RADIO
Hi, golf fans! Welcome back to "Horse For The Course." New England native Keegan Bradley held on to win his "hometown" event in Connecticut at the Travelers Championship. It was Bradley's sixth career victory on the PGA Tour.
While we didn't have Bradley in last week's "HFTC", the course history was strong with us at the Travelers, as we tallied a T2, a T4, and a pair of T19s out of our five featured golfers. Let's keep that positive momentum going as we head to Detroit Golf Club for the Rocket Mortgage Classic!
"Horse For The Course" is an article that highlights players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For my favorite DFS plays of the week, check out my Core Four article here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our excellent PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using Promo Code: NICE for an extra discount at checkout!
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2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic
We hop from a long-standing PGA Tour event in the Travelers Championship to a relatively new one in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, which is set to be played for the fifth time this week. Based in Michigan, the event will once again be played at Detroit Golf Club and utilize a combination of two Donald Ross-designed courses.
The Rocket Mortgage has produced a rather eclectic group of winners over its relatively short lifespan, with Tony Finau taking home the title in last year's edition. It was a particularly hot stretch for Finau, who pulled off wins in back-to-back events after also claiming victory in last year's 3M Open the previous week. While the list of champions that Detroit Golf Club has produced varies wildly between Finau last year and Nate Lashley in 2019, the common thread is that birdies will be needed in bunches to succeed in this event.
Finau will be back to defend his title this week and he'll face a field of entrants that's perhaps the best group ever to turn up at Detroit Golf Club. While this week's group is nothing like the star power we saw last week at the Travelers, we'll see players such as Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa, and Rickie Fowler teeing it up this week. Not too shabby!
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The Course: Detroit Golf Club
Par 72 - 7,370 Yards, Greens: Bent/Poa Mix, Designed By: Donald Ross
Before its PGA Tour debut a few years ago, we were all basically guessing as to how this layout by legendary architect Donald Ross would play. The answer is...pretty darn easy. The pros basically have no trouble at all with Detroit Golf Club, with the first four editions of the Rocket Mortgage producing an average winning score of 23-under par.
Though the 7,370-yard length is a bit deceiving thanks to a 600+ yard Par 5, there are really no secrets at DGC (other than a couple of sneaky OB areas)...score on the four Par-5s, strike your irons well, and make putts. As a result, I'll be targeting players this week that have strong approach games, great Par-5 scoring ability, and can rack up birdies in bunches.
Due to the number of birdies needed on this golf course, I will weigh putting more heavily than in most weeks, as golfers will need to be rolling the ball well to put themselves in contention in this event.
Recent Rocket Mortgage Winners & Scoring Info
- 2022: Tony Finau (-26)
- 2021: Cameron Davis (-18)
- 2020: Bryson DeChambeau (-23)
- 2019: Nate Lashley (-25)
- Average Winning Score Last Five Years: -23
The Horse
Hideki Matsuyama
- Event Scoring Average: 68.67 (Three career starts)
- Notable Course History: WD (2021), T21 ('20), T13 ('19)
- DraftKings Price: $9,600 FanDuel Price: $11,100
It's admittedly a weird week from a course history perspective, as the Rocket Mortgage has only been in existence for four years - a tiny sample size - and there are relatively few players in the field that have found success in every edition. As a result, we'll be making some reaches outside of our normal HFTC standards this week.
Hideki Matsuyama might not be a perfect "Horse", but he's one I feel comfortable with, nonetheless. The Japanese superstar has teed it up at Detroit Golf Club on three occasions, withdrawing from the 2021 edition, while recording solid, if unspectacular, results in his other two Rocket starts.
It feels as though Matsuyama comes into the week a bit under the radar, despite grading out as the top-ranked player in this week's Rocket Mortgage field over the last 24 rounds in Strokes Gained: T2G. He has gained strokes with the irons in every start since mid-February, though it's not a surprise to hear that the putter has been mostly uncooperative, as he's lost an average of 1.6 strokes with the flat stick over his last five starts. While it's a big "if", Matsuyama's ball striking is currently in top form, and he's primed for an explosion "if" he can make some putts this week.
Hideki Matsuyama (T39) thru 2 rounds:
SG Approach: 1st
SG Putting: 146th pic.twitter.com/C0XwIrOOa2— Mark Fox (@ThePluggedLie) June 17, 2023
The Ponies
Rickie Fowler
- Event Scoring Average: 69.86 (Four career starts)
- Notable Course History: T32 ('21), T12 ('20)
- DraftKings Price: $10,400 FanDuel Price: $12,000
We're all well aware of Rickie's many endorsement deals, and his partnership with Rocket Mortgage has made him an annual fixture in this tournament's four editions. That familiarity could be a big advantage this week, now that Fowler actually enters this event with some honest-to-goodness form rather than, well, whatever it is that we've been forced to watch from him over the last few years.
The resurgent 34-year-old just keeps coming in 2023. Fowler displayed lots of moxie at the Travelers Championship last week by firing a brilliant third-round 60, for what was his lowest career round on the PGA Tour, after what had to be a very tough emotional week at the U.S. Open.
Anyone that's followed golf for the past few months should know that Rickie's renaissance is not smoke and mirrors. He's gained strokes on Approach in 13 of 14 starts this year, as well as gaining an average of 6.4 strokes T2G over his last five tournaments. A win feels sooo close. Maybe Fowler gets back into the winner's circle in the relatively low-stress environment of the Rocket Mortgage.
The lowest round of his career 🔥@RickieFowler fires a 60 on Moving Day @TravelersChamp 👏 pic.twitter.com/JzoblZIO3U
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 24, 2023
Max Homa
- Event Scoring Average: 69.25 (Five career starts)
- Notable Course History: T24 ('22), T25 ('21), T6 ('18), T11 ('16)
- DraftKings Price: $10,200 FanDuel Price: $11,400
Golf is a weird game, and nothing illustrates that better than Max Homa's roller coaster ride from "one of the best players in the world" in January and February, to "guy that can't make cuts" in June.
While Homa's true ability is almost undoubtedly closer to the former than the latter, there's little denying that the social media star has indeed continued to come up small in major championships and in select events outside of the West Coast. Those well-publicized struggles create an intriguing "buy low" spot this week at the Rocket Mortgage.
The Californian has actually found some success in Motown in recent years, posting back-to-back top-25 finishes in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. That course history - and a second-round 65 at the Travelers - is cause for optimism about Homa's prospects this week.
The grind doesn't stop for Max Homa. 💯
See more: https://t.co/UVV2O2FqZZ pic.twitter.com/aGRLYZOIKA
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) June 17, 2023
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End of the Season Totals: @rotoballer @BettorGolfPod
2017 +54.26 Units
2018 +55.88 Units
2019 +27.743 Units
2020 + 37.015 Units
2021 + 68.846 Units
2022 +67.485 UnitsTotal Winnings: +311.229 Units
Total Outright Wins Since 2017: 36
H2H Totals Inside Thread… https://t.co/pNQrSK1rFE
— Spencer Aguiar (@TeeOffSports) December 12, 2022
Chris Kirk
- Event Scoring Average: 68.58 (Three career starts)
- Notable Course History: T17 ('22) T12 ('21), T21 ('20)
- DraftKings Price: $8,500 FanDuel Price: $10,200
While there's been a noticeable dip in Chris Kirk's recent output in comparison to his red-hot form to start the year, there's reason to be optimistic that the 2023 Honda Classic champion can get back on track this week.
Kirk has been a legit "Steady Eddie" at Detroit Golf Club since 2020, going T17-T12-T21 across his last three Rocket Mortgage Classic starts. The UGA alum isn't that far removed from playing very high-level golf, and he should find this week's shortish Donald Ross layout much more manageable than the behemoth-type golf courses he's been faced with as of late.
PGA Tour victory No. 5.
Chris Kirk wins the Honda Classic on the first playoff hole. 💯 pic.twitter.com/qIlYlWFKWz
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) February 26, 2023
J.J. Spaun
- Event Scoring Average: 68.63 (Four career starts)
- Notable Course History: T8 ('22), T32 ('21), T30 ('20), T13 ('19)
- DraftKings Price: $7,500 FanDuel Price: $9,100
After an excellent 2022 campaign that was highlighted by a win at the Valero Texas Open, J.J. Spaun has largely failed to keep that momentum going into 2023.
The 32-year-old isn't really playing bad golf at the moment, as he's gained strokes on Approach in six of his last seven starts. Unfortunately, Spaun just hasn't been able to get any putts to drop, losing strokes on the greens in five of his last six.
Maybe things can break Spaun's way this week at a Detroit Golf Club that's proven to be very kind to him in previous Rocket Mortgage appearances. The former San Diego State Aztec has shown a true fondness for these Donald Ross greens, gaining strokes putting in all four of his career Rocket Mortgage starts. That comfort with these Bent/Poa surfaces could lead to a spike in performance for a player that's been striking the ball well from T2G. It's not hard to envision the moderately-priced Spaun making a run this week if he sees a few putts drop early.
JJ Spaun. Golf shot. pic.twitter.com/9JKIg3NppY
— Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) March 22, 2023
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