Odds Outlook: Tom Kim arrives as favorite at Rocket Mortgage Classic

The summertime fun of the PGA TOUR begins in earnest this week at Detroit Golf Club for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where Tom Kim (+1200) takes over as the favorite at the top of the BetMGM Sportsbook betting board.

For the second time in three weeks, a Donald Ross design will be the examination. The Detroit Golf Club, built by Ross in 1916, will host for the sixth consecutive season.

Led by 2023 champion Rickie Fowler, a full field of 156 players will have plenty of daylight and opportunity to move up the FedExCup rankings. The Rocket Mortgage Classic represents one of six remaining weeks to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs in August and one of three chances, if not already entered, to reach The Open Championship at Royal Troon in the middle of July.

Kim (+1200), who just turned 22 earlier last week, tried to become just the third player in the 73-year history of the Travelers Championship to go wire-to-wire, but the Korean was defeated on the first playoff hole by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (not entered). Just missing out on his fourth-career win, the world No. 16 returns to Detroit on a streak of 10 straight including two top-five paydays in his last four events. All four rounds last week were 66 or better, and he will need a similar total (22-under) to challenge again.

Returning to his roots in the Northeast, Cameron Young (+1400) found the extra gear he had been missing since cashing T9 at the Masters. Becoming the 12th player on the PGA TOUR to post a sub-60 score with 59 in Round 3, the Scarborough, New York, native backed it up with 66 in Round 4 to hit the top 10 for the first time since early April. The big hitter will enjoy the accessible fairways and greens at Detroit Golf Club and has two additional par 5s to rack up Par-Breakers. The last time he was in the Motor City, he posted a 63 in Round 2, signed for 21-under and shared second place in his only visit in 2022. Remember, his 59 at TPC River Highlands did NOT set or match the course record. Jim Furyk posted 58 in 2016 and has that honor.

Akshay Bhatia (+2200), the 29th-ranked player in the world, is coming in hot! Trending beautifully over his last three events (T22 Memorial, T16 U.S. Open and T5 Travelers), the two-time PGA TOUR winner looks to keep the momentum rolling. A winner already this season at the Valero Texas Open on 20-under, the last open event on a par-72 layout, Bhatia knows a number in that neighborhood is required again. After missing the cut on his first visit last year on 2-under, he will need more birdies to find the weekend in 2024.

Making his first start at the Detroit Golf Club, Min Woo Lee (+2200) cruises into town on the back of five consecutive T26 or better paydays since falling short of the weekend at the Valspar Championship. Sitting 63rd in the FedExCup standings, the West Australian native knows he needs to keep pegging big paydays to stay inside the top 70. A two-time winner in Asia last fall, the world No. 36 is looking for his first win on TOUR. Currently ranked inside the top 20 in par-5 scoring, he will enjoy four opportunities each round to make birdie or better.

Continuing the trend of international players at the top of the BetMGM board, Englishman Aaron Rai (+2800) should continue his superb tee-to-green activity in Michigan. The recipe for a shootout is to convert GIR into Birdies, and not many find more greens in regulation. Sitting eighth in Driving Accuracy and sixth in GIR, the flat stick needs to be hot to pick up his first trophy on the PGA TOUR. Cashing six straight, including T19 at the U.S. Open, his form is not in question.

Why Alex Noren (+2800) did not return for the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic after posting T4 in 2021 is uncertain. Returning last season, he cashed again in the top 10 with T9 after four rounds in the 60s. The 41-year-old from Sweden, currently ranked No. 55 in the OWGR, is not eligible yet for The Open Championship even though he has collected 11 T26 or better finishes from 15 events this season, including nine of his last 11.

After three weeks on the sidelines, a well-rested Maverick McNealy (+2800) finds himself in the top eight choices this week. The 28-year-old, who did not qualify for the U.S. Open or surrounding Signature Events, was red-hot before his vacation. The month of May saw him pocket T23 at the PGA Championship, followed by T17 at Colonial before closing 65-66-65 at the RBC Canadian Open for T7. The former Stanford man is looking for his first win on TOUR and makes his fourth start on the Bent/Poa putting surfaces that routinely produce buckets of birdies.

Taylor Pendrith (+2800) was in the middle of an inconsistent 2024 before winning at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson to begin the month of May. With his first PGA TOUR victory trophy on the shelf, the Canadian has continued to produce. Not satisfied, the 33-year-old backed up his victory with a top-10 payday (T10) at Wells Fargo the following week. Missing the cut at the PGA Championship was followed by four straight of T33 or better, including T16 at the U.S. Open and T23 last week at Travelers. The 2022 runner-up here also cashed T14 in 2023.

Note: Along with Fowler, 2021 winner Cam Davis and 2019 champion Nate Lashley are in the field this week.

Here's a look at other notable odds via BetMGM.

• +3300: Keith Mitchell, Will Zalatoris, Stephan Jaeger
• +4000: 2023 winner Rickie Fowler, Davis Thompson, Robert MacIntyre
• +5000: Adam Svensson, Ben Griffin, Chris Kirk, Matt Wallace
• +5500: 2021 winner Cam Davis, Ryan Fox
• +6000: Patrick Rodgers
• +6600: Beau Hossler, Erik van Rooyen, Lee Hodges, Michael Thorbjornsen, Nick Dunlap, Nicolai Højgaard, Taylor Moore, Mark Hubbard, Sam Stevens, Thorbjørn Olesen
• +8000: Adam Schenk, Andrew Novak, Brendon Todd, Daniel Berger, Davis Riley, Eric Cole, Kevin Yu, Luke Clanton, Michael Kim, Ryo Hisatsune
• +9000: Doug Ghim, Jake Knapp, Justin Lower
• +10000: 2019 inaugural winner Nate Lashley, Alejandro Tosti, Chandler Phillips, Chesson Hadley, Chris Gotterup, Greyson Sigg, J.J. Spaun, Jacob Bridgeman, Jhonattan Vegas, Joel Dahmen, Luke List, Mac Meissner, Taylor Montgomery, Tyler Duncan

How the Rocket Mortgage Championship works:

• A field of 156 players.
• The Official World Golf Rankings: 10 of the top 50 players.
• After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the top 65 and ties.
• The purse of $9.2 million sees the winner pocket $1.65 million plus 500 FedExCup points.

-Odds courtesy of BETMGM -

For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call, or text 1-800-GAMBLER today.