Detroit – Five golfers in the top 50 of the world rankings, including US Open and PGA Championship runner-up Will Zalatoris, are part of the first wave of entries for next month’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Zalatoris (world number 12), Tony Finau (17), Kevin Kisner (31), Cameron Young (32) and Justin Rose (47) were announced Wednesday morning as having entered the lone PGA Tour stop in Detroit, scheduled for July 28. 31 at the Detroit Golf Club.
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Rocket Mortgage Paid Ambassador Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Matt Kuchar and defending champion Cam Davis also announced their commitments on Wednesday.
This is a later than normal first wave of commitments for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, a delay attributed to two key factors: Tour, including former Rocket Mortgage spokesperson Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed, regular participant in Rocket Mortgage Classic; as well as the tournament’s new place in the schedule, just before the start of the FedEx Cup qualifiers.
LIV’s controversial tour plays a tournament opposite the Rocket in New Jersey.
“We are delighted to announce that such an accomplished group of players will be joining us in Detroit this summer, and this is just the start of our player engagements,” RMC executive director Jason Langwell said in a statement. Wednesday. “Having golfers of this caliber commit to play in the Rocket Mortgage Classic is a testament to the momentum we are building and the desire for top players to be part of our event.”
Zalatoris, 25, is the headliner for early engagements, given his performances in major leagues since joining the PGA Tour last year. He is yet to break through with a win, but has six top-10 finishes in his eight major championship appearances. On Sunday, he lost by a shot to US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick. He has eight top-10 finishes in 18 PGA Tour events this season.
Finau, 32, is a two-time PGA Tour champion who has five top-eight finishes in major tournaments over the past three years. This will be his second Rocket Mortgage Classic appearance, finishing tied for 53rd in 2020.
Kisner, 38, has won the PGA Tour four times, most recently at the 2021 Wyndham Championship. He has played the Rocket Mortgage Classic every year, finishing third in 2020 and tied for eighth in 2021.
Young, 25, a teammate of Zalatoris at Wake Forest, appears to be one of the hottest prospects in the game, with five top-three finishes this season, including a tie for third in the PGA Championship.
Rose, 41, is the biggest name announced on Wednesday, as the 2013 US Open champion and former world No. A five-time Ryder Cup entrant, this will be his first Rocket appearance.
Day, 34, like Rose, is a former world No. 1 ranked player and a former major champion (2015 PGA Championship). This will be his third consecutive Detroit appearance, he finished tied for 14th in 2021.
Kuchar, 44, a five-time Ryder Cup and five-time Presidents Cup winner with nine PGA Tour wins, will make his Rocket Mortgage Classic debut.
Davis, 27, had a big break in Detroit last year, earning his first PGA Tour win in a five-hole playoff. He has three top 10s this season.
Fowler, 33, has been the tournament’s unofficial host since the inaugural event in 2019. The five-time PGA Tour winner’s best finish here was tied for 12th in 2020.
Rocket Mortgage Classic officials patiently await commitments in golf’s changing landscape, with several big names – DeChambeau, Reed, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Abraham Ancer and, most recently, Brooks Koepka – taking big bucks to play on the LIV Tour, a move that got them banned from the PGA Tour and cost them sponsorships. Rocket Mortgage fired DeChambeau after his release. Mickelson, whose beef with the media brought national attention to last year’s RMC, is said to have received $200 million from LIV/
Fowler has expressed some interest in the LIV Tour, although he said he remains committed to the PGA Tour for the time being. Bubba Watson also disputed early reports that he would be joining the Saudi-funded tour and said he planned to play again in Detroit, where he raised a lot of money for the tournament’s main charities. . But Watson suffered a torn meniscus in late May; he was due to return in early July, but that is yet to be determined.
Being the week before the start of the FedEx Cup qualifiers also led to complications. Many players wait to make their schedule until they have a clear picture of where they stand in the season’s points race, which awards $75 million in bonus cash, $18 million to the winner.
Michigan’s two PGA Tour cardholders, Brian Stuard (Jackson/Oakland) and Ryan Brehm (Traverse City/Michigan State), will also play in Detroit.
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tpaul@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tonypaul1984
