PGA Tour Picks: Rocket Mortgage Classic Odds and Expert Betting Predictions

Last week's Travelers Championship outside Hartford was essentially decided on the 17th hole Sunday. Chez Reavie once had a six-shot lead in the final round but that had dwindled to one. However, Reavie birdied 17 and Matt Kuchar double-bogeyed it and that was that. Reavie ended an 11-year drought on Tour with the victory.

It's only the second time in his career Reavie had the 54-hole lead or co-lead and the other was his first win, the 2008 Canadian Open. The 3,983-day span was the 11th-longest on the PGA Tour between a player's first and second wins since 1900. Still, it wasn't a huge surprise if you watched the U.S. Open as Reavie played in the second-to-last group at Pebble Beach and finished T3. He is now a career-best 26th in the world rankings.

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Bradley and little-known Zack Sucher finished four back. Long story short, Sucher is on a medical exemption dating back to 2017 and knew he had just three tournaments left to generate 347 FedExCup points that would allow him to keep his card. Sucher got 245 at the Travelers. I didn't get much right last week but did think that Brooks Koepka would struggle after his chase for history at the U.S. Open. That he did, finishing T57 with three of the four rounds over par at a pretty easy TPC River Highlands. Koepka has three wins in his past six majors but has largely been a non-factor in his past six non-major tournaments. Koepka admitted he was fried last weekend and that he probably shouldn't have played.

This week, well, I'll just be blunt: Flying largely blind from a handicapping perspective because it's a new tournament and course on the PGA Tour with the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Motown. It replaced the Quick Loans National on the 2018-19 schedule. Quicken Loans, which is owned by Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, launched Rocket Mortgage a few years ago. Gilbert has helped revitalize downtown Detroit with all his investment there. Gilbert was born there and is still a member of the State Bar of Michigan.

Michigan has many stellar courses, and it's a fabulous place to be in the summer. Thus, it's frankly stunning that it hasn't hosted a PGA Tour event since the Buick Open's long run outside of Flint ended in 2009. The winner of that tournament? Tiger Woods, for the third time. There are some very elite courses around Detroit, including Oakland Hills in the suburbs as that has hosted the U.S. Open a handful of times, but this will be the first-ever Tour event in the city of Detroit.

Detroit Golf Club dates to 1899, and the first-ever Masters winner, Horton Smith, was the head pro there for nearly two decades until he died in 1963. The North Course dates to 1916 and is a par 72 at around 7,300 yards. It was upgraded last year in preparation for the PGA Tour's visit - this tournament is on a four-year contract. It's a decent field with 12 winners from the Tour this season teeing it up. No Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, however. Two British Open berths are available for players who finish among the top eight and not already qualified.

Golf Odds: Rocket Mortgage Classic Favorites

Dustin Johnson is clearly the best player in the field and also the +600 favorite at Bovada . Like many guys, he took last week off after the stress of the U.S. Open, where Johnson was a disappointing 35th at a course he usually thrives at.

Gary Woodland won the U.S. Open for his first major title and returns this week at +1200 along with Rickie Fowler. I sense a potential hangover for Woodland, both literally and metaphorically. Fowler has an endorsement deal with Quicken Loans, so he was a lock to play. He hasn't contended in his past four tournaments.

Hideki Matsuyama is +1400 and Reavie +2500 to win back-to-back weeks. Matsuyama was 21st at the U.S. Open and hasn't missed a cut this entire season.

Golf Odds: Rocket Mortgage Classic Picks

Just Top-10 props out as of now, and I like Johnson (-175), Matsuyama (+150) and Kevin Streelman (+400).

Streelman is my winner. He's a bit hit-or-miss with five missed cuts in 13 tournaments this season but usually is Top 25 if he makes it. Streelman was fourth at the Memorial, didn't play the U.S. Open and was T15 last week. He's working on a run of seven straight rounds in the 60s.

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