The 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic represents just the fifth edition of the event since it found a spot on the PGA Tour's calendar in 2019. Over the past five years, Detroit Golf Club has become a must-stop for those vying for positioning for the impending FedEx Cup Playoffs. While this year's tournament has been moved up a few weeks, the stakes remain the same as just six tournaments separate the regular season from the postseason.
This is high on the agenda of 15-time PGA Tour winner Justin Thomas, who will be making his tournament debut. Settling just inside the top 70 in the season-long race thanks to a nice finish at the Travelers Championship, Thomas has plenty of ground to make up if he is to climb inside the coveted top 30 by the time the Tour Championship rolls around.
Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa finds himself 32nd in the FedEx Cup standings, and like Thomas, will be making his debut. It has been a strange season riddled with inconsistency for the 26-year-old. Sprinting out the gates with a near victory at Kapalua and Torrey Pines, Morikawa has since racked up five missed cuts, a withdrawal from the Memorial Tournament and four top-15 finishes.
Morikawa remains winless on the PGA Tour since his Open victory nearly two years ago. The same cannot be said for defending champion Tony Finau. Twice a winner last season, and now twice a winner this season, Finau is one of three multiple-time winners in this field along with Max Homa and Travelers Championship winner Keegan Bradley.
Sungjae Im, Hideki Matsuyama and Rickie Fowler join Thomas and Morikawa with aspirations of ending a winless drought. Meanwhile, Tom Kim headlines the next wave of PGA Tour talent that includes Sam Bennett, Ludvig Aberg and the top-ranked amateur Gordon Sargent.
2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic schedule
Dates: June 29 - July 2 | Location: Detroit Golf Club — Detroit, Michigan
Par: 72 | Yardage: 7,370 | Purse: $8,800,000
2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic field, odds
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
- Tony Finau (12-1): After a consistent start to his season that included 10 straight top-25 finishes and a victory at the Houston Open, Finau has found some trouble. It began to rear its ugly head after his Mexico Open win, and it appears to be persistent. Since out-dueling Jon Rahm for his sixth career victory, Finau has failed to register a top-20 finish in his last five starts. The culprit is obvious: his putter. The 33-year-old has lost strokes on the green in all five starts, but this is not an issue Finau hasn't faced before. The ball-striking numbers remain sound, and if the putter flips, a successful title defense is not out of the equation.
- Rickie Fowler (14-1)
- Collin Morikawa (15-1)
- Hideki Matsuyama (16-1)
- Max Homa (16-1)
- Justin Thomas (18-1): After a gut-wrenching 81 to miss the cut at the U.S. Open, Thomas bounced back with a stellar final 54 holes at the Travelers Championship to finish T9. It was his first top-10 finish since the Valspar Championship and his best approach performance since the 2021 WGC-Workday Championship (the start before his victory at the Players Championship). Plenty is made of Thomas's putter, but the slight downtick with the iron play is the more concerning of the two. If his performance in Connecticut is indicative of the Thomas we will be getting the final two months of the season, then Scottie Scheffler, Rahm and the rest of the world need to take notice.
- Sungjae Im (18-1): A beautiful spring blossomed into a Korean PGA victory the week before the PGA Championship. Im rode seven straight top-25 finishes into Oak Hill but left without his golf swing. He has since missed three cuts and failed to register a top-20 finish. He poked his head on the leaderboard at the Travelers Championship and gained strokes in every area of the bag for the first time since the Wells Fargo Championship. He has quietly been a killer on Donald Ross courses and finished T8 in his last appearance in this tournament in 2021.
- Tom Kim (20-1): It was around this time last year that the legend of Kim began to bubble. A third-place finish at the Scottish Open was followed by a top-10 result at this very tournament a few weeks later. Kim would ultimately enter the winner's circle on another Donald Ross design, Sedgefield Country Club, and the rest is history. The 21-year-old has since endured some difficulties, but his T8 result at the U.S. Open may propel him to yet another memorable summer. He ranked 12th in strokes gained approach at the Travelers Championship, but his putter needs to be better if he is to grab his third win in less than a year.
- Keegan Bradley (30-1)
- Harris English (33-1)
Rocket Mortgage Classic expert picks
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
| Winner (16-1): The iron play continues to trend for the 2021 Masters champion. Matsuyama comes into the Rocket Mortgage Classic having made nine straight cuts with quality outings at the Players Championship, Memorial Tournament and the Travelers Championship. He led the field at the U.S. Open in strokes gained approach and saw his putter make improvements at TPC River Highlands. Matsuyama will be making his fourth appearance in this tournament with top-25 finishes in 2019 and 2020 to his name. | |
| Contender (50-1): The former top-ranked amateur, who turned PGA Tour professional via winning the inaugural PGA Tour U Rankings, has been splendid in his first couple starts as a member of the circuit. He led the field in strokes gained off the tee at the Canadian Open and finished third in the same category at the Travelers Championship. A pair of top-25 finishes were the result, and if the iron play shows improvement, the 23-year-old's position on the leaderboard should only get better. | |
| Sleeper (60-1): It's been a tough go of things since the Texas swing for Spaun, but Detroit GC should be a nice spot to rebound. He gained nearly three strokes off the tee in two rounds at TPC River Highlands and had previously gained strokes on approach in eight straight tournaments. The putter has posed as a problem, but the greens on this Donald Ross design have been kind to the 32-year-old in the past. Spaun has played in all four Rocket Mortgage Classics, making his way into the weekend in each instance and highlighted by a T8 result last season. | |
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