The PGA TOUR heads to Detroit this week for the fourth running of the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Previous winners of this event include Nate Lashley, Bryson DeChambeau, and defending champ Cam Davis.
This is the penultimate regular season event so it’s crunch time for golfers trying to make their final push in the FedExCup race.
A total of 156 golfers will tee it up to start the week and that number will be trimmed to the top 65 and ties after 36 holes.
The Course
Detroit Golf Club returns as the host venue for the fourth time at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Laid out by Donald Ross more than a century ago, this course certainly falls in the “classical course” bucket.
As you typically see on an older design, there are doglegs and the greens are the key defense of the course.
Looking at the scorecard, we see a par 72 that stretched out to 7,370 yards from the tips.
On a hole-by-hole basis, there are four par 4s that play under 400 yards. Only one of the par 4s play over 461 yards, so not a lot of beefy holes, which allows golfers of all distance types to contend.
Off the tee, golfers will see somewhat generous landing areas that are framed by large trees to make them look or feel a bit more narrow. The field has found about 65 percent of fairways here which is slightly easier than TOUR average.
On approach, golfers will see small greens with even smaller targets due to the sectioned, turtleback greens that have false fronts. Of course, with a summer date in the Midwest, the greens need to be heavily watered which leads to softer and receptive conditions. The field has landed about 72% of greens in regulation which is quite a bit easier than TOUR average.
Once they reach the greens, they’ll see heavily undulated putting surfaces that are primarily poa annua with about 20% bentgrass in the mix, as well. The grounds crew can ramp them up to ultra-fast speeds but they typically target 12 feet on the stimp during tournament week.
Overall, the scoring environment is one…
Source : yahoo
