jason Day (+380) and Jhonattan Vegas (+425) in this group, and there’s no clear-cut favorite in my mind. Champ has a top-15 finish in this event so he’s played well here in the past.
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Golfweek:
- ‘We are the best tour’: Will Zalatoris believes when the dust settles, the PGA Tour will be just fine
- Report: LIV Golf to feature relegation and promotion tournament
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