2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic Preview

rocket mortgage classic tournament

The Rocket Mortgage Classic is a newer tournament on the PGA Tour holding its first event in 2019. The RMC replaced the Quicken Loans tournament and is the first tournament ever to be held in Detroit. In its first year it was highly successful with both fan attendance and the praise of the golfers themselves. Both those are recipes for success especially since Rocket Mortgage is owned by Dan Gilbert and Quicken Loans is headquartered in Detroit. 

Tournament Overview

The Rocket Mortgage Classic is played at the Detroit Golf Club built in 1916 which makes it one of the oldest courses that the PGA Tour plays on.

  • Date – July 2nd to 5th, 2020
  • Prize Pool – $7,500,000
  • First Place – $1,350,000
  • Field Size – 156
  • FedEx Cup Points – 500

The 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic is scheduled to be the final of four PGA Tour events to be played without fans being present on the golf course. Normally the tournament would have been played at the end of May, it now falls onto the July 4th weekend with the schedule reshuffle and should get a solid number of viewers this time as well. A few top golfers have committed to playing which will make betting picks and fantasy golf picks a bit easier with some better players to choose from. Last year was a bit of a birdie fest but since it was the first time the tournament was held, we’ll have to see if that continues in the future.

Course Preview

Built in 1916 Detroit Golf Club is the oldest PGA Tour course on the schedule. The big hitters in the field will have an advantage but only if they can find the fairways. The DGC is tree lined and the rough is thick and getting out of there means then avoiding the 87 bunkers that surround the golf course. The course has two short par 3 holes under 170 yards and 4 short par 4 holes which are under 400 yards. The four par 5 holes are pretty average compared to others on the Tour.

detroit golf club clubhouse

The clubhouse was built in 1918 and in 2020 went under a $4.5M renovation.

The greens are an average size but they are undulating so making that approach shot close to the pin may be the difference between birdie and bogey on some holes. The course itself is maybe the flattest on the PGA Tour and not filled with a huge amount of doglegs and there is only one water hazard throughout. Overall as history so far has shown, there are lots of scoring opportunities throughout but accuracy off the tee and into the greens will be key to winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Detroit Golf Club Course Stats

  • Location: Detroit, Michigan
  • Par = 72
  • Yards = 7340
  • Public Course
  • Course Designed By: Donald Ross

PGA Tour Hole by Hole Guide

2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic Field

Players have until 5:00pm on the Friday before the tournament to commit to playing but here are some golfers that committed early, before the schedule changes. Check back closer to the tournament for a full updated list of players:

Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brandt Snedeker and defending champion Nate Lashley.

Past Winners / Event History

This tournament was a long time in the making and is a great boost for the Detroit economy. Detroit previously hosted the Buick Open from 1958 to 2009 but because of hard economic times sponsors could not afford to host it any longer. Michigan has long tried to find sponsors to help bring the PGA Tour back to the Detroit area and an event at the Detroit Golf Club was the ultimate goal. That goal was realized in 2019 when the 1st ever Rocket Mortgage Classic tournament was held.

Past Winners:

2019 – Nate Lashley

2020 Betting Preview

Last year if you made a bet to win on any of the top 10 golfers in the field at the Rocket Mortgage Classic…you lost! The favorites barely made their way on the leaderboard and relative unknown longshot Nate Lashley won by 6 strokes. Will 2020 be any different? I would look more towards how the play has been the last few weeks since the schedule started up again and see who is playing best and use that as a starting point. This week golfers with both distance and accuracy are favored to win but like we learned last year, being the favorite isn’t a guarantee of anything.

Betting Odds

RBC Heritage Odds have not been released yet for the 2020 tournament.  They should be released once the field starts getting confirmed.

We will have the odds for the favorites, longshots and popular picks posted here.

Rocket Mortgage Classic Fantasy Preview

For daily fantasy golf players the points will be flowing at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Last year’s cut line was -5 and the winning score was -25 although the runners up were around the -19 score. This is a course that favors long hitters but accuracy is more important for success. Last year the top players in the field like Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland, Bubba Watson all missed the cut, or weren’t a factor at all like Rickie Fowler or Hideki Matsuyama. In other words, this may once again be an unpredictable field to make fantasy picks from.

Common Rocket Mortgage Classic Questions

How Much Does The Winner Get?

Total cash prizes being given out this week is $7,500,000 with the first place winner walking away with $1,350,000. The last man to make the cut and finish in last will walk away with approx. $15K.

Who Can Win The Rocket Mortgage Classic?

As we saw last year, the favorites didn’t do well and so just looking at the top players to win the Rocket Mortgage Classic isn’t a strategy to lean on. That being said, you can’t discount guys like Rickie Fowler or Dustin Johnson to take over the course and put up a low number and win it. When we get a better look at the Rocket Mortgage field we will look again as to who can win the week.

Similar Posts