Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – The Rocket Mortgage Classic

2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

Summer is officially here, and the PGA TOUR season starts to click into its business end heading into July.

We’ve got the British Open, the final WGC event and, of course, the FedExCup playoffs to come in what should be a fascinating conclusion to the campaign.

So it’s time for the players to make their move, and that journey starts this week in Detroit, Michigan for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

This event is essentially a replacement for the Quicken Loans National, but with a new name and a brand new host venue you could be forgiven for treating this as a whole new concept to master from a betting perspective.

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It could be a tough one to decipher. Detroit GC has ever hosted a ‘proper’ tournament of any significance, so all we have to work with is a virtual course walk-through as source material.

That provides us with our key angle: this looks like a piece of real estate with Donald Ross’ fingerprints all over it.

There are lush trees lining what are narrower-than-usual fairways, with plenty of strange shaped bunkers lurking in areas off the tee and protecting the green.

History tells us that Ross prefers a test of ball-striking. His defense against prodigious length was clever hazard placement and in the planting of trees – that requires the players to hit the right lines off the tee. You can miss fairways because the rough here won’t be too penal, but you must miss in the right place to give yourself a line in to the green to scramble from.

Another note for those who it might have escaped. Michigan as a state has been besieged by rainfall in the past month or so, and while the worst of it has come on the western side of the state, Detroit has not complete avoided the downfall. That should ensure that the greens are nice and soft, which once again reinforces the idea that the approach play maestros will dominate the leaderboard at Detroit GC.

With that in mind, who makes our list of sleepers for the Rocket Mortgage Classic?

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Rocket Mortgage Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

Billy Horschel – There are two main reasons to back Billy Ho this week: his decent form of late, but most pertinently his brilliance at Donald Ross layouts.

The former FedExCup champion was crowned as such on account of his win at East Lake in 2014, and he was also T2 here 12 months ago as well.

And there’s more, with T3 at Aronimink in 2018 and T5 at Sedgefield in 2016.

Clearly, there’s something about Donald Ross’ ideas that suit Horschel’s eye, and perhaps he is well poised to take advantage: he was T9 in his penultimate start at the Charles Schwab Challenge, and played three rounds at par or better in the US Open.

Aaron Wise – Despite a third round of 79, Wise still managed to finish T35 at Pebble Beach for the US Open.

He’s taking a step down in class here, and having done a lot right of late he becomes a player of interest for bettors ahead of this Michigan assignment.

One of the best drivers around, Wise is somebody who can rectify occasional errors of judgement on approach with a really neat chipping game, and a player ranked eighth on Tour for Birdie Average clearly knows how to take care of business.

You suspect that the 22-year-old will go on to become a multiple-time PGA TOUR winner, and perhaps win number two could come in such fallow company this week.

Jason Dufner – He’s had plenty of reasons to be cheerful of late, has the Duf-man, and perhaps he can consolidate those with another big showing here.

A T4 effort at the Wells Fargo set the wheels in motion, and in his penultimate start there was another top ten this time at the Memorial.

He finished T35 at the US Open too, which is not to be sniffed at, and in this weak field environment that recent form really could come to fruition.

Dufner has a T8 and a couple of other top-20s to his name at East Lake as well.

Kevin Streelman – With three top-10 finishes in his last five starts, is it any wonder that many are feeling that Streelman is on course for a third PGA TOUR victory.

He played nicely in all areas of the game at TPC River Highlands, and so we’re expecting a repeat performance in Detroit too.

When you think about the basic mechanics of Streelman’s game – tidy off the tee, precise on approach – it’s a blueprint that Donald Ross himself would approve of.

Mackenzie Hughes – The good stuff keeps on coming for Mac.

T8 at the Charles Schwab Challenge and T14 at his home Canadian Open, Hughes opened up with a 64 at TPC River Highlands to confirm that his form is travelling nicely.

It’s easy to forget, what with how quickly the Tour moves, that he is a former winner of the RSM Classic, and while that event doesn’t have much in common with the Rocket Mortgage Classic, it does show that he can take care of business when in contention.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the Rocket Mortgage Classic here.

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2018-2019)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”6.32%” bar_text=”10 out of 158 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent=”15.82%” bar_text=”25 out of 158 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”34.17%” bar_text=”54 out of 158 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=”6.25%” bar_text=”2 out of 32 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”18.75%” bar_text=”6 out of 32 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”64.04%” bar_text=”101 out of 158 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

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Cover photo via Instagram