The purse at the Rocket Mortgage Classic is $9.2 million with $1.65 million going to the winner.
A familiar face is on top of the leaderboard after the opening round at Detroit Golf Club.
Akshay Bhatia, who last week played in the final group alongside Tom Kim and Scottie Scheffler, is the solo leader at 8-under 64 at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic. Bhatia, aided by a 17th hole eagle, leads by one over Taylor Montgomery and Michael Kim.
Rickie Fowler, the event’s defending champion, is T-4 at 6 under alongside Will Zalatoris, Aaron Rai, Eric Cole and Matti Schmid.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the second round of the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic. All times listed are ET.
Friday tee times
Groupings and starting times for the first and second rounds of the Rocket Mortgage Classic pic.twitter.com/2Z68ybJOKu
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) June 25, 2024
Akshay Bhatia didn’t know who Sauce Gardner was, but that didn’t stop him from providing some free instruction for the New York Jets cornerback.
Bhatia, who shot a bogey-free 8-under 64 to grab the first-round lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, was asked if he knew who the shut-down corner out of Cincinnati was during his post-round press conference.
“Sorry, who?” Bhatia said.
“Sauce Gardner,” the interviewer repeated.
“I don’t,” he said.
LMK when you want to come on the channel for a lesson, we'll get you dialed in @iamSauceGardner
Gardner, 23, recently took up golf and has been posting videos on social media. Bryson DeChambeau replied to one of them and offered to give him a lesson on his YouTube channel. But Gardner, who also got some help from the PGA of America, got some free analysis from Bhatia when the interviewer asked him to look at one of Gardner’s videos – presumably on his phone.
“On his short game, he’s using a lot of lower body, which you don’t really want to do, so that was first off,” Bhatia said. “Other than that, it looks pretty good. He’ll just get used to kind of releasing the golf club. Looks like he kind of holds on a little bit. He’s got some work to do, but off to a good start.”
Rickie Fowler echoed that sentiment.
“I like the possibilities. There’s a lot of good athletic moves and speed in there. A little work, watch out,” Fowler said.
Asked for a tip, Fowler said, “Keep swinging hard and then a big thing is work on short game and putting. For a lot of people, I feel like high handicappers, I feel like that’s kind of the easiest way to start taking strokes off. Then you can worry about the long game later.”
Will Zalatoris also had nothing but encouraging words for Gardner.
“I mean, he’s got some speed, for one,” Zalatoris said. “The dude’s an athlete, we know that, but that’s pretty impressive. Clean up a little bit of the short game there and he’s going to be pretty good pretty quick. All those football guys are freak athletes. I played with Calvin Johnson and Aidan Hutchinson on the 313 on Tuesday and those guys were silly good around the greens. That’s pretty impressive.”
There you have it. Follow the advice of the firm of Fowler, Bhatia & Zalatoris and Gardner’s pitch shots should have a little Tour sauce.
I just went back and watched the video of my swing. You are 100% right coach! I'm back on the course today so I will put those tips to use🫡 https://t.co/4K4c9IKzRT
Bienz had 920 text messages and noted, “I don’t even know that many people.”
Nick Bienz is supposed to report to work on Thursday morning at 7:30. But the 27-year-old part-time Golf Galaxy employee – he works at one of the equipment and apparel chain’s stores on the northeast side of Indianapolis – won’t be clocking in because he has a 2:22 p.m. ET tee time at the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit after securing his place in the field via an eight-hole playoff in a Monday qualifier.
Someone please alert his boss.
“I still haven’t made that call,” Bienz said on Wednesday during a phone interview. “I think he knows already. The store’s group chat has been blowing up. They’ve been very supportive but I never technically made that call.”
Who can blame him? At its peak, Bienz said he had 920 text messages to respond to and noted, “I don’t even know that many people. It’s amazing how my life has turned upside down.”
Bienz shot 65 on Monday at The Orchards Golf Club in Washington, Michigan, and was relaxing in the grill room under the impression that his score would be good enough to earn one of four spots into the field – a life-changing moment for someone who had never played in any PGA Tour-sanctioned tournament let alone the big leagues. He said he has played in Monday qualifiers before with no luck but this was his first attempt this year. With multiple groups still finishing their rounds, Bienz enjoyed a celebratory beer or two.
“I need every ounce of alcohol right now to calm the nervous system and not try to vomit on myself,” Bienz told Ryan French of Monday Q in a video shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. “That’s where we’re at right now.”
He downed the third beer after realizing he had celebrated prematurely and he still had to compete in a playoff. Eight holes later, his dream of playing on the PGA Tour became a reality. How many beers did he throw back afterwards?
“Just one,” he said. “I sat in the same chair at the golf course for 2 ½ hours in shock trying to respond to as many texts as I could and all the logistics for the tournament.”
First, he FaceTimed his fiancée on the cart ride back to the clubhouse. She was sobbing. “Do you know that you’re famous?” she asked.
Bienz, who played his college golf at the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), had no idea that he had gone viral. Ever since, fans have been sending him money via Venmo to help with his expenses, a friend at apparel maker TravisMathew sent him a care package of outfits for the week but he said he hasn’t landed a sponsor yet despite several inquiries including a beer company.
“I’m such a rookie at this I don’t even know the logistics of how I’d get a logo on a shirt in less than 24 hours,” said Bienz, who also received a new bag with the logo of his employer Golf Galaxy.
But he already has met Kevin Kisner, who posted on social media that the Tour should pair them together in the tournament.
“He came up to me and said, ‘Are you my beer drinking buddy?’ ” Bienz recalled. “Then he said, ‘The Tour screwed us, bro. I thought they were going to pair us together.’ ”
Bienz said on four occasions he’s flunked out of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School and also tried the PGA Tour Latinoamerica and Mackenzie Tour twice. His game has been in good form. On June 10, he shot 69 at the Northern Open, an Indiana section event, and won the one-day tournament. He has given himself to his wedding next May to determine whether he is going to continue chasing his dream or call it quits and settle down in a real job. Depending on how he plays in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where the purse this week is $9.2 million, working in golf retail could be in a galaxy far, far away for him.
“Fortunately for me this week has thrown a massive wrench and I really have no idea what’s going to happen from here,” he said.
With the final men’s major championship on the horizon — The Open is scheduled for July 18-21 — the PGA Tour first headed to Detroit and the Detroit Golf Club for the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic. Defending champion Rickie Fowler and Mr. 59 Cameron Young highlighted the field taking on the Donald Ross design.
But it was Cam Davis coming out on top, avoiding a playoff when Akshay Bhatia missed a five-foot putt on 18 leading to his only three putt of the week and making Davis a two-time champ at Detroit Golf Club.
Davis will take home $1.65 million of the $9.2 million purse and 500 FedEx Cup points.
The 35-year-old fan favorite is mired in a season-long slump that has him on the outside looking in for the FedEx Cup playoffs at No. 91 in the standings with just six weeks until the top-70 advance to the first of three playoff events in Memphis.
Fowler is hoping that a return to the Motor City and the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club will jumpstart a playoff run. Much like the rebirth of Detroit itself, Fowler a year ago capped off a resurgence in his game in the city with his first victory in more than four years. He sank a 12-foot birdie putt to win a three-man sudden-death playoff.
That win was his first as a father and pictures with Maya from that day always will be a treasured memento. So, too, will the photo of his reaction as his winning putt dropped. No caption necessary: the image of him, head tilted ever-so-slightly to the sky is the definition of pure relief.
Rickie Fowler and his caddie Ricky Romano react with joy after making birdie on the 18th green to win the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier/USA TODAY Sports)
“I was kind of just still and quiet and everyone was going crazy around me,” Fowler said. “It was a nice moment just to kind of feel like the weight on my shoulders was finally off.”
Fowler, whose world ranking had plummeted to No. 185 and had barely qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs when the top 125 made it, rose to No. 22 a week after his Rocket Mortgage Classic win and went on to be chosen to the 12-man U.S. Ryder Cup team. Although the Tour no longer gives out such an award, he would have been an unanimous choice for winner of the Tour’s Comeback Player of the Year. But ever since the calendar flipped, Fowler has lost his swagger again.
He enters the week at No. 50 in the world and has recorded just two top-20s in 16 starts, including missing the cut at the Memorial and U.S. Open in June. Whereas last year he entered the Rocket Mortgage Classic with three top 10s and a top-15 finish, Fowler has no top 10s and five missed cuts in 23 starts since tasting victory a year ago.
“I’ve basically played terrible this year. Pretty simple way to sum it up,” he said. “I’ve been putting the work in but just need to stay patient and wait to see some progress.”
His ball-striking, which sparked his resurgence, has been a key reason for his decline. Last season, he ranked seventh in Strokes Gained: Approach. This season? He’s No. 142.
Precision was part of Fowler’s winning formula last year at Detroit GC as he ranked second in the field in greens in regulation, hitting 61 of 72. To hear Fowler tell it, what he really needs to do is get his putter back in his good graces. He entered the week ranked No. 131 in Strokes Gained: Putting after finishing at 48th last season. He ranked fifth in that category on the undulating, tiered putting surfaces at Detroit GC a year ago.
Rickie Fowler walks off the 18th green with his daughter Maya and wife Allison Stokke after winning the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier/USA TODAY Network)
“I think a big part of freeing myself up and allowing myself to play better golf starts on the greens and helps when I’m making putts,” said Fowler, who noted the putter cooperated a little more last week, where he recorded a top-20 finish at the Travelers Championship. “When I’m putting at least up to my standards or at least average, it kind of frees up the rest of the game.”
With rain already having fallen this week and more in the forecast, Detroit GC should be ripe for the taking again. Fowler, who led the field in par breakers last year, is a fan of the Donald Ross layout, which dates to 1916 is scheduled for a renovation before next year’s tournament.
“We don’t get to play very many old-school golf courses like this so it’s a treat for a lot of guys who can appreciate kind of old-school golf course architecture,” Fowler said.
Perhaps coming back to one of his happy hunting grounds and site of his sixth career Tour title will provide the necessary spark. After all, it had been 1,610 days, or 4 years, 4 months, 29 days between victories, the longest drought of his Tour career. He called his T-20 last week “good progress” and a momentum builder that instilled a boost of confidence that his game may be as close as he thinks it is.
“We’ll see if we can kind of reignite some stuff from then and get past the little bit of a slow year it’s been and just go have some fun this week,” he said.
If it were any other week at Detroit Golf Club, 15-year-old Miles Russell wouldn’t be allowed into the locker room. Good for him it’s not an ordinary week.
“This has always been the goal, to play at the highest level,” Russell said. “Don’t know, kind of just happened a little faster than I was thinking it might, but it’s just what happens when you have some good play.”
In addition to Russell, Nos. 2, 3 and 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking – Jackson Koivun, Ben James and Luke Clanton – are teeing it up this week in Detroit.
Don’t discount Clanton, either. The incoming junior at Florida State finished the year as the top-ranked golfer in the NCAA golf rankings. He also made the cut at the U.S. Open two weeks ago and helped the Seminoles to a runner-up finish at the NCAAs.
In a field that is lacking of the PGA Tour’s biggest stars, perhaps the amateurs can carry the torch this week. Three of the best players in college golf, plus the 15-year-old stud who is gaining popularity by the tournament, could be a shot in the arm for the Tour this week.
For Russell, it’s just another chance to prove he belongs.
“I have my own goals, but my goal is just to come out here and have fun,” Russell said. “That’s my main goal, have fun, maybe learn something, take something to my next event.”
Min Woo Lee has taken notice of Russell. A talented golfer in his amateur days, Lee said he was nervous when he teed it up in events at that age, but he also just tried to go out and just play golf.
“Again, he’s only 15, so I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of, you know, too much expectation,” Lee said. “Obviously he’s a great golfer. I mean, he’s got plenty of time to turn pro and still, yeah, years ahead of him. Hopefully he has fun and doesn’t beat me, but does well.”
When asked about Russell on Tuesday, Willie Mack III, who punched his ticket into the tournament thanks to his win Sunday in the John Shippen, was joking about the locker room situation for Russell.
“Yeah, he’s been playing well,” Mack said. “Hopefully he plays well this week and keep going.”
The purse at the Rocket Mortgage Classic is $9.2 million with $1.65 million going to the winner.
The PGA Tour is heading to the Midwest.
Detroit Golf Club hosts this week’s 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic in Michigan, where last year Rickie Fowler broke a long winless streak to capture a victory in a playoff. Now he’s back to defend his title but will have numerous chasers, including last week’s runner-up Tom Kim, Mr. 59 Cameron Young and numerous others.
Detroit Golf Club is a par-72 layout measuring 7,370 yards. The purse at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic is $9.2 million with $1.65 million going to the winner. The winner will also receive 500 FedEx Cup points.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the first round of the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic. All times listed are ET.
Thursday tee times
Groupings and starting times for the first and second rounds of the Rocket Mortgage Classic pic.twitter.com/2Z68ybJOKu
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) June 25, 2024
Bienz was one of five golfers to post a 7-under 65 at The Orchards Golf Club in Washington, Michigan, but there were only four spots available, so off to a 5-for-4 playoff they went. It was Bienz gunning it out alongside Danny Guise, Angelo Giantsopoulos, Brandon Berry and Beau Breault.
But before the playoff started, Bienz, in attempt to calm his nerves, pounded three cold ones.
The eight-hole playoff finally ended when Breault was odd man out, coming up short against two birdies on the final hole.
As for Bienz, he has never played in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. Now he’ll be one of 156 golfers in the field at Detroit Golf Club on Thursday morning. He’ll find out his grouping Tuesday afternoon.
Pro golfer Bo Van Pelt even made a plea to Bienz’s employer, Golf Galaxy.
“I have to call my boss and call off work tomorrow for sure,” Bienz told French after his round. “I’m supposed to be there at 7:30 in the morning [Tuesday] and I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Among those who came up short in the Monday qualifier were Robert Garrigus, Ryan Palmer and Michael Gligic.
The tournament is returning to Detroit Golf Club for the sixth time.
The field for the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic is almost set, with 151 spots accounted for as of Friday night. There’s a bit of everything for Detroit golf fans: 10 of the top 50 in the World Golf Rankings, seven major winners, three previous Rocket Mortgage Classic winners and a pair of precocious youngsters.
The tournament, returning to Detroit Golf Club for the sixth time, will be held from June 25-30, with the first round teeing off Thursday. Among the top ranked golfers coming to town are Cameron Young (No. 23 in the world), Tom Kim (No. 26), Chris Kirk (No. 30) and, of course, Rickie Fowler, ranked No. 49 and the defending Rocket Mortgage Classic champ after last year’s epic three-way playoff victory. (Young on Saturday at the Travelers Championship became the 12th player all-time to shoot 59 or better on the PGA Tour.)
Other previous winners returning to Detroit are Cam Davis, who took the trophy in a 2021 playoff, and Nate Lashley, who won it as the third alternate in 2019, leading wire-to-wire.
The Rocket Mortgage Classic will also feature several major winners in Stewart Cink (2009 British Open), Jason Dufner (2013 PGA Championship), Zach Johnson (2007 Masters, 2015 British Open), Francesco Molinari (2018 British Open), Webb Simpson (2012 U.S. Open), Jimmy Walker (2016 PGA Championship) and Gary Woodland (2019 U.S Open).
On the other end of the experience spectrum, Detroit Golf Club will welcome 15-year-old Miles Russell on a sponsor’s exemption for his PGA Tour debut. The high school freshman from Jacksonville, Florida finished 20th at the LECOM Suncoast Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour in April.
Also making his PGA Tour debut will be Neal Shipley, who has already finished as low amateur at the Masters and the U.S. Open this year. The 2023 U.S. Amateur runner-up turned pro this week.
The final five spots will be up for grabs Sunday and Monday, with one spot available through the John Shippen National Golf Invitational, a 36-hole tournament at Detroit Golf Club on Saturday and Sunday, and the final four settled through Monday’s qualifiers.
The 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic field
(as of Friday night)
