2025 Rocket Classic: Preview, Prop Picks, Best Bets

The 2025 Rocket Classic tees off in Detroit on Thursday, and presents a prime opportunity for players to earn critical FedExCup points as the regular season winds down.

The tournament already featured a relatively soft field following a two-week stretch with the U.S. Open and the final signature event of the year. Then a slew of players withdrew on Monday, including former Rocket winner Tony Finau and solid veterans Eric Cole and Charley Hoffman.

Our golf experts preview the Rocket Classic and provide their favorite prop picks along with best bets to win this week.

ROCKET CLASSIC

Location: Detroit, June 26-29

Course: Detroit Golf Club (Par 72, 7,370 Yards)

Purse: $9.6M (Winner: $1.728M)

Defending Champion: Cam Davis

FedEx Cup leader: Scottie Scheffler

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: Thursday-Friday: 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (GC), 3-6 p.m. (CBS, Paramount+)

Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 6:45 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday: 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

X: @RocketClassic

PROP PICKS

--Danny Willett to Make Cut (+110 at DraftKings): These are the types of value plays we look for in softer fields. The former Masters champ has turned into a tour grinder, having fallen to 288th in the world rankings. While Willett has missed four of 10 cuts in 2025, he is coming off a T13 in Canada in his most recent start and also posted a top-10 at the Farmers earlier this year.

--Davis Thompson Top 30 Finish (+108 at BetRivers): Thompson should be licking his chops at the opportunity to snap out of his recent slide that has seen him miss three of five cuts. He's among the higher-ranked players in the field at No. 61, but that's down from a career-high 38th last year. Thompson tied for second here in 2024, and is coming off a solid T25 at the Travelers last week.

--Matt Fitzpatrick to Beat Rickie Fowler (-120 at DraftKings): Fowler desperately needs a strong week to move further inside the playoff bubble and he did win in Detroit two years ago. He has posted some decent results of late -- including a T7 at the Memorial -- but Fitzpatrick has also broken out of a lengthy slump. Seven consecutive made cuts includes a T8 at the PGA Championship and a T17 at the Travelers, which both sported elite fields.

2025 Prop Pick Record: 19-21

BEST BETS

--Collin Morikawa (+1200 at DraftKings) is the highest-ranked player in the field (No. 5) but hasn't won a stroke play event since 2023. He lost in a playoff to Fowler here two years ago.

--Patrick Cantlay (+1600) is seeking to end his own lengthy drought, with his most recent win coming at the 2022 BMW Championship.

--Keegan Bradley (+1800) is a career-best No. 7 in the world rankings following his victory last week.

--Ben Griffin (+2200) has two titles to his credit already this season and is the highest-ranked player in the FedExCup standings at No. 6. Griffin is second in the field with 9 percent of the money backing him this week.

--Cameron Young (+2500) might be holding the unwanted title of best player yet to win a PGA Tour event. Could that come this week? Young tied for fourth in Canada and the U.S. Open before a T52 last week, and he's second in the field with 8 percent of the total bets backing him.

--Keith Mitchell (+4000) doesn't make this list often, but the affable tour veteran leads the field with 12 percent of the money and 11 percent of the total bets backing him to win this week. Mitchell tied for second in Mexico earlier this year, but his lone win on tour came six years ago.

--Min Woo Lee (+4500) tied for second last year but has failed to finished better than 49th in seven starts since winning in Houston.

--Cam Davis (+8000) offers longshot odds despite being the event's only two-time winner (2021, '24). He has eight missed cuts against one top-10 in 17 starts this year.

NOTES

--Only six weeks remain until the FedExCup Playoffs begin in August at the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tenn.

--The top five players within the top 20 in the FedExCup Standings after this week who are not otherwise exempt will earn spots in The Open Championship. The five players in the field with mathematical chances to move inside the top 20 are Michael Kim, Jacob Bridgeman, Ryan Gerard, Joe Highsmith and Si Woo Kim.

--Fowler enters the week No. 69 in the standings. Only the top 70 will qualify for the first leg of the playoffs, and the 2023 winner of the Rocket Classic is playing on the final year of his Tournament Winners exemption.

--Dominic Clanton earned a sponsor exemption by winning the 2024 Folds of Honor Collegiate. He is joined in the field by 2025 NCAA Division I individual champion Michael La Sasso, the No. 3-ranked amateur in the world behind Jackson Koivun and Ben James. Detroit native Joe Hooks earned a spot in the Rocket Classic by winning The John Shippen Men's Invitational.

--After the tournament, the Detroit Golf Club will undergo a $16.1 million renovation that will include all new greens.

--Finau set the tournament scoring record of 262 with his 2022 victory.