Expert Picks: Rocket Mortgage Classic

With a new season comes a new evolution for PGA TOUR Expert Picks. Fans of PGA TOUR betting can now see tips and picks for specific markets that the Golfbet team will be riding with each week. The traditional format for lineups and rosters will remain with Experts looking to come out on top in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf.

How it works: Each week, our experts from PGATOUR.COM will make their selections in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf. Each lineup consists of four starters and two bench players that can be rotated after each round. Adding to the challenge is that every golfer can be used only three times per each of four Segments.

Aside from the experts below, Golfbet Insider Rob Bolton breaks down the field at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in this week's edition of Power Rankings.

Betting picks

Odds were sourced on Tuesday, June 25. For live odds, visit BetMGM.

WILL GRAY (Lead, Fantasy & Betting)

• Winner: Taylor Pendrith (+2800) – Now a proven winner with a long game and putting stroke to scare others when he gets hot.
• Top 10: Patton Kizzire (+1400) – Call me crazy but with top-30s in four of his last five starts I think this two-time TOUR winner might be ready for a big week. Ranks sixth on TOUR in SG: Approach.
• Longshot: Ryan Fox (+5000) – Recently showed he has the game to contend at the RBC Canadian Open and is one of the better putters on TOUR (27th).
• Head-to-Head (H2H): Aaron Rai (-105) over Alex Noren – Both Europeans are place market contenders from week to week and both were T9 here a year ago but with Noren missing a few cuts of late Rai gets the nod.

BEN EVERILL (Senior writer, Fantasy & Betting)

• Winner: Cameron Young (+1400) – Arguably the best player on TOUR without a victory so it’s time to take him off the list. In form coming in and a runner up previously on this track. Will need to make some putts though which is why many are fading his price. Might be a wait and see type number.
• Top 10: Taylor Pendrith (+250) – I really like Pendrith as an outright contender also given his high ranking in Strokes Gained: Putting, the rediscovery of his long game after shoulder issues, plus the confidence of a recent win on TOUR.
• Longshot: Chris Kirk (+5000) – Four top 21s at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in the past plus a very good Tee-to-Green game make Kirk a must for my card in some capacity. Also ranks second on TOUR for approaches inside 125-yards of which there will be a few this week.
• H2H: Cameron Young (+115) over Tom Kim – All the sharp money appears to be heading to Kim after his awesome week at Travelers but I’m expecting a letdown in his ninth consecutive event.

CHRIS BREECE (Senior content manager, Golfbet)

• Winner: Davis Thompson (+3300) – Past results at this event say the winner will be in good recent form. Among Thompson’s last five events he has finishes of T2, T9 and T17. It will be a putting shoot out this week. While he is an average putter statistically, he has the ability to get hot on the greens.
• Top 10: Chris Kirk (+400) – His production on this course stands out with three straight finishes inside the top 17.
• Longshot: Troy Merritt (+12500) – Technically, he is the horse for the course here. The last four years he has gone 2nd, 8th, 14th and 17th.
• H2H: Akshay Bhatia (+100) over Min Woo Lee – I’m not sure how Bhatia is the underdog here. At the very least he will show some similar form to last week’s high finish.

MATT DELVECCHIO (Social content manager, Fantasy & Betting)

• Winner: Akshay Bhatia (+2000) – Akshay Bhatia is the best player in the field. He is the third favorite in odds and the gap between him at third and Cam Young at second is large. I'll say it again, the books continue to insult Bhatia with these outright numbers. 80/1 last week proved to be the wrong number with how close he came, now 20/1 in a field where he is clealry the best player needs to be taken advantage of. Back Bhatia this week.
• Top-10: Alejandro Tosti (+700) – It’s been awhile since we’ve seen Tosti on TOUR (Charles Schwab Challenege almost a month ago where he finished T17). I believe his absense has boosted his value a bit because of the unknowns with how he’ll perform coming back. He drove the ball great in Texas and had the iron game to support (gained +1.72 true strokes per round with approach game). He should come back and contend this week.
• Longshot: Jake Knapp (+10000) – He’s a rising star who has seen some early success in his career. I think his run will continue and this week feels like a week we see him pop up again come Sunday.
• H2H: Akshay Bhatia (+100) over Min Woo Lee – The better player is the underdog… Min Woo Lee has been on a hot stretch but he’s not as good as Akshay. Back the dog.

THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN OUR EXPERTS? The PGA TOUR Experts league is once again open to the public. You can play our free fantasy game and see how you measure up against our experts.

Joining the league is simple. Just click here to sign up or log in. Once you create a team, click the "LEAGUES" tab. Then click on "FEATURED," and then on the PGA TOUR Experts league that populates.

*Brett Jungles joined the Expert Picks league at the beginning of Segment 1 and did not accumulate any points from the FedExCup Fall.

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