Quick look at the Rocket Mortgage Classic

Time to get revved up for some Motor City action as the PGA TOUR returns to Detroit for the Rocket Mortgage Challenge. Despite a significant history of golf in Michigan and even the Detroit metro area, last season’s tournament at Detroit Golf Club represented the first top level golf in Detroit proper. And it produced perhaps the best feelgood story of the season as Nate Lashley led from the green light to the checkered flag. Lashley was the last player in the field and clearly not expected to contend. The fact he was even playing on the PGA TOUR was seen as a huge achievement given he lost his parents and girlfriend to a tragic plane crash in 2004 as they returned from watching him play in college. It was others who failed to contend. Lashley would eventually win by six shots in a goose bump inducing display. What incredible story awaits us this year? RELATED: Featured Groups, tee times | Power Rankings | Expert Picks THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER THE FLYOVER Detroit Golf Club is an old classic Donald Ross design that invites you to showcase your skills. Hopefully we will see plenty of sublime skills at the 3-1-3 challenge holes. Using the Detroit area code as a base the tournament will offer the chance for players to make significant charitable impact while playing the par-5 14th, the par-3 15th and the par-4 16th during each round. The first golfer to go 3-1-3 will have a $313,000 contribution made in his name towards the Rocket Giving Fund charities connected to digital access and Detroit’s digital divide. In addition, each eagle at 14 earns a $5,000 donation, each ace at 15 earns a $25,000 donation and each birdie at 16 results in a $5,000 donation. Get an in-depth look at the challenge and those holes here. LANDING ZONE The par-4 18th at Detroit Golf Club features a narrow ditch running down it just waiting to swallow a ball and create all sorts of drama for those looking to finish on a high. Last season it was the second hardest hole in the tournament, playing to a 4.113 over the four rounds. Nine double bogeys and two triple bogeys showed you might need a Lashley type lead to be secure as you hit the 72nd tee. From the tee precision is key. You must split the bunkers guarding both sides to have the best chance at holding the toughest green on the course. Those hitting the short grass off the tee actually played the hole fractionally under par… but those that didn’t all had struggles. Here’s a look at how players placed their tee shots and the results they garnered from them. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Stewart Williams: “High pressure will provide hot temperatures as we go through the rest of the week into the weekend with highs in the low 90s. There will be some weak upper level energy moving across the state on Friday that could produce an isolated shower or thunderstorm as it passes. Otherwise dry conditions will continue with partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies expected with light winds averaging 5-10 mph each day.” For the latest weather news from Detriot, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK This course, it should be kind of a premium on hitting the fairways, so if the rough is a penalty this week, that’s probably the way it should be.In the mornings I usually have four eggs, five pieces of bacon, some toast and two Orgain protein shakes. Throughout the course of the day, I’ll have a GoMacro bar, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and at least two protein drinks on the golf course, and then after the round I’ll have one. After that, I’m snacking when I’m practicing after. Go back to the hotel, eat a dinner, steak, potatoes. Then I’ll have two protein shakes with it there as well. BY THE NUMBERS -46 – Bryson DeChambeau is a combined 46-under par since the Restart to Golf on the PGA TOUR, best of any player entering this week. -14 – Nate Lashley dominated the par 4s at Detroit Golf Club in 2019, playing them a field leading 14 under, tied for the best by a winner on TOUR last season. 5 – Number of rounds of 63 or better this season by Brendon Todd. Todd’s five rounds of 63 or better have come in his last 43 played on TOUR compared to just three rounds of 63 or better in his first 497 rounds on TOUR. 7 – Players in the field who have made the cut in all three of the PGA TOUR events since the Restart to Golf. They are Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Tyler Duncan, Lucas Glover, Mark Hubbard, Doc Redman and Brian Stuard. 51.52 – Percentage the field who hit their drives over 300 yards, marking the third highest percentage of drives over 300 yards of any course last season. 1,895 – Number of birdies the field made last season at Detroit Golf Club, marking the second-most of any course. SCATTERSHOTS Flash Gordon… After a T3 finish last week at the Travelers Championship, 23-year-old Will Gordon accepted Special Temporary Membership on the TOUR and now looks to ride the momentum. The 2019 SEC Player of the Year shot a career best 61 at Travelers on the way to his second top-10 from eight starts. Will Peter Kuest, James Nicholas or Sahith Theegala be able to follow in his footsteps this week as young stars trying to pave their own path? Health and Safety… The PGA TOUR has been committed to learning from an operational standpoint and adjusting its extensive COVID-19 health and safety protocols in place in order to mitigate risk and promote the health and safety of all involved, including players, caddies, staff and volunteers. With that in mind, the TOUR made the following changes last week: additional testing for those traveling on the charter flight between events; potential withholding of the stipend program if a player tests positive after not following protocols; the return of the TOUR fitness truck to encourage use of on-site facilities; in the COVID-19 pre-tournament testing process, players, along with all other individuals “inside the bubble,” will now not be allowed on host facility property until first being cleared with a negative in-market test. Course deets… Donald Ross designed both courses at Detroit Golf Club (1916) with renovations done by Robert Trent Jones, Arthur Hills and Bruce Hepner. It plays to a Par 72 at 7,340 yards. There are 87 bunkers but just one water hazard. There has been some re-routing for the tournament, including using a hole from the South Course. The South’s first hole will function as the tournament’s third hole and will be played from the North Course’s first hole tee box. The usual eighth hole and ninth holes, will be No. 1 and No. 2 for the tournament. The oak tree located to the right side of the tee box on the original No. 1 was bent by Native Americans to mark the trail when traveling from Detroit to Saginaw. Major pedigree… Three major winners have been head pros at Detroit Golf Club. Nine years before he was hired at DGC, Alec Ross won the 1907 U.S. Open, posting four rounds in the 70s to win by two strokes at Philadelphia Cricket Club (his brother and course designer Donald finished 10th). Following Ross as head pro was Horton Smith, the inaugural Masters winner (1934) who would win again in 1936. And after Smith was Detroit native Walter Burkemo, who had won the 1953 PGA Championship at nearby Birmingham Country Club. George Bayer also held the job for some time, a four-time PGA TOUR winner known for long drives. He finished inside the top-15 at the Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open during his career. For more things to know about DGC check this out.

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