Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – Rocket Mortgage Classic

2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

If you were to script a golf tournament finale with designs on producing the most eclectic cast, last week’s Travelers Championship would have been right up there.

You had the forgotten star (Dustin Johnson), the tormented journeyman (Brendon Todd), the grizzled veteran (Phil Mickelson) and the young upstart (Will Gordon), all of whom were in the mix for the title at one stage or another.

In the end, you could only get short prices with the sportsbooks on Johnson taking care of business, and they were proven to be correct with DJ landing a 21st PGA TOUR title as Todd wilted under the spotlight.

That’s another high-quality performer finding form ahead of major season, and that part of the rescheduled campaign is starting to look more exciting with every passing week.

There’s a little less stardust in the field for the Rocket Mortgage Classic this week, with a few of the big hitters deciding not to make the stop-off at the Detroit GC in Michigan. Indeed, the head of the betting market is populated by the likes of Webb Simpson, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed – all premium operators, of course, but ones that question marks can be placed against.

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Is this a good week to find a sleeper winner? You would certainly like to think so.

Nate Lashley did those betting from the bargain basement absolutely proud here 12 months ago. He’d gone completely under the radar having not finished any better than T28 in the preceding seven weeks. Anybody taking the 250/1 Vegas odds knew what they were taking on.

But Lashley, bouncing back from personal and golfing tragedy that saw his life turned upside down by the death of both of his parents and his girlfriend in a plane crash, posted a mammoth -25 at a soggy Detroit GC to claim his maiden PGA TOUR title and his first win anywhere since 2017.

That winning score probably presents this golf course in an unfair light – it’s really not as easy as that makes it sound, and with the weather set very nice this week in Michigan we expect the test to be a little more taxing.

The fairways are on the thin side, and if the rough is up – remember, there won’t be any patrons around to trample the long grass down – then finding the short stuff could be absolutely key this week.

The greens are of a more generous size than TPC River Highlands or Harbour Town but they are undulating in profile, and so that means finding the right portion. There will be less emphasis on short game this week compared to hitting the ball well from tee to green – a common trait for courses designed by the legendary Donald Ross.

So, with all of this in mind, who makes the grade for our Rocket Mortgage Classic sleeper shortlist?

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Rocket Mortgage Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

Erik van Rooyen – 70/1 – One of the better European Tour graduates to emerge in recent years, Erik van Rooyen is starting to feel at home on the PGA TOUR and his performances will surely continue to improve as a result.

The 2019 calendar year was a strong one for the South African, who won his first big event at the Scandinavian Invitational and who banked his first major top-10 at the PGA Championship.

For various reasons, 2020 hasn’t been as sparkling but T3 at the WGC-Mexico showed what EVR is capable of, and this prolific birdie-maker will be looking to build on his T21 at the RBC Heritage.

Harold Varner III – 80/1 – The sportsbooks have short memories sometimes.

It’s less than a month since Harold Varner III was involved at the business end against a major-standard field at the Charles Schwab Challenge, and it’s not as if he has disgraced himself since – indeed, his iron play last week was outstanding at times.

An excellent driver of the ball who is comfortable on Bentgrass/Poa, you would have to say that HVIII is available at a generous price given what we have seen since golf’s return.

Brendon Todd – 90/1 – It’s absolutely bizarre how the sportsbooks work some time.

But for one awful hole out of 72 at the Travelers Championship, Brendon Todd could have been celebrating a THIRD PGA TOUR win of the season.

That error saw him fall down the leaderboard, but he is still available at 90/1 to win an event in a markedly weaker field this time around.

There should be an element of continuity from last week to this, so nearly three-figure odds simply cannot be missed.

Kyle Stanley – 100/1 – At his very best, Kyle Stanley really is an excellent striker of the golf ball.

The problem lately is that he hasn’t been very much of that, but like some others in the field this week there were signs of improvement at TPC River Highlands.

Stanley finished T24 there but perhaps more importantly ranked top-10 for SG: Tee-to-Green – that is typically a marker that better times are around the corner for the two-time PGA TOUR winner.

Si-Woo Kim – 150/1 – The enigma that is Si-Woo Kim continues to delight and frustrate in equal measure.

The Korean is an outstanding talent, of that there is no doubt, but it’s rare that he really shows his true colors in all their glory.

He has been in inconsistent ball-striking mode since the season’s restart, but at TPC River Highlands he showed off his best form – finishing T11 from nowhere and ranking fourth for SG: Tee-to-Green.

What will happen next? With Si-Woo, nobody can truly say.

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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 (2019-2020)

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=2.61%” bar_text=”3 out of 115 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent= “5.22%” bar_text=”6 out of 115 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 25s” percent=”33.04%” bar_text=”38 out of 115 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=8.70%” bar_text=”2 out of 23 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”0%” bar_text=”0 out of 23 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”65.21%” bar_text=”75 out of 115 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

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Cover photo via Instagram