Bob Weeks Picks Six – Rocket Mortgage Classic

The PGA Tour drives in to Detroit for this week’s stop, the Rocket Mortgage Classic. This tournament comes after a busy stretch of events including two designated events and a major championship. As a result, many of the big guns have taken a pass. Still, the field has some top names that may look like easy picks and some others that will require a deep dive before placing any wagers.

Winner

Tony Finau +1400

The defending champion comes into Motor City after a stretch of mediocre results with nothing better than a tie for 32^nd at the U.S. Open. But Finau is just a good putting week away from challenging for a win. His putter has been the club that has caused him to flounder the last few months but it’s getting better in his last two starts. When he won a year ago, his putter was stellar and it’s possible once he gets back on these friendly greens it will do so again. The rest of his game is strong; he’s eighth in scoring average and fourth in birdie average.

Rickie Fowler +1400

Fowler has been on a roll with nothing worse than a tie for 13^th in his last four starts. He re-emergence to the top ranks of the PGA Tour may have seemed sudden but he’s been steadily getting his game back all year. He’s only been negative SG: Approach once this season, a testament to his returning iron play. He’s played the last four events here with a best finish of a tie for 12^th, but this is the first time he’s come in with his game shining.

Top 10

Justin Thomas +270

This may be a bit of a flyer, but Thomas finally showed some great form last week at the Travelers Championship where he tied for ninth, bolstered by a 62 on Saturday. He called that the best round he’s had in years. The question is whether that’s a one-off or the sign of his return to form. We’re going to go with the former as he logged a 2.43 in SG: Total, a good indication he was, at the very least, good for four rounds. He’s making his first start in Detroie.

Adam Hadwin +600

This is some good value for a guy who has had a fairly solid if not necessarily spectacular season so far. After some struggles at the U.S. Open, where he was playing his fifth consecutive week, Hadwin has had a chance to re-group and sort out some iron issues at home before heading to Detroit. His re-tooled swing should fit the Donald Ross course well. He likes the track and posted a T4 here back in 2020.

Top 20

Austin Eckroat +240

Eckroat has made the cut in his last seven starts which includes a runner-up finish at the Byron Nelson and a 10^th at the U.S. Open. A long and straight driver of the ball, he has been strong with the putter of late, finishing on the positive side of SG: Putting in five of his last seven starts.

Brian Harman +260

The lefty had a good week at the Travelers with a second-place finish, his fourth top-10 and third runner-up of the season. He sits 22^nd in Scoring Average with a silky average of 69.77 and last week finished tied for third in SG: Total. That was buoyed by his putter where he averaged 27.25 putts per round.