The Rocket Mortgage Classic field is almost set, one huge star is missing – yet

Detroit – For the first Rocket Mortgage Classic, they got Dustin Johnson, who quit dating Kid Rock long enough to blow a tee shot out of bounds at the end of his round to miss the cut in 2019. The year next was Bryson DeChambeau, who turned the Detroit Golf Club into a chip-and-putt en route to victory. Last year, Phil Mickelson made his way through Wayne County, taking a few minutes to play golf when he wasn’t tweeting his disdain for the local media.

At the moment, there isn’t a huge, huge name on the court for Game 4 of the first and only stop of the PGA Tour in Detroit, which runs July 28-31. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a strong field. Tournament officials, in fact, would say it’s the deepest yet – and frankly, they might be right.

“The best Rocket Mortgage Classic we’ve ever had,” predicted tournament executive director Jason Langwell when speaking with reporters last month.

When the action begins early next Thursday, July 28, in the shadow of Palmer Park, 156 players will play the game. As of Wednesday morning, 152 of those places have been announced – 147 real names, with another bye for the winner of the second annual John Shippen competition (which will take place Saturday and Sunday at DGC), and four to Monday qualifying from The Orchards in Washington Township.

That means four spots are still open for any PGA Tour players who decide at the last second to travel to Michigan. That’s entirely possible, given that the Rocket Mortgage Classic is the last regular season event before the lucrative FedEx Cup playoffs begin the following week.

Anyone in the top 125 bubble will want to play in Detroit (and are likely already signed up), as will some guys further up the rankings who might want to improve their position. There’s tons of money up front in the FedEx Cup race, which pays $18 million for first but seven figures for the top 10 and six figures for 11th through 125th ($950,000 to $120,000). And there’s always the chance that a star or two might decide they needed a little tune-up before the playoffs start. Rocket Mortgage Classic officials had privately held out hope for this year’s PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas, even leading to the British Open, especially given his new sponsorship of Greyson Clothiers, who has a big presence in Detroit. Thomas did not commit to Detroit. At least not yet.

Players have until Friday night to commit to the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Players have until 30 minutes after the end of play for the day at the 3M Championship in Minnesota to register in Detroit – hence the four open spaces. If no one bites, the Rocket has a long list of substitutes who can fill the field.

To date, the Rocket Mortgage Classic has six of the top 30 players in the world golf rankings, led by Patrick Cantlay, who is No. 4 – but easily holds the least star power in the world top 10.

Cantlay is currently Detroit’s only top 10 player. He is followed by No. 13 Will Zalatoris, No. 17 Tony Finau, No. 19 Cameron Young, No. 21 Max Homa and No. 27 Kevin Kisner.

Among the 100 best players in the world, Detroit has won 29.

He also landed 11 major champions: Keegan Bradley, Stewart Cink, Jason Day, Lucas Glover, Zach Johnson, Davis Love III, Justin Rose, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, Danny Willett and Gary Woodland.

There is also a host of young talent on the pitch, led by Zalatoris, who in his brief career was a fixture near the top of the major league standings. Sahith Theegala, one of the most exciting young players on the PGA Tour, is coming to Detroit. There’s Cameron Young, who just finished second to Cameron Smith at the British Open. There’s Davis Riley, Seamus Power, Maverick McNealy and KH Lee.

There will also be plenty of local rooting interest, with Ryan Brehm (Traverse City/Michigan State) and Brian Stuard (Jackson/Oakland) both needing good weeks to make the FedEx Cup playoffs – Stuard may need it. will retain full PGA Tour status, while Brehm will retain his card based on his first PGA Tour win earlier this year at the Puerto Rico Open. (Day, Cink and Fowler also hover in the top 125.) Benny Cook, the winner of the 2020 and 2021 Michigan PGA Professional Championship, is on the court.

The Rocket Mortgage Classic is what it is – it’s not a major event, it’s not a flagship event on the PGA Tour calendar (like the Memorial or the Genesis) and it doesn’t generate a lot of interest outside of Michigan (unless Mickelson is crazy). It is a great event for the local community. Some fields will be better than others.

And while this one isn’t super heavy, it’s pretty deep, all things considered. It’s arguably better than this week’s 3M Championship. Diehard golf fans will recognize many names. Casual golf fans would never do it anyway, but you don’t have to take a quiz to get a beer.

ROCKET MORTGAGE CLASSIC PLAYER COMMITMENTS

The LIV effect

The Rocket Mortgage Classic will be the last stop on the PGA Tour to be played against the backdrop of the LIV Golf Tour, which really didn’t have much effect on this year’s tournament in Detroit.

The LIV only landed two notable players who were Rocket regulars, DeChambeau (who since his defection was dropped as a Rocket Mortgage pitcher) and Patrick Reed. Johnson was a unique man here, as was Mickelson, no matter how many acts of kindness Detroit did.

They both collected their non-appeal fees and never intended to return. Brooks Koepa has never played here, nor Sergio Garcia. Recent Michigan State graduate James Piot, the reigning U.S. Amateur Champion, cost himself a sponsor exemption by joining LIV; he is contractually obligated to play the tournaments sponsored by Saudi Arabia, including the one opposite the Rocket, which takes place in New Jersey. (An aside: Piot’s caddy, Dan Ellis, quit his assistant job at Michigan State to wrap up full-time on LIV, for a six-figure salary.) Sponsor exemptions instead went to Michael Thorbjornsen, Chris Gotterup and Cole Hammer, with the fourth going to the winner of the John Shippen.

However, more defections from LIV are coming, and it’s worth noting that Rocket Mortgage Classic regulars Hideki Matsuyama and Bubba Watson, who helped raise over $1 million for local Detroit charities, won’t bother. are not committed to play this year. The two were rumored to be considering LIV, though Watson denied that earlier this year (as did Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and DeChambeau, well…). Watson said in mid-May he would miss six weeks with an ACL injury, and that schedule has come to an end. He hasn’t played since the PGA Championship in May.

Interestingly, Joaquin Niemann, who was part of the three-man playoff last year, didn’t commit either. Smith, fresh off the British Open title, looks almost gone, even though he wasn’t coming here. Henrik Stenson, who is not a Rocket guy, defected, costing him his title as European team captain for the 2023 Ryder Cup. This could go to Luke Donald, who could give the Rocket Mortgage Classic the two Ryder Cup captains, with Team USA’s Zach Johnson playing in Detroit.

As for whether LIV — which has 48 players and plays an eight-tournament schedule this year, and plans to hold 14 events next year — will cost the Rocket Mortgage Classic the door, that’s not likely. Although the PGA Tour is not announcing the number of participants, it is unlikely that a tournament will take place in New Jersey – where protests are expected, given the event’s proximity to Ground Zero and Saudi ties. – airing on YouTube and ending on a Saturday will make a dent in Detroit. The Rocket Mortgage Classic drew massive crowds in its inaugural year, then had no fans in year 2 (the pandemic), then bounced back in year 3, but not quite to the levels of year 1.

Expectations are for an increase from 2021, with the tournament shifted to the 4th of July weekend, and with the tournament offering free tickets to events on Tuesday (celebrity jamming, youth clinic) and Wednesday (pro -am).

If anything, LIV is tearing locker rooms and friendships apart more than it hurts the PGA Tour as a whole, which banned all players who chose to take the huge paydays to play in the directed starter league. by Greg Norman.

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