After a historic weekend at the 3M Open, we head to Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan, for the Rocket Classic.
Detroit Golf Club is a par-70 that spans over 7,300 yards. Conditions are expected to be mild upon first tee time, but will progressively get more humid. Last season's winner, Aldrich Potgieter, is listed at +7000 to repeat, per FanDuel.
Let's dive into our staff's Rocket Classic picks and PGA Tour best bets for this week.
First Round Leader Pick: Cameron Young (+2500)
By: Tony Sartori
Detroit Golf Club is a bomber’s course. With relatively few penalties for missed fairways, this venue allows golfers to grip and rip.
Last year, each of the top five finishers ranked inside the top five in the field in strokes gained: off the tee. No other strokes-gained category showed the same trend.
This setup makes Cameron Young a strong target in this market.
Entering this week, Young ranks in the 97th percentile in strokes gained: off the tee and in the 90th percentile in driving distance. Therefore, it is not surprising he has played well here in three appearances, recording two top-six finishes.
A jump in performance could be in store this year, given his recent form. Over the past 12 months, Young has captured three PGA Tour victories and is coming off a runner-up finish at The Open Championship.
Outright Winner and Top-10 Pick: Jake Knapp (+3200 — Winner, +380 — Top-10)
By: Derek Farnsworth
Like many, I've been tempted to bet Jake Knapp over the last few weeks. I decided to wait until I saw one good week from him before making the bet, as it's tough to win when you are in bad form.
He suffered a thumb injury that really derailed his 2026 campaign, but he finally seems to be over it. At last week's 3M Open, he shot 9-under in the final round to finish in the top 15.
More importantly, he gained over 10 strokes ball striking. He now gets to play on one of the most bomber-friendly courses on the PGA Tour. His approach play has been fantastic all year, and he's 1st in the field in Birdie or Better % over the last 6 months.
I'm not putting much stock into course history this week, but it certainly doesn't hurt that Knapp finished T4 here last year. I'm betting the outright and the top 10.
Top-20 Pick: Ben Kohles (+260)
By: Kyle Murray
The one element that Ben Kohles could improve on to get him over the hump is probably the most difficult element of a game to improve quickly, and that's driving distance.
We’ve seen Matt Fitzpatrick improve his driving distance quickly, but it took him at least a year.
That's sort of where he falls behind, but I don't think he's in a spot this week in particular where that will kill him here.
He's 87th in total driving, 128th in driving distance, but I do think that with the differences in course this year compared to last, it could be a spot where it helps him.
Kohles has a good driving percentage, as well as total driving. Overall, that’s going to be important moving forward.
When you look at the rest of his strokes-gained marks over the last 24 rounds, he’s eighth in total strokes-gained, fifth in tee-to-green, and second in strokes-gained: approach.
Those three buckets alone are enough for me to say that he can get the job done.
So if this course is going to change the way that guys have to play off the tee, he's someone I think is at the top of my list, especially at this number.
Matchup Winner Pick: Nicolai Hojgaard (-110) Over Harris English
By: Spencer Aguiar
On a board with unknown elements due to course changes, I found the overall matchup slate left a ton to be desired when trying to handicap head-to-head pairings for the week.
Very little value presented itself when I ran proper pricing. Any outlier totals were typically accompanied by questions on the opposite end that left me uncomfortable about who I was backing (and perhaps even who I was fading).
Anyone who follows me will know that a lot of my pre-event process stems from finding a player pool to fade in matchups and attempting to pinpoint the best values matched against them.
Harris English is not a standard fade candidate. I've talked all season about his increase in off-the-tee acumen. That metric began this year with an onslaught of top 30 finishes, before a recent wall was struck by him that generated three missed-cut showings over his last four starts since the U.S. Open.
I don't want that narrative to suggest that English can't regain his early form of 2026. In fact, there is a lot to like about him when diving deeper into the numbers (outside of iron play). However, what made me land on this wager was the immense upside my model seems to be projecting for Nicolai Hojgaard.
The floor is much lower than I would care to see for a matchup bet. A negative safety trajectory is not something you want to find yourself consistently chasing, but the long-term metrics tell a completely different story than what we have received over the last 24 rounds when gearing the stats for Detroit Golf Club.
I wouldn't be shocked if this bet needs to be decided late on Sunday. I just think the recent form of both caused books to place them into the same pairing, which, according to my numbers, presented Hojgaard in a range that was too low for the upside he possessed this week.
My math suggests he is more of a 35/1 sort of golfer than one landing closer to the 70/1 mark.
