Rocket Mortgage Picks and Predictions: Look for Sahith Theegala, Taylor Pendrith to Make Runs

Rocket Mortgage Picks and Predictions: Look for Theegala, Pendrith to Make Runs

The Rocket Mortgage Classic was first held in 2019 at Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan. The tournament replaced the Quicken Loans National on the schedule and was the first PGA Tour event ever to be completely within the Detroit City limits. We have been treated to surprise winners and fireworks in the three previous iterations of this event, with Nate Lashley claiming victory as a 300/1 long shot, Bryson DeChambeau bombing and gauging his way to his sixth PGA Tour title, and Cameron Davis breaking through with a similar approach to Bryson. This year, a talented crop of challengers will head to the Motor City, headlined by Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris, Max Homa, and Cameron Young.

Rocket Mortgage Course Preview

Detroit Golf Club

Click here for complete Rocket Mortgage Classic odds

Detroit Golf Club is an old-school, classical Donald Ross design first erected in 1916. It plays as a par 72, tipping out to 7,370 yards on the scorecard, featuring wide fairways, lush rough, and receptive Bent/Poa greens. While one of the most beautiful parkland courses in America, Detroit Golf Club still has a difficult time standing up to the best players in the world. Each of the last three years, it has ranked as one of the top-10 easiest courses on the PGA Tour schedule, and every single hole except the 11th features over a 12% birdie rate. Detroit Golf Club has consistently featured a very high greens in regulation percentage, and on average, 41.6% of strokes gained have come putting, which is healthily above the Tour average of 35.6%. Translation: This is what we would define as a putting contest.

Tournaments held on courses that struggle to separate the elite from average tee to green play can be incredibly challenging to predict, but there are still a few key indicators that should be predictive of performance. Since the course is less than imposing in its length and devoid of any real water hazards, we've seen players with above-average distance off the tee possess a distinct advantage. Length off the tee is still more of a luxury than a necessity at this course, and shorter players can still absolutely succeed if they are elite wedge players and elite putters. Ultimately, I will be looking to target players who raise their expected baseline in easier scoring conditions and have displayed a capability to catch fire with the flat stick.

Rocket Mortgage Picks

Rocket Mortgage Key Stats

• Birdies or Better Gained
• Strokes Gained Total: Easy Scoring Conditions
• Strokes Gained Putting (Bent/Poa)

Let's dig into my outright Rocket Mortgage picks for the week ahead without further ado.

Bet $5, Get $200 Guaranteed when betting on the PGA with FanDuel

Rocket Mortgage Picks and Predictions: Outright Winner

Sahith Theegala (+5000) (Bet $100 to Win $5,000)

*Odds available at DraftKings SportsBook at time of publishing*

Sahith Theegala has seen his odds crater into the 20/1 territory in recent tournaments such as the John Deere Classic and 3M Open, and while those numbers were never for me, I feel that this is an absolutely perfect buy-low spot on the former Haskins Award winner. I've always had Sahith earmarked for this event, given the fact that Detroit Golf Club should allow the former Pepperdine standout to bomb away off the tee with little penalty for wayward driving. A 16th at the John Deere, 14th at the Fortinet, and second at the Travelers display a player that raises his baseline on easier scoring, tree-lined Bent-grass tests, and the fact that he's already had three legitimate chances to win on Sunday leaves me feeling confident that he's beginning to learn about his tendencies in contention. He was two swings away from winning much stronger field tournaments such as the Waste Management Open and Travelers Championship, and I have little doubt he has the meddle to secure his first PGA Tour victory in the Motor City.

Taylor Pendrith (+8000) (Bet $100 to Win $8,000)

*Odds available at Bet365 at time of publishing*

Taylor Pendrith is another player that I have had earmarked at this event for a while. He's battled his fair share of injuries throughout the season, but in his two starts since returning to competition, he's finished 13th at the Barbasol and 11th at the Barracuda. The Canadian fits the Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Davis mold to a tee in the sense that he absolutely bombs it off the tee, makes a ton of birdies, and can catch fire with the flat stick. While extremely different in their difficulty level, Bryson employed the same strategy at Winged Foot as he did at Detroit Golf Club. Both are tree-lined, classical courses with back-to-front sloping greens that allow the longest of players to run up their wedges, and I was highly encouraged to see Pendrith take this approach as well en-route to a 23rd place finish at the 2020 U.S. Open in one of his first ever PGA Tour starts. The 31-year-old has greatly improved as a player since then, and I believe he will be firmly in the mix come Sunday afternoon.

Looking for the best sportsbook offers? Check out the free bets page