2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic leaderboard: Rickie Fowler eyes elusive sixth win heading into Sunday

Fowler hasn't won a PGA Tour event since the 2019 Phoenix Open but is the betting favorite going into Round 4

After 54 holes of play at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic, the tournament has two significant storylines. One of them is that there are so many golfers still in the mix at Detroit Golf Club, which we'll get to; the more important one is that Rickie Fowler is about to break through for the first time in more than 50 months.

Fowler shot a 64 on Saturday to surge ahead of the pack and get to 20 under for the week, one ahead of Adam Hadwin -- who tied an 18-hole record at Detroit CC with a 63 for the day -- and at least two ahead of everyone else in the tournament.

Let's take a look at how the day unfolded and what to expect over the final 18 holes on Sunday -- which, we should add, will be played extremely early on Sunday morning as tournament organizers try to avoid inclement weather later in the day.

The leader

1. Rickie Fowler (-20)

All that's left in the Fowler comeback story is a trophy at the end of the week, and Sunday will be the best chance he's had in a long time. Fowler's 64 in Round 3 goes nicely with his opening two rounds of 67 and 65, respectively, and it's his fifth 65 or better in the last three tournaments!

Don't ignore the significance of his closing kick, either. Fowler birdied six of his last eight to put himself in prime position for his first victory since the 2019 Phoenix Open.

It's been a tremendous run of play for the five-time PGA Tour champion, and although he's done enough to be declared back several weeks ago, some will not recognize that reality until he ticks off a victory. He both looks and sounds poised to do just that. Fowler is first in the field in approach play and second from tee to green. Probably most importantly, he keeps saying that he has not felt this good at a PGA Tour event in a long, long time (and maybe ever). Sunday should be fun.

Other contenders

2. Adam Hadwin (-19)

3. Taylor Pendrith (-18)

T4. Aaron Rai, Peter Kuest (-17)

T6. Carl Yuan, Dylan Wu, Collin Morikawa, Justin Lower, Taylor Moore (-16)

After getting lit up by a security guard at the end of the Canadian Open while trying to celebrate his friend, Nick Taylor, winning his home open, it would be a pretty amazing outcome for Hadwin to notch his first PGA Tour victory since the 2017 Valspar Championship. His 63 on Saturday was the round of the day, but it may be difficult for Hadwin — who is currently leading the tournament in putting and second around the greens — to hang on with so many ball-strikers currently surrounding him.

"I think one of the hardest things in golf is to get out of your own way when things are going well," said Hadwin. "I've been victim of that, I think.

"Not that I've been trying too hard, but just maybe putting a little bit too much pressure on each shot or the outcomes of each shot instead of kind of just playing golf and trying to have as much fun as I can out there," he continued. "I've done a really good job of just staying patient this entire week. First two days I didn't get off to great starts, at least by comparison to the field and, just kind of hung in there, kept trying to hit golf shots and I finished well both days. So it was nice to get off to a better start today and it just kind of continued."

This has also been a classic Morikawa week. He's second from tee to green, outside the top 50 with his putter and currently in the top 10 on the leaderboard. It's right there for him to take if he wants it, but it's important to remember this is a really great showing even if he doesn't. It will probably take a hot putting day on Sunday in the final round for him to win, and those are often quite elusive. Regardless, Morikawa seems to have his tee-to-green play a bit back on track ahead of the Open Championship in three weeks, where his winless drought will have reached two years.

Sunday's other storyline: A packed leaderboard

The story of Sunday is probably Fowler trying to win for the first time in more than four years, but the number of golfers who are still very much in this tournament is comical. Again, there are 16 players within six of the lead. On a course where 62 or 63 is out there, that means pretty much anything can happen over the final day at Detroit Golf Club, which usually means that anything will. Enjoy the chaos, friends, it's often rare but always delightful.

What happened to Aberg?

The potential European Ryder Cupper, Ludvig Aberg, got a jolt of confidence from European captain Luke Donald — though Aberg was almost certainly unaware of what Donald said — and then went out and shot a 1-over 73, which was nearly the worst score of the day. His issues started in the middle of his back nine when he doubled the par-5 14th and followed that with two more bogeys over the next two holes. That stretch took him out of the tournament and bumps him all the way out of the top 25 on the leaderboard just one round after playing in the second-to-last pairing.

2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic updated odds and picks

Odds via Caesars Sportsbook

• Rickie Fowler: -105
• Adam Hadwin: +360
• Taylor Pendrith: +750
• Aaron Rai: 14-1
• Collin Morikawa: 16-1
• Peter Kuest: 30-1

While I do think Fowler is going to win, these numbers surprised me. It's basically him against the field on Sunday.While the play has been strong, it only takes one sour round to ruin the festivities. Give me Morikawa at 16-1 to shoot a 64 and grab a victory (even though Fowler is almost certainly going to win).

[Jul 1, 2023 at 6:33 pm ET · Kyle Porter]

Hadwin in the house at -19

Adam Hadwin shoots 33-30 for a 9-under 63 that gets him to 19 under for the tournament and in the solo lead (for now). He'll have some company by the end of the day -- Taylor Pendrith is one stroke back and others are two or three -- but it's a solid round for somebody who is probably known by most golf fans as "that guy who got tackled at the Canadian Open a few weeks ago."