By: Field Level Media
Is it Bryson DeChamSwole Time? Rocket Mortgage Classic Odds
Bryson DeChambeau is back in the Top 10 of the official world golf rankings, but still in search of his first win on the PGA Tour since 2018.
The bulked-up DeChambeau has been the talk of the Tour since play resumed last month. He has been launching drivers at previously unreachable pins on par 4s while also displaying enough touch to be the only player to post three consecutive Top 10s since the season resumed.
That stretch dates back pre-pandemic. DeChambeau has finished in the top eight in six consecutive events. He’s the most consistent player on Tour at the moment and looking to take advantage of the weakest field since last month’s restart.
DeChambeau is the heavy favorite at most sportsbooks entering this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. Bet America and PointsBet were among those offering him at +600 midweek even though this is his first time teeing it up at the Detroit Golf Club – a shorter course by Tour standards that may minimize the advantage of his length off the tee.
“Being able to hit an 8-iron 195 yards is a pretty good asset, I’d say,” DeChambeau said before his Tuesday practice round. “So even though it limits my driving capabilities, my irons are going to be a lot shorter going into the greens no matter what club I have in, yardage I have in.”
D’oh! Webb Simpson and the Rest of the Top 15 Rocket Mortgage Classic Odds
Webb Simpson won his last start two weeks ago and is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 6, but is the second moneyline favorite at +1100 by both books. Simpson withdrew from last week’s Travelers Championship after reporting a family member had recently tested positive for the coronavirus, only entering the Rocket Mortgage Classic after his family was cleared.
Simpson doesn’t bomb drives and no particular part of his game stands out — except for his consistency. He has two wins in his past four starts and four runner-up finishes in his past 16 worldwide events.
The only other top-15 players in the field are No. 7 Patrick Reed and No. 15 Tyrell Hatton. Reed, the 2018 Masters champion and worldwide grinder, will be playing for the fourth consecutive week. He followed a T7 at the Charles Schwab Challenge with a missed cut and a T24.
Reed closed with a 64 last week, tied for fifth at this event last year and is being offered at +1400 by both books. Bet America also has Hatton at +1400 while PointsBet was offering the Englishman at +1500 midweek.
Hatton is certainly one to watch. He held the lead before settling for a T3 at the RBC Heritage two weeks ago. That was one of only three events Hatton has entered this year – the other two being a T6 at the WGC–Mexico Championship and a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill before the shut down.
Will Puma’s Fowler Finally Pounce at the Rocket Mortgage Classic
A polarizing pre-tournament name is Rocket Mortgage ambassador Rickie Fowler. Still trying to fine-tune swing changes he embarked on with a new coach during the Tour’s hiatus, Fowler missed consecutive cuts before taking last week off.
In fact, he has missed four of his past six cuts, plummeting to No. 31 in the world. Fowler tied for 46th at the Detroit Golf Club last year, but is still among the top-10 pre-tournament favorites at +2800 at Bet America and +3000 at PointsBet.
With only a sprinkling of the top players in the world in this week’s field, it should open the door for several young players who have shown good form of late.
One of those is Viktor Hovland. He tied for 13th at last year’s Rocket Mortgage Challenge in just his second event after turning pro. It took him until this year’s Puerto Rico Open to notch his first victory on Tour, but he enters with three consecutive top-25 finishes.
That includes a T11 last week when he posted four consecutive rounds in the 60s. Hovland is +1800 at both books, just ahead of fellow second-year pro Sungjae Im (+2200).
Im finished 21st in Detroit last year en route to winning Rookie of the Year honors. The South Korean also picked up his maiden Tour victory earlier this year at The Honda Classic. He has struggled with a missed cut and a T58 the past two weeks, but don’t sleep on Im. He also finished solo third at Bay Hill and has arguably the most well-rounded games among the Tour’s rising stars.
Two other names to keep an eye on: defending champion Nate Lashley, who won by a staggering six shots (26-under par) last year over Doc Redman, who posted a trio of 67s after an opening-round 68.
It has been a difficult year for Lashley, who followed up a T3 at the Phoenix Open with a WD and four consecutive missed cuts. He understandably enters with long odds at +12500 at both books, but he also clearly has a good feel for the Detroit Golf Club.
“I love the course,” said Lashley, who added Rocket Mortgage as a sponsor since last year’s victory. “I wasn’t in a whole lot of trouble (last year) and always had a shot. When you play like that on a course, you’re always going to have great memories of it.”
Redman’s runner-up last year was his best finish to date on Tour. His next best? A T11 at last week’s Travelers Championship, where he tied for the best closing round with a 63. That followed a T21 at the RBC Heritage as Redman has vaulted 44 spots in the rankings the past two weeks.
Redman is among the favorites for FanDuel’s outright winner prop bet minus DeChambeau, Hatton, Hovloand, Im, Reed, Simpson and Hideki Matsuyama.
Fowler is the prop favorite at +2100, followed by Tony Finau and Kevin Na (+2200), with Redman and Scottie Sheffler at +2600.
Scheffler cracked the top 50 for the first time just before the Tour halted play and has returned with a T55 and missed cut sandwiched around a withdrawal from the RBC Heritage. He is being offered at +3300 by Bet America and PointsBet, putting him among the top-10 favorites along with Finau (+3000) and Na (+3300).
–Field Level Media
