Detroit Golf Club Key Fantasy Stats

Rocket Mortgage Classic

July 2nd – 5th, 2020

Detroit Golf Club

Detroit, MI

Par: 72 / Yardage: 7,340

Purse: $7.5 million

with $1,350,000 to the winner

Defending Champion:
Nate Lashley

by Sal Johnson

Founder, Chief Data Officer, GOLFstats

E-mail me at:
sal@golfstats.com

This is based on the most vital stats from Detroit Golf Club, based on data from last year’s Rocket Mortgage and using data from all the players in the field with stats from 2020.
Last year was the first year of the Rocket Mortgage Classic and the first time Detroit Golf Club was used in a PGA Tour tournament. Normally the PGA Tour is always careful in setting up a tournament in its the first year and despite the fact that Detroit could be set up very hard it wasn’t, the par 72 layout played to a 70.11 average making it the 42nd hardest (of 49) course on the PGA Tour. So to combat the low scoring, officials are letting the rough grow much thicker and longer, which means players will have to drive the ball straighter to avoid putting it in a tough position. Now last year the weather was perfect with high temperatures and low wind. Since there are no fans and grandstands, the course will be harder as players will hit balls into places that haven’t had fans stomp the ground down, again a bit tougher. A new tee was built on a hole and 22 yards will be added as the course will play 7,340 yards long. Still, these changes won’t help a course that will see great weather, no wind, and players with a year of experience on the course

Look for another birdie fest, last year 1,895 birdies were made on the course as only one other course in 2019 had more (TPC Twin Cities-1,976).

In looking at our four categories, we have to think very differently. First, we will use Strokes Gained Off-the-Tee in which it looks at the combination of length of drive off the tee and accuracy. Last year the average drive was 304.0 yards and ranked 42nd meaning that only four other courses on the Tour saw longer driving averages. As for accuracy off the tee, the course was 30th with 64.48% of the drives in the fairway. Looking at last year’s winner Nate Lashley, he ranked 44th in Driving Distance and T-11th in Accuracy so he ranked T-29th in Strokes Gained Off-the-Tee.
Our 2nd category is Greens in Regulation. This is a Donald Ross course so we know that Ross greens are always hard to hit. On top of that, the greens are also small at 5,100 and are raised so they are tough to get on. So for last year, Detroit Golf Club was ranked 40th on tour with 72.52% of the greens hit. So this shows that a lot of players hit the greens last year. The winner Lashley hit 59 of 72 for 84.94% which ranked T-4th. Ted Potter, Jr. hit the most greens, 61 of the 72, and finished T-5th.
Our 3rd category is Strokes Gained Putting which is an important part of the game. Last year the putting average at Detroit Golf Club was 1.629 which ranked T-17th. It averaged 29.33 putts per round which ranked it T-15th and in the important inside ten feet it ranked 17th. Lashley took 106 putts which ranked 2nd and in Strokes Gained Putting he was also 2nd. In the important putts made inside 10 feet, Lashley made 64 of 68 and ranked 4th.
The last category is Par Breakers. As we said earlier in this piece 1,895 birdies were made on the course, only one course on tour last year had more birdies. It had a total of 40 eagles, which ranked T-33rd at it ranked 38th in Par Breakers. Lashley made the most birdies of anyone in the field, 28 so his Par Breakers rank is 1st. Now Lashley had a lot of success on the Latinoamerica tour in 2016 before spending two years on the Korn Ferry Tour. Before his victory in Detroit Lashley only had one top-ten on the PGA Tour and that was a T-8th at the 2019 Puerto Rico Open. Since his win in Detroit last year, Lashley has had a pair of 3rd place finishes this year, first at the Miltary Tribute at Greenbrier and at Phoenix. Since that finish, Lashley has struggled not making a check in his last five starts. Of those that finished in the top-ten last year at the Rocket Mortgage, Rory Sabbatini (T-3rd), Ted Potter, Jr (T-5th), Brandt Snedeker (T-5th) and Brian Stuard (T-5th) have won while Patrick Reed and Joaquin Niemann (both T-5th) have won since last year’s Rocket Mortgage.

*Strokes Gained Off-to-Tee: Combination of distance off the tee and accuracy.

*Greens in Regulation: Number of greens hit in regulation.

*Strokes Gained Putting: Gives the equivalent to putting based on strokes gained or lost

*Par Breakers: Who makes the most birdies and eagles per round.

Of the 156 players in the field, 145 have stats on the PGA Tour for 2020.

Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.