The 2026 Rocket Classic marks the final PGA Tour event at Detroit Golf Club, ending a run that began in 2019 when Rocket Mortgage brought top-tier golf back to Michigan.
With the Tour shifting to a two-tier tournament model in 2028, the sponsor opted not to continue funding a lower-tier event.
The farewell edition comes with a complete restoration of the Donald Ross-designed course by architect Tyler Rae. The project rebuilt and enlarged the greens (from roughly 5,400 to 6,700 square feet), restored Ross’s original high-flashed bunkers (now 91 in total, larger and deeper than before), reintroduced the 1916-era drainage ditches, removed the course’s only water hazard, and reopened strategic angles through selective tree removal.
The biggest competitive change is on the scorecard.
The course now plays as a 7,328-yard par 70 instead of a par 72, with the 7th and 17th, historically the two easiest holes, converted from short par 5s into long par 4s that may now rank among the hardest.
Four par 4s exceed 500 yards. After averaging nearly two under par per round across its first seven editions, Detroit GC is expected to play significantly tougher, rewarding precise approach play, strong long-iron games, and putting on more contoured greens rather than pure birdie-making.
The field is the strongest in tournament history: 147 players including four of the world’s top 10 and 28 of the top 60. Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka, and Jordan Spieth make their Detroit debuts, while defending champion Aldrich Potgieter returns alongside past winners Cam Davis, Tony Finau, and Rickie Fowler. It’s the second-to-last regular season event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Outright Winner: Cameron Young (+980)
Also playing: Wire-to-Wire Winner (+9000), First Round Leader (+2500)
I’ll be upfront: I’m not one to bet chalk or the top of the odds board. It’s just not how I play these cards. But this week, I can’t take my eyes off Cameron Young’s name.
Young comes in red-hot off a runner-up finish at The Open Championship, and with no Scottie Scheffler in the field, it’s genuinely hard to name many players who can compete with Cam when he’s playing up to his ceiling. And here’s the thing: the restored Detroit Golf Club plays right into his hands.
This course is significantly harder now, and that alone deletes a huge chunk of this field from realistically winning. A tougher test narrows the funnel, and the players left standing are the ones with elite tee-to-green firepower. That’s Cam.
He also has legitimate course history here, with a T6 and a T2 in two of his only three starts at Detroit Golf Club. But what really seals it for me is how cleanly he checks every key stat box for this venue:
- Ranks first in my model this week
- First in Birdie or Better %
- Second in Par-4 Scoring — critical now that this is a par 70 loaded with 500+ yard par 4s
- Top 15 in Strokes Gained: Approach
- Top 7 in long iron play — huge on a 7,328-yard track with 200+ yard par 3s
- Putting the best he ever has in his career
I have a very hard time not seeing Cam in contention come Sunday. I know +980 is short for an outright, so to squeeze a little more juice out of the position, I’m also sprinkling on wire-to-wire at +9000 and first round leader at +2500. If he comes out hot Thursday, this card gets very interesting.
