2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic fantasy golf rankings, picks, strategy: Back Davis Thompson, avoid Tom Kim
May 17, 2019; Bethpage, NY, USA; Bubba Watson plays his shot from the sixth tee during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Bethpage State Park - Black Course.
The PGA Tour heads to Detroit Golf Club on Thursday for the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic. Low scores have become the norm for this event as the average winning score over its five-year history is more than 23-under par. Past winners available for inclusion in Rocket Mortgage Classic fantasy golf lineups include Rickie Fowler, Cam Davis and Nate Lashley. Meanwhile, the top-ranked players that figure to factor into many a PGA Tour fantasy golf strategy are No. 16 Tom Kim, No. 23 Cameron Young and No. 29 Akshay Bhatia.
With not as many top players in the Rocket Mortgage Classic 2024 field, you may have to dig a little deeper to find some PGA Tour fantasy golf picks. Who has the perfect combination of a positive course history plus recent success on tour to include in a winning fantasy golf strategy, and which players are better saved for another week? Before making any 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic fantasy golf picks, you have to see the Rocket Mortgage Classic fantasy golf rankings from SportsLine handicapper Eric Cohen.
Cohen is an avid golf bettor who correctly predicted the pre-tournament outright winner of the 2024 U.S. Open (Bryson DeChambeau +2000), 2024 Players Championship (Scottie Scheffler +550), 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic (Rickie Fowler +1400), 2023 PGA Championship (Brooks Koepka +2000), 2023 Honda Classic (Chris Kirk +3500), 2022 Open Championship (Cameron Smith +2200), 2022 U.S. Open (Matt Fitzpatrick +2500), and 2022 Phoenix Open (Scheffler's first career victory at +2800).
Cohen is also a contributor to SportsLine's YouTube shows including "Early Edge" and is the host of "The Early Wedge" golf show. Anyone who has followed Cohen's predictions has made positive gains on their golf picks.
Now, Cohen has ranked his top golfers for the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic. Cohen's picks are only available at SportsLine.
2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic expert picks
For the Rocket Mortgage Classic 2024, Cohen is backing Davis Thompson at 40-1 odds, saying, "The 25-year-old was extremely impressive two weeks ago at Pinehurst en route to a T9 finish, gaining more than seven shots around the greens and two on them. He finished T2 against a field not much worse than this one in Myrtle Beach in May and 17th two weeks later at the Charles Schwab Challenge."
Thompson, who was ranked 127th in the world last month but is No. 80 entering this tournament, doesn't have many holes in his game. He ranks in the top 25 in strokes gained: total (0.835), SG: tee-to-green (0.827) and SG: around-the-green (0.369). Additionally, his streaky putter saw him have a 16-hole streak of one-putts earlier this year, which is the longest by anyone on the PGA Tour. He's made the cut in both of his Detroit starts, including a top-25 last year, so Cohen loves him this week.
On the other hand, Cohen is fading the oddsmakers' top choice, Tom Kim, at 12-1 odds. Kim just missed collecting his fourth PGA Tour victory last week at the Travelers when he fell in a playoff to Scottie Scheffler. That was just Kim's second top-10 over 19 starts this year, which means he has the same number of missed cuts as top 10s. He also hasn't had the best success at the Rocket Mortgage Classic as he missed the cut in his start here a year ago.
The closest course comp to Detroit Golf Club is another midwestern course in TPC Twin Cities. The Minneapolis-area venue hosts the 3M Open, and Kim failed to even notch a top-25 in his lone start there. Cohen also points out the hectic schedule that Kim has chosen as a reason why he's fading him this week, saying, "This may be an unpopular opinion coming off a brilliant performance in Connecticut, but I just can't endorse a golfer at these low odds who is playing for the ninth consecutive week. I know that Kim is only 22-years-old and has plenty of stamina, but there's a reason pro golfers build plenty of off-weeks into their schedule." See all of Cohen's Rocket Mortgage Classic picks at SportsLine.
How to set 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic fantasy golf lineups
For this week, Cohen is backing several underdogs in his 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic fantasy golf picks, including a 150-1 longshot who could be a difference-maker for your fantasy golf lineups. See who it is, and get all of Cohen's fantasy golf picks, at SportsLine.
Who wins the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic, and who are the top players to target for your PGA fantasy golf picks? Visit SportsLine now to get Eric Cohen's fantasy golf rankings, all from the fantasy expert who has called eight outright winners since 2022, and find out.