2025 Rocket Classic Primer: History, TV, Field, Odds

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2025 Rocket Classic Primer Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler during a Pro-Am prior to the Rocket Classic 2025 at Detroit Golf Club on June 25, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus via Getty Images)

The PGA Tour heads to Detroit for the seventh edition of the Rocket Classic, headlined by the likes of Keegan Bradley, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, and Rickie Fowler.

It’s the first of two stops in the Midwest, with the John Deere in Ilinois/Iowa to follow, before heading across the pond for two weeks of high-stakes golf, headlined by the 2025 British Open.

Below, you’ll find more details to help you get primed for the 2025 edition of the Rocket Classic.


2024 Rocket Classic


The Skinny

Tournament: Rocket Classic
Tour Debut: 2019
Dates: June 26-29, 2025
Season Spot: 29th of 39
Where: Detroit, Michigan
Course: Detroit Golf Club
Distance: Par 36-36-72, 7370 yards
Architect: Donald Ross
Format: Stroke-play, 72 holes/36-hole cut
Field: 156 players
Purse: $9,600,000
Winning Share: $1,728,000
Win Pts (FEC/OWGR): 500/50
TV Network: GOLF/CBS
Defending Champion: Cam Davis


How to Follow the Rocket Classic

pgw 2025 rocket classic primer flag

TELEVISION: Thu-Fri: 3-6 p.m. (GOLF); Sat-Sun: 1-3 p.m. (GOLF), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)

STREAM: Thu-Fri: 3-6 p.m. (NBC SPORTS APP); Sat-Sun: 1-3 p.m. (NBC SPORTS APP), 3-6 p.m. (CBS SPORTS APP)

PGA TOUR LIVE: Thu-Fri: 7 a.m.-6 p.m. (ESPN+); Sat-Sun: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. (ESPN+)
Watch on ESPN+

PGA TOUR RADIO: Thu-Fri: 12-6 p.m.; Sat-Sun: 1-6 p.m.
(PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio)

EVENT LINKS: Website | Facebook | Instagram | X/Twitter

PGA TOUR LINKS: Web | Instagram | X/Twitter | Facebook | YouTube


Tournament History

horton-smith-bobby-jones
Golf legend Bobby Jones congratulates Horton Smith after Smith won the the inaugural Masters Tournament at Jones’ Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia on March 25, 1934. Credit: Getty Images

The Rocket Mortgage Classic might be lacking history, but the host venue, Detroit Golf Club, most definitely does not, which includes acting as the host venue for the 1941 Ryder Cup matches.

The Club itself has roots dating all the way back to 1899 and the North Course, where the event will mostly be contested (see Course section), is an original design of the legendary golf course architect Donald Ross, whose resume includes Pinehurst No. 2, East Lake, Oakland Hills, and Aronimink, among many others.

One of the Detroit Golf Club’s former club pros knows a few things about golf events: Horton Smith held the position from 1946 until 1963; the same Horton Smith who won the first ever Masters Tournament in 1934. Smith’s 32-win PGA Tour career also included a second Masters triumph in 1936.

The tournament also has roots going back to the Motor City Open, a PGA Tour event played at various clubs in and around Detroit for just under two decades.

Cary Middlecoff Golf Masters
Cary Middlecoff won 40 PGA Tour trophies including 3 majors. Credit: AP

The PGA Tour record for the longest sudden-death playoff was established at the 1949 Motor City Open when Cary Middlecoff and Lloyd Mangrum played 11 holes at Meadowbrook Country Club in Northville, Michigan. The stalemated lasted until darkness, and tournament officials, with their mutual consent, declared them co-winners.

Another oddity: In 1955, the Motor City Open was originally scheduled to be played at Meadowbrook again. This was abandoned, however, when Meadowbrook professional, Chick Harbert, won the PGA Championship in 1954. Meadowbrook petitioned for and won the opportunity to host the 1955 PGA Championship. Due to this development, the Motor City Open was not held in 1955. This is the only time that a defending champion of a major championship has hosted the tournament the following year.

In 2019, the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic replaced The National event on the PGA Tour schedule, which was played for 12 years in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, hosted by Tiger Woods.

Bryson DeChambeau Wins Rocket Mortgage Classic
Bryson DeChambeau is interviewed after winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic on July 5, 2020 at the Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan. Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Bryson DeChambeau, who now plays on the LIV Golf tour, is the tournament’s only major-winning champion. DeChambeau claimed the 2020 edition, and two months later won the first of two U.S. Open titles.

Other winners include Nate Lashley (2019), Cameron Davis (2021, 2024), Tony Finau (2022) and Rickie Fowler (2023), who was probably the most popular champ.


The Course: Detroit Golf Club

A general view of the clubhouse entrance at Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Michigan on June 24, 2019, ahead of the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic. Credit: CBS Detroit

Detroit Golf Club is comprised of two historic golf courses – the North and South – both designed by Donald Ross in the early 1900s.

To accommodate a PGA Tour event, however, tournament organizers, and club officials, have blended the championship tracks together in order to create one big PGA Tour venue with extra yardage, pro-style tee boxes, additional sand hazards, rerouted holes, and ample room for the PGA Tour’s traveling circus (TV towers, stadium seating, galleries, concessions, hospitality tents, equipment/TV trucks, parking, and whatnot).

The newly-reconfigured Detroit Golf Club will play to a par 72 (36-36), while stretching 7,370 yards for the event. It will include the traditional four par-5s, four par-3s, and the 10 par-4s.

Official Scorecard
2025 Rocket Classic Primer Scorecard 2025
The four par 5s (17, 7, 14, and 4 – in that order) were the four easiest holes in the 2024 edition of the Rocket Classic. The par-4 6th hole was the toughest (+0.239). (Scorecard courtesy of PGA Tour Media)
Fast Facts

Detroit Golf Club
Course: Tournament Configuration
Established: 1899
Architect: Donald Ross
Par: 36-36-72
Yards: 7370
Par 3s: 4 (5, 9, 11, 15)
Par 5s: 4 (4, 7, 14, 17)
2024 Hardest: Par-4 6th (4.239)
2024 Easiest: Par-5 17th (4.455)


Rocket Classic Field Overview

2025 Rocket Classic Primer Collin Morikawa
Collin Morikawa and his caddie during a Pro-Am prior to the Rocket Classic 2025 at Detroit Golf Club on June 25, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus via Getty Images)

Fan favorite Rickie Fowler will return to Detroit but enters amid poor form with just one top 10 on the season (T7 at the Memorial).

He will be joined by a handful of top-20 ranked players such as Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Hideki Matsuyama, Ben Griffin and Patrick Cantlay.

Other top contenders include Cam Young, Si Woo Kim, Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick, Luke Clanton and Akshay Bhatia.

Other familiar names: Keith Mitchell, Alex Noren, Tom Kim and Max Homa, among others.

Top-5 Betting Favorites

Pos-Player(Odds)
1. Collin Morikawa (14-1)
1. Patrick Cantlay (14-1)
3. Ben Griffin (20-1)
4. Cam Young (22-1)
4. Keegan Bradley (22-1)


Full Field: Odds & Book Rank

2025 Rocket Classic Primer Hideki Matsuyama
Hideki Matsuyama and his caddie during a Pro-Am prior to the Rocket Classic 2025 at Detroit Golf Club on June 25, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus via Getty Images)


Carey Hoffman contributed to this preview.
*Pro Golf Weekly earns with qualified purchases at Amazon.

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