Detroit Golf Club yielded plenty of low scores in the Rocket Mortgage Classic debut last year, even as Nate Lashley ran away with the trophy.
(CBS Detroit) — The Rocket Mortgage Classic, a relative newcomer to the PGA Tour, already has a storied history. Its host, the Detroit Golf Club, is among the Tour’s oldest courses. Inaugural winner Nate Lashley, then ranked 353rd, slipped into the field last year as an alternate, only to win by a whopping six strokes. A once-a-century pandemic forced the postponement of this year’s tournament from late May to early July. What could possibly happen next?
The Rocket Mortgage Classic looks to add another chapter this week, as the PGA Tour enters its fourth event since returning from a three-month COVID-19 hiatus. Fans are once again barred from attending. Social distancing and various other safety measures remain in place and have become just another part of the tournament experience. So too have announcements of players contracting or being exposed to the virus. Harris English is the fifth player to test positive since the Tour’s return. He withdrew from the tournament Monday.
Virus aside, this week’s event feels a little more like a non-major than the first three. The Rocket Mortgage field boasts its fair share of talent, but absent are many of the stars who shook off the rust at the Charles Schwab Challenge, RBC Heritage and Travelers Championship. Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and last week’s winner Dustin Johnson are all taking the week off, as are Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka.
Webb Simpson (ranked sixth), who won the RBC Heritage but sat out the Travelers after being exposed to the virus, is the highest-ranked player teeing it up. Patrick Reed (seventh) and Bryson DeChambeau (10th) join him as the only other top-10 players in the field. Reed tied for fifth at last year’s Rocket Mortgage, and DeChambeau is riding a streak of six straight top-10 finishes dating back to February.
“A good thing that Bryson is doing is he finds a way to adapt,” according to CBS Sports lead golf analyst Nick Faldo. “And that’s very important. I think he said it himself, if I want to be the best player in the world, I’ve got to find a way playing well on courses that, on paper, don’t suit me.
