Rocket Mortgage Classic

The Rocket Mortgage Classic is a brand-new event on the PGA Tour schedule and the hosting Detroit Golf Club is also a new course we have not seen. The course is a 7,334 yard, par 72 which does contain four par 5’s but we have no course history to analyse this week. From what I can gather, the course is a tree-lined course with some very tight driving holes and bunkers in key landing zones off the tee. That combined with rough that is projected to be around 3.5" long (higher than the PGA Tour average) puts emphasis on the Off the Tee game, especially accuracy. It’s also worth noting that this is a weak field, as only five of the top 25 golfers in the current Official World Golf Ranking are in the field for this event.

Being a new event, my confidence on players outside the Top 25 ranking is pretty low so we need to rely on form and simple statistics in line-up builds this week. According to rotogrinders.com this week’s key statistics include:

(In Order of Importance)

1) Strokes Gained Approach

2) Birdie or Better %

3) Strokes Gained Off the Tee

4) Bogey Avoidance

5) Strokes Gained Putting 

This week DraftKings have posted a $600,000 Drive the Green contest for a buy-in of $5.00 and Draftstars have posted a $8,000 contest for a $15 buy-in.

Let’s have a look who I am throwing darts (I mean really confident) for this week’s picks at the Rocket Mortgage Classic:

Hideki Matsuyama - ($10,200 DK $20,340 DS) Matsuyama has yet to win in 2019 but has been very consistent making all 15 cuts in stroke-play events with four Top 10's. That’s pretty good for any golfer, and there’s a nice combination of floor and ceiling here. Given the weak field, I would pretty disappointed to see Matsuyama go no good this week, as he ranks near the top of the field in almost every statistical category I am looking at. 1st for Strokes Gained Approach, 5th Birdies or Better %. Let’s see how he goes on these unknown greens. 

Kevin Streelman - ($8,600 DK $16,290 DS) Streelman comes into this week having made six straight cuts and with great results including, 6th at the Valero, T6 at the RBC Heritage, 4th at the Memorial, and T15 last week at the Travelers. With these results comes on the back of some impressive stats including 9th in the field for Bogey Avoidance and 11th in the field for Strokes gained on approach.   

Rory Sabbatini - ($8,500 DK $15,900 DS) Sabbatini has not missed a cut since February, with 11 straight top 45 finishes on his resume. This includes three Top 10's and five Top 25's and he has also gained strokes ball striking in nine straight events as well.Add in 2nd in Strokes Gained: Around the Green, and 4th in Par 4 Scoring. With a weak field I am hoping for a high finish for Rory who doesn’t mind a birdie or two.  

Hank Lebioda - ($6,900 DK $10,250 DS) Lebioda who was very good on the web.com tour last year, has made most of his opportunity on this year’s PGA Tour. With 11 cuts made in 16 starts, including six of his last seven. Again, with this weak field, I believe Hank is a great value play where he is 13th in the field for Birdies or Better % and 30th in the field for Strokes gained on approach. Great price on Draftstars so you can reach the big golfers on this slate. 

Garry Woodland - ($10,900 DK $19,950 DS) The US Open champion is the golfer I probably won’t have much at all this week after his fantastic win at Pebble Beach. As a first-time major winner, I tend to query getting back “on the horse” for these smaller events. Will be highly owned and looking to fade the field here. Although he is the best in the field this week for Par 5 scoring and 1st for Birdies or Better % so maybe a little bit won’t hurt. 

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The Daily Fantasy Rankings "Dragon" has scoured the Australian sports betting markets and found some great value picks for this event. Check out his picks for the day below and click on the links to follow his betting plays!

Dragon's Picks Odds Sportsbook
Top Continental Euro Player - Rory Sabbatini $3.00 Bet now at Sportsbet!
Top 5 - Hideki Matsuyama $3.85 Bet now at Neds!
H2H Kisner vs Streelman - Kevin Streelman $1.85 Bet now at BetEasy!
Top 10 - Kevin Streelman $4.60 Bet now at Pointsbet!

 

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