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Detroit — You never know what to expect from a PGA Tour tournament.
With such a large field, and the finicky nature of golf — you’re hot one day, cold the next — you could make a case for just about anybody to be holding the trophy come Sunday.
But at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, history suggests you can at least expect some good stories. In 2019, for the inaugural event, a little-known Nebraskan named Nate Lashley, still wearing the scar tissue of an unimaginable tragedy from several years before, broke through for his first PGA Tour win. The next win, a superstar-in-the-making named Bryson DeChambeau predicted he would overpower Detroit Golf Club, then went out and did just that. And last year, an Australian named Cam Davis eagled the 17th hole on Sunday, forcing his way into a playoff, in which he prevailed in five grueling holes for his first PGA Tour victory.
What will it be this week? We’ll know soon enough, with the fourth playing of Detroit’s first and only PGA Tour stop getting underway early Thursday morning.
Here are some of the storylines to keep an eye on, as a field of 156 battles for a $1.512 million top prize.
Getting No. 1
In its first three years, the Rocket Mortgage Classic has produced a pair of first-time winners on the PGA Tour — Nate Lashley in 2019 and Cam Davis in 2021. In the inaugural event, Lashley went wire-to-wire to earn his first PGA Tour victory, and Davis won a five-hole playoff a year ago to grab win No. 1. There’s a good chance this year’s event could produce another first-timer, especially with the likes of Will Zalatoris, the No. 13-ranked player in the world and runner-up at this year’s U.S. Open and PGA Championship, and Cameron Young, runner-up at The Open Championship and ranked No. 19, still looking to win for that first trophy.
Patty Ice
While there will be a handful of players this week looking to secure their spot in the FedExCup Playoffs, there is no such concern for Patrick Cantlay. The defending FedExCup champion is sixth in the current standings and is the highest-ranked player in the world in this week’s field, at No. 4. Still, there is some work to do considering Cantlay’s only victory this season came at a team event when he paired with Xander Schauffele to win the Zurich Classic. A win this week, though, with a pair of top-10s in his last two events, could have him in prime position to defend his Cup title, which this year will be paying $18 million to the champ.
Stuard’s struggles
Brian Stuard, the Jackson native and Oakland alum, has been a card-carrying member of the PGA Tour since 2013, but he’s in a tough position entering the final two weeks of the regular season. He sits well outside the top 125, which he needs to crack to keep his card. It doesn’t look great, given Stuard has missed a whopping 20 of 32 cuts this season, including 10 in a row entering his home-state event at Detroit Golf Club. He was in a precarious position entering Rocket week last year, too, but the Rocket was earlier on the schedule, he had time to rally, and did just that. Can Stuard, 39, find the magic again in Detroit, where he tied for fifth in 2019?
Challenge accepted
The signature area of Detroit Golf Club is Nos. 14-16, known during tournament week as AREA 313 — because any player who, during the course of the week, can go 3-1-3 on the holes will trigger a $313,000 donation to charity. Nobody’s pulled off the super-tough feat in the first three years, but Scott Brown had the best shot, given he is the only one to ace the short par-3 15th. He couldn’t complete the trifecta, though. Even without the 313 feat, Rocket Mortgage will donate $5,000 for every eagle made on the par-5 14th, and every birdie on the par-4 16th, and $25,000 for every ace on 15. Last year, that raised nearly $400,000.
LIV on the edge
This week’s Rocket tournament is being played opposite the new and controversial LIV golf tour event, which is in New Jersey. Players are being asked about it, and fans are talking about it, so we are writing about it. But rather than focus on who’s not here — Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed are the only big LIV guys who’ve been regulars at the Rocket Mortgage Classic — embrace who showed up, understanding this is probably the deepest field in four years of the Rocket, with the likes of Patrick Cantlay, Will Zalatoris, Cameron Young, Tony Finau and Max Homa, plus big names like Jason Day and Rickie Fowler looking for a career revival.
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tpaul@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @tonypaul1984
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