The PGA Tour makes its penultimate stop before the FedExCup Playoffs at Detroit Golf Club where the final rendition of the Rocket Classic is set to tee off Thursday.
Amid changes to the Tour’s schedule, Rocket declined an option to extend its sponsorship with the event to 2027. What the future holds for professional golf in the Motor City remains a bit of an unknown.
What is known though is that Aldrich Potgieter walks in as the defending champ, knocking off Max Greyserman and Chris Kirk in a playoff to earn his first career PGA victory at 20 years old — making him the seventh-youngest winner on Tour since 1983.
Despite that breakthrough, you’re not going to find Potgieter’s name in the top 20 listed favorites for the Rocket (he’s going off at +10500 to win). The tournament favorite honor goes to world No. 3 and reigning Players winner Cameron Young.
Let’s see who the bookmakers believe is his best competition this week in Michigan before handing out some recommended plays.
2026 Rocket Classic favorites (courtesy of DraftKings, as of July 28)
- Cameron Young (+960)
- Xander Schauffele (+1600)
- Chris Gotterup (+1750)
- Si Woo Kim (+1900)
- Wyndham Clark (+1900)
- Patrick Cantlay (+2300)
- Jackson Koivun (+2300)
- Russell Henley (+2700)
- Ben Griffin (+2900)
- J.J. Spaun (+3100)
- Jake Knapp (+3200)
- Hideki Matsuyama (+3200)
- Ryan Gerard (+4000)
- Nicolai Hojgaard (+4200)
- Michael Thorbjornsen (+4200)
- Akshay Bhatia (+4400)
- Rickie Fowler (+4600)
- Keegan Bradley (+4600)
- Harris English (+4800)
- Jacob Bridgeman (+4900)
- Brooks Koepka (+5100)
Who will win the final Rocket Classic?
We’ll give two here, one from the short list above and another that’s much more of a longshot: Si Woo Kim +1900 and the aforementioned Max Greyserman at +8600.
Last year’s runner-up has just one T-10 in 2026 so admittedly there’s a bit of a leap of faith being taken on one of the Tour’s better drivers. But can he putt and scramble efficiently enough in the Motor City to get the job done? Well, guess that’s what the odds are for.
Coming off a T-6 at Royal Birkdale, Kim is seventh in FedExCup points so not necessarily as motivated as someone like Greyserman this week to find the winner’s circle. With that said, he also faces none of the pressure and that’s what we like about Kim entering the Rocket. Plus, he’s has made 19 of 20 cuts and ranks third on Tour in strokes gained approaching the green.
Rocket Classic first-round leader
Going to rinse and repeat a bit here and give one from the favorites list and a second player who should only be wagered upon with the smallest of allotments.
Akshay Bhatia at +5500 to be FRL is a good bet, even if his first round scoring average doesn’t necessarily jump off the page. You know what does? Bhatia’s 64 on Thursday two years ago at this very course! Additionally, he is coming off a missed cut at The Open earlier this month so we’re thinking he’ll be a bit under the radar amongst bettors — especially those only narrowly looking at his disappointing finishes at majors in 2026.
And now to our fun play alert: Taylor Pendrith at +10000 to lead after Thursday is our favorite triple digit recommendation this week. Like Bhata, the Canadian has runner-up experience here —coming up just short in 2022. He’s also coming in overlooked after a missed cut at TPC Twin Cities. Pendrith is 82nd in FedEx scoring so there’s motivation for a stronger start at Detroit Golf Club, and we’re betting on seeing just that Thursday.
Rocket Classic best
Chandler Phillips to T-10 is +1200, just have to get that filed and put on record after a T-3 last week at the 3M, as well as a T-13 in Detroit last year.
Now that the straight forward play is out of the way, let’s get a little creative here. We’re going with four golfers to finish T-30 (including ties): Wyndham Clark (-170), Russell Henley (-168), Patrick Cantlay (-166) and Rickie Fowler (-102). Parlayed together that yields a nice, clean +700 return.
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