Golf
Rocket Mortgage Classic preview: Mitchell approaching second Tour title
A 600-mile trip greets the PGA Tour players as they head from Connecticut to Michigan for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
At last week’s Travelers Championship there were some shocking scenes on the 18th green, but normality was restored when Scottie Scheffler beat Tom Kim in a play-off to land his sixth title of the season.
Detroit, Michigan is once again the destination for the Rocket Mortgage classic, as a field of 152 players descend on Detroit Golf Club, with just one of the OWGR top-20 in action.
This weakened field provides a chance for those with less silverware in their cabinet to battle it out, and we have two selections who we think could add to their trophy hauls here.
Keith Mitchell 33/1
We’re back again with Keith Mitchell who is having one of his better seasons on the PGA Tour, but is yet to get his hands on any silverware in 2024.
This weaker field sees Mitchell head into the tournament ninth in the market as one of the leading contenders, but still at a healthy price of 33/1. Although it came back in 2019, Mitchell does have a PGA Tour win under his belt and that could set him apart from a few of his competitors this week.
Another thing which he has over the rest is his masterful approach play, something which has been a key contributor to success at this course in recent years. This event is always low-scoring and birdie opportunities will need to come thick and fast, so iron play will be key.
The last two winners ranked second and sixth for approach play over the week, with long approaches common here, many of which will stretch over 200 yards. Mitchell ranks eighth on the Tour for strokes gained approaching the green. When it comes to trying to land one on the dancefloor there is no one better than Mitchell, leading the Tour in going for the green (the percent of times a player attempting to go for the green is successful).
Approaching from distance will be no problem for Keith either as he ranks seventh on the Tour for approaches from over 200 yards. With that in mind he could easily find himself in the 8 places available with William Hill, with his T10 finish last time out offering even more reason to be confident in his chances this week.
Nick Dunlap 60/1
It’s still less than six months since Nick Dunlap burst onto the scene with his victory at the 2024 PGA Tour season opener, the American Express. Since then he has not been able to hit the same heights, missing five of fourteen cuts and failing to register another T10 finish.
However, his recent T12 at the Memorial and the weaker field here suggests that this could be the perfect time for him to get back on track. Low-scoring is very much in Dunlap’s wheelhouse and his ability to make birdies could see him go seriously low here.
His approach play is not the strongest but he makes up for this on the greens and averages just over 1.7 putts per green in regulation hit, helping him to covert these GIR’s into birdies 35% of the time, the third-best rate on Tour.
His approach game is ever-improving, ranking 28th in the field at the Travelers Championship last week, so combine that with his length off-the-tee and strong putting game, and he could be great value at 60/1 here.
His only taste of the 8 places available with William Hill came in his victory at the start of the season, but T11 and T12 finishes since then suggest that when he is on his game, he can put himself right in the mix.
