Daniel Berger among best long shots to back ahead of the Rocket Mortgage Classic

We’ve reached a bit of a lull in the PGA Tour calendar. Three of the majors are in the rear-view mirror and we’re just a couple of months away from the FedEx Cup Playoffs, so these next few weeks are a popular time for golfers to take a breather and get ready for the Open Championship and the subsequent stretch run.

That’s why the field for this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic is severely lacking in starpower.

Tom Kim is the betting favorite at Detroit Golf Club, but he’s a lukewarm price at +1200. Cameron Young is the only other golfer under +2000. Min Woo Lee (+2000), Akshay Bhatia (+2000), Taylor Pendrith (+2500) and Stephen Jaeger (+2500) round out the top of the oddsboard.

Not only is this a beatable field, but it’s also a very easy course. Four of the last six winners posted a score of at least 23-under par.

This all adds up to a great opportunity to sprinkle some big long shots.

This is the type of tournament where it makes sense to take a flyer on some high-end players who are struggling a bit. We saw Rickie Fowler win this tournament last year as part of a resurgent 2023 campaign and Berger could start to write a similar story. The 31-year-old has battled injury issues for the better part of the last 24 months, but he’s had a couple of encouraging results of late that show he could be on the cusp of finding his way back. Berger was T21 at the U.S. Open and posted a T13 at the CJ Cup in May, so he’s starting to flash some form. He’s one of the most talented players in this field and has the ability to make easy work of this course.

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Like Berger, this is a great opportunity to take a punt on Gary Woodland at a massive price in a very weak field. Woodland stepped away from golf after a health scare, but he’s back in the swing of things and has started to play a more consistent game. Woodland, the winner of the 2019 U.S. Open, has made the cut in four of his last five starts and while that isn’t going to jump off the page at you, it does show that he’s found some stability after a tumultuous year. He’s good enough to run away at a setup like this, so I’ll sprinkle this massive price.

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