After Jackson Koivun won his first PGA Tour event in just his third start as a professional at last week's 3M Open, we move across to Detroit Golf Club for the Rocket Classic.
Held at the Donald Ross-designed venue since 2019, the winning score has been better than 21-under-par in five of the seven editions, so prepare yourself for a birdie fest, although two par-5s have been converted to par-4s, which will temper scoring somewhat.
Although it’s not the longest of courses, it’s also not a particularly strategic course; players will be encouraged to pull driver out of the bag on most holes and swing away without too much penalty for inaccuracy off the tee, though the four-inch rough means players won’t want to be too wild.
On approach, most clubs in the bag will be used, though nearly half of approach shots will come from inside 150 yards, so players will need a strong wedge game.
But with such a straightforward tee-to-green test, it will ultimately come down to who holes the most putts.
Greens were a bent/poa mix but are mostly comprised of Poa annua – a surface typically seen on the west coast at Pebble Beach and Riviera – but have been rebuilt and are now pure bentgrass.
Shifted in the schedule, the Rocket Classic attracts a much stronger field than usual, with many top players not wanting to play the week before the FedExCup play-offs begin, nor want to have three weeks off after The Open.
With that in mind, who makes our Rocket Classic Power Rankings? Find out below.
5 - Jackson Koivun
Jackson Koivun has already been covered in these pages recently for the John Deere Classic and the 3M Open with varying results. Koivun’s bubble seemed to burst when unceremoniously missing the cut at TPC Deere Run before going on to win at TPC Twin Cities three weeks later.
Sandwiched in between was a solid T10 at the ISCO Championship where his irons still weren’t firing as he’d have liked. The 21-year-old was outstanding at the 3M Open last week, however, ranking first for iron play as one of only two players to clear +2.0 SG: Approach (+2.3) and third for SG: Putting.
It’s still a little early to know exactly what Koivun is going to be, but the early signs are that we’re looking at a really solid all-round golfer with no significant weaknesses to his game.
Koivun already has that first PGA Tour win under his belt, and his next targets are surely a place in the FedExCup play-offs, and quite possibly a pick on the Presidents Cup team.
4 - Wyndham Clark
At Royal Birkdale, a course where accuracy is more important than distance, it wasn’t a big surprise to see Wyndham Clark miss the cut, especially after his remarkable run of form.
Since his missed cut at the PGA Championship, Clark’s form figures read 1-3-T11-1-T5-T13-MC.
The struggles with the putter seem to be well behind him, gaining strokes on the greens in nine straight events before Birkdale.
Clark’s distance off the tee and outstanding wedge game should make Detroit an ideal fit for him, and while he missed the cut here last year, he was T8 in his prior appearance in 2022.
The two-time US Open champion should also be comfortable with the putting surfaces, particularly given his remarkable putting performance en route to winning the CJ Cup Byron Nelson a few weeks ago, when leading the field for SG: Putting.
3 - Si-woo Kim
Si-woo Kim remains the best player on the PGA Tour without a win in the last 12 months, and he’s done just about everything but win.
The putter that was formerly such a weakness is turning into an asset. Kim has experimented with numerous putters over the years and has changed his setup twice already in 2026. Kim ranked fourth in the field for SG: Putting at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and has now gained strokes putting in nine of his last 13 starts.
With regards to his wider form, Kim has been superb in 2026. He has four top-threes to his name, including at the RBC Heritage – another strong test of wedge play. More recently, Kim was T9 at the Scottish Open and T6 at The Open, held at venues that demand very different things, suggesting his all-round game is in excellent nick. Indeed, Kim ranks first in the field for SG: T2G across the last eight events as per Golf Betting System.
Kim is one of the world’s best wedge players and has a T14 at Detroit to his name from 2022, and if he is going to get over the line, this could be the week.
2 - Chris Gotterup
Chris Gotterup is a really interesting proposition this week. The first thing to consider is his putter. Over the last few months, Gotterup has been one of the best putters in the world, gaining strokes in 13 events prior to The Open at an average of 0.61 per event.
The other factor to consider is that Gotterup’s long game is so good that he can ride a poor putter. Gotterup actually won the WM Phoenix Open this year while losing strokes putting, and he somehow won the John Deere Classic (also on bentgrass) at the start of the month while losing strokes on approach.
Of course, Gotterup is one of the very best drivers in the game and has ranked fifth, sixth and first for SG: OTT in his last three events.
Gotterup has the game to take Detroit Golf Club apart. The only question is: can he hole the putts?
1 - Cameron Young
What a 12 months it’s been for Cameron Young. This time last year, Young had shown glimpses of form with back-to-back T4s at the RBC Canadian Open and the US Open before going T52-T46-MC at the Travelers Championship, the Rocket Classic and The Open Championship.
Sure enough, when returning stateside, Young knocked off the Wyndham Championship in remarkable fashion to finally land that first PGA Tour win.
He followed that up with finishes of 5-11-T4-T9-10 for the rest of the season and then claimed the Players Championship and Cadillac Championship in 2026.
His form waned throughout the summer, but his solo-second at The Open was really impressive, and if not for Ryan Fox making a birdie on the 72nd hole, Young would’ve found himself in a play-off that he'd have been a big favourite to win.
Young should have fond memories of Detroit; in 2022 he posted the low rounds of the day on Friday and Saturday, but his sluggish start to the week meant he was always too far behind Tony Finau. Young was then in contention again two years later but tailed off to finish three back of Cameron Davis.
His runner-up at The Open is hugely promising, and with his outstanding driving and wedge play, Young is a deserved favourite this week.
