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
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)
The courses were designed by legendary architect Donald Ross and opened in 1916.
Detroit Golf Club’s courses, site of the Rocket Mortgage Classic on the PGA Tour since 2019, were designed by legendary architect Donald Ross and opened in 1916.
The Rocket Mortgage Classic is played on a combination course of the club’s two layouts, the North and the South. The tournament layout starts on No. 8 of the North Course, then plays No. 9 of the North. Players then tackle what is normally No. 1 of the South Course before teeing off on what is normally No. 2 of the North and playing the next five holes in order.
An upcoming vote at the club will determine whether a full renovation will be put into motion, according to a story in the Detroit News. The estimated cost, according to reporting by the News, is expected to be $16.1 million and would be paid for largely through a one-time assessment for members.
Here’s more from the News:
The club also would allocate $2.2 million from Rocket Mortgage Classic funds for the project.
Voting by members begins March 6, and closes March 16. An approval rate of more than 60% is being required by the prospective lenders working with Detroit Golf Club.
The proposed renovations — which, most notably to fans, include the removal of the large pond at the par-5 14th hole, a signature hole, to help with drainage — coincide with the 125th anniversary of Detroit Golf Club.
The master plan of the proposed renovations at The Detroit Golf Club, which was originally designed by Donald J. Ross.
“As we approach Detroit Golf Club’s 125th year, we are celebrating the past but also looking toward the future,” Michael Pricer, DGC president, said in a statement to The News, which inquired about the project. “The proposed golf course project has been initiated by our membership to continue an exceptional golf course experience for many generations to come.”
The combined layout typically plays to 7,370 yards with a par of 72 for the tournament.
Rickie Fowler buried a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win a battle with Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa in Detroit and end a four-year victory drought at the 2023 playing of the event. Other winners since inception include Tony Finau, Cameron Davis, Bryson DeChambeau and Nate Lashley.
The 34-year-old won the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan, on Sunday for his sixth PGA Tour victory and first since the 2019 WM Phoenix Open. Fowler beat Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin in a three-way playoff on the first extra hole to claim the title and the top prize.
For his efforts, Fowler will take home $1.58 million, while Morikawa and Hadwin will each leave with $783,200. A trio of players – Taylor Moore, Peter Kuest and Lucas Glover – tied for fourth at 21 under and each banked $370,333 in winnings.
There were 84 golfers who made the cut this week, most on Tour this season.
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Check out how much money each PGA Tour player earned this week at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic.
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GRIPS: Golf Pride Tour Velvet (full swing) / SuperStroke Tour 3.0 17-inch (putter).
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Rickie Fowler buried a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win a battle with Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa in Detroit and end a four-year victory drought at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
“I knew it was just a matter of time with the way I was playing,” said Fowler, who notched his sixth career PGA Tour title.
It had been 1,610 days, or 4 years, 4 months, 29 days since his last win at the 2019 WM Phoenix Open, the longest victory drought of his Tour career.
Ten months ago, he was ranked No. 185 in the Official World Golf Ranking and barely qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Late last year, Fowler returned to working with his former instructor Butch Harmon and his game has made steady progress. He entered this week having finished in the top 20 in 12 of his 15 starts this year.
“It’s tough when you’re struggling for that long of a period of time,” said Fowler, noting that his play was building to this victory. “How I’ve played is some of the best if not the best I’ve felt about my game and on the course really ever.”
After inclement weather in the forecast moved up final-round tee times at Detroit Golf Club and forced the use of preferred lies, the field dealt with intermittent showers and muggy conditions. Three players looking to end winless droughts emerged in a battle down the stretch, setting up for a thrilling finish.
Fowler, who held the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open two weeks ago, shot 64 on Saturday to claim a one-stroke lead. But he was 2-for-10 in converting 54- hole leads and almost let this one slip away too. He made birdie on three of his first seven holes, including a 46-footer at No. 2, to stretch his lead to two but failed to capitalize on the par 5s and lost the lead late on the back nine. When it mattered most, the 34-year-old out of Oklahoma State stiffed his approach at 18 to 3 feet.
“Our back was against the wall,” said Fowler of his dramatic 72nd-hole wedge from 147 yards. He cashed in the putt for 68.
Returning to 18 for the first playoff hole, Fowler flared his drive right into trouble but he got relief from casual water and had a clean look at the green and knocked his approach to 11 feet, which turned out to be closest of the three playoff contestants.
Morikawa, who hadn’t won in two seasons and nearly two years – an eternity for the 26-year-old two-time major winner – shot a bogey-free 8-under 64.
“Playoffs suck when you’re on the wrong side of them,” Morikawa said. “You put everything you want into it and comes down to one hole, but that’s what golf is. You’ve got to perform, you’ve got to execute the shots.”
He erased a four-stroke deficit by making six birdies in his first 12 holes, and chipped close at the par-5 17th to become the first player to reach 24 under and grab the lead for the first time in the tournament. His birdie putt at 18 to tie the course record lipped out of the left side of the cup. His approach in the playoff airmailed the green and his birdie chip from just off the green came up short.
“I truly thought I hit the perfect shot and I just was a little juiced, went a little far,” Morikawa said of his second shot at the playoff hole.
Hadwin, 35, was seeking his first win since the 2017 Valspar Championship, a drought even longer than Fowler, something that wasn’t lost on Hadwin or his caddie Joe Cruz.
“I looked at Joe on I think 15 and said, ‘Why don’t we do this more often? This is fun,’ ” Hadwin recounted.
Hadwin, who shot a final-round 67, made it a three-way tie for the lead at 23 under with a birdie at 15 and tied Morikawa with a birdie at 17. His approach to 18 rolled off the green, but he got up and down to shoot 67 and join Morikawa at 24-under 264. Hadwin’s 22-foot birdie effort at the first playoff hole burned the left edge.
“That putt on the playoff there looked really good, just a little bit hard,” he said.
Fowler’s winning putt benefited from a free read from Hadwin, and he rolled it in and soaked in the moment.
“I was kind of just still and quiet and everyone was going crazy around me,” he said. “It was a nice moment just to kind of feel like the weight on my shoulders was finally off.”
Here’s everything you need to know for the final round of the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Will Sunday be the day?
With 18 holes remaining at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic, Rickie Fowler owns the 54-hole lead at 20 under.
Fowler ended his day with a flurry, birdieing five of his final six holes to earn the top spot on the leaderboard all by himself. This performance isn’t coming from out of the blue. In his last three starts, Fowler tied for 13th at the Travelers Championship, for fifth at the U.S. Open and for ninth at the Memorial Tournament.
We’ll have to wait and see if he can close the deal this time around.
Due to inclement weather, tee times have been moved up to the morning and groups of three will be sent off both tees.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the final round of the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic.
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1st tee
Tee time
Players
6:45 a.m.
Sam Ryder, MJ Daffue, Callum Tarren
6:55 a.m.
Doug Ghim, Ben Griffin, Max Homa
7:05 a.m.
S.Y. Noh, Chad Ramey, Brett Stegmaier
7:15 a.m.
J.J. Spaun, Russell Knox, Trevor Cone
7:25 a.m.
Satoshi Kodaira, Ludvig Aberg, Sam Bennett
7:35 a.m.
Ryan Palmer, Kyle Reifers, Keegan Bradley
7:45 a.m.
Tyler Duncan, Sungjae Im, Vince Whaley
7:55 a.m.
Cam Davis, Chez Reavie, Zecheng Dou
8:05 a.m.
Adam Schenk, Alex Noren, Troy Merritt
8:15 a.m.
Nicolai Hojgaard, Peter Malnati, Chris Kirk
8:25 a.m.
Taylor Moore, Lucas Glover, Brian Harman
8:35 a.m.
Dylan Wu, Collin Morikawa, Justin Lower
8:45 a.m.
Peter Kuest, Aaron Rai, Carl Yuan
8:55 a.m.
Rickie Fowler, Adam Hadwin, Taylor Pendrith
10th tee
Tee time
Players
6:45 a.m.
Andrew Landry, Kelly Kraft, Davis Thompson
6:55 a.m.
Harry Higgs, Chesson Hadley, Alex Smalley
7:05 a.m.
Stephan Jaeger, Carson Young, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
7:15 a.m.
Kevin Tway, Chase Johnson, Brice Garnett
7:25 a.m.
Zach Johnson, Greyson Sigg, Garrick Higgo
7:35 a.m.
Nate Lashley, Luke Donald, Brendon Todd
7:45 a.m.
Vincent Norrman, Matthias Schwab, S.H. Kim
7:55 a.m.
Will Gordon, Scott Stallings, Adam Svensson
8:05 a.m.
Hank Lebioda, Ryan Moore, Charley Hoffman
8:15 a.m.
Robert Streb, Martin Laird, Justin Suh
8:25 a.m.
Sepp Straka, Nick Watney, Davis Riley
8:35 a.m.
Robby Shelton, Ryan Gerard, Ryan Brehm
8:45 a.m.
Henrik Norlander, Kyle Westmoreland, Sam Stevens
8:55 a.m.
Matt Wallace, Paul Haley II, Danny Willett
How to watch
You can watch Golf Channel for free on fuboTV. ESPN+ is the exclusive home for PGA Tour Live streaming. All times Eastern.
