Rickie Reigns Again | Sunday Swing

Welcome back to the Sunday Swing presented by 2nd Swing Golf. This week, the spotlight was on the Detroit Golf Club for the playing of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. 

Rocket Mortgage Classic - Tournament History

The Rocket Mortgage Classic is new to the PGA Tour’s annual rotation, debuting just 4 years ago. Taking over the Quicken Loans National, the Rocket Mortgage Classic is the only tournament in tour history to be played entirely within the city of Detroit. The course itself was designed by the great Donald Ross and measures 7,370 yards. Played as a par 72, the course features four par-5’s, four par-3’s, and ten par-4’s. Scoring has been very low in each edition thus far, with players taking advantage of a fairly straight forward setup. With an average winning score of just over 23-under par, players will need to make a lot of birdies in all four rounds if they want to have a chance at hoisting the trophy on Sunday. The precious and only five winners of this event are as follows: 

2023- Rickie Fowler (-24)

2022- Tony Finau (-26)

2021- Cam Davis (-18)

2020- Bryson DeChambeau (-23)

2019- Nate Lashley (-25)

The Big Swing 

This week the big swing goes to arguably the most popular player in the game, Rickie Fowler. It’s been five years since Fowler won on the PGA Tour. Not only was he not winning, he was struggling greatly with his game and fell substantially in the world ranks. He missed major championships, Ryder Cups, and other big events. At the end of the 2022 season, the golf world started to see Fowler trend in the right direction, and that trend has carried over to this season. Heading into this week, Fowler has posted seven top-5’s, fourteen top-25’s, and has only missed two cuts in nineteen starts. After a disappointing T5 finish in the U.S. Open a couple of weeks ago, Fowler seemed to be as close to breaking through as ever. What better place to do it then at the Rocket Mortgage Classic? As a Rocket Mortgage ambassador, Fowler teed it up this week hoping to win at a “home” event, and win for the first time since 2019. On Thursday, 

Fowler opened with a 5-under 67 and was clearly going to be firmly in the mix again. Collin Morikawa, who has struggled of late, opened with a 66 and had the putter cooperating for the first time in a while. The newly turned pro and Swedish youngster Ludvig Aberg fired an impressive 65 even with bogeys on the final two holes. On Friday the course remained benign, and the players took advantage. Taylor Moore, who won his first tour event earlier this season, was the 36-hole leader thanks to opening rounds of 64 and 67. Rickie Fowler shot another 65 and was in great position heading into the weekend yet again. Other notables in contention were 2-time major champion Collin Morikawa who was seeking his first win in almost 2 years, veteran and lefty Brian Harman, and Monday qualifier Peter Kuest. 

Birdies kept pouring in on the weekend, and so did the rain. Play was suspended briefly during the third round, softening the course up making it even more scorable. The big stories on Saturday were Rickie Fowler and Canadian Adam Hadwin. Hadwin surged up the leaderboard and posted a 63, playing his way into the final group. Fowler took the outright lead heading into the final round thanks to a moving day 64. Collin Morikawa was still hanging around and was definitely a threat after posting a 3rd round 67. On Sunday, the players teed off early due to some potentially unplayable weather forecasted for the afternoon. Stephen Jaeger and Lucas Glover were a couple of examples of how easy the course was playing Sunday for those ready to take advantage. Malnati carded a 7-under round of 65 and Jaeger carded 9-under 63 which included playing his final 6 holes in 6-under par. As the leaders teed off, it really did turn into a birdie fest. Collin Morikawa started hot with a 4-under 32 and was inching closer to the lead. However, Fowler was able to card a 33 on his front nine, and clung onto his lead heading into the final nine. Adam Hadwin also carded 33, but gained no ground on Rickie. Over the course of the next 8 holes, Fowler was unable to convert a single birdie look and was actually one behind Hadwin and Morikawa who had reached 24-under par. Morikawa’s birdie putt for 63 on the final hole shaved just past the edge, nevertheless he held the clubhouse lead at 24-under and would have to wait and see how the final group would fare. After Fowler’s tee ball ended up in the first cut on the left side, he faced 145 yards and needed to be aggressive on his approach shot as he now had only one path to victory- birdie the last and win in a playoff.  As his ball was in the air, the crowd began to roar louder as Fowler's ball was heading straight for the flagstick. It settled about 3-feet from the cup, and the birdie at the last was his first since the 7th hole of the front nine. 

On the first playoff hole between Fowler, Morikawa, and Hadwin, the advantage was for Rickie as his approach shot stopped 12-feet from the hole, but not without a little angst as his tee shot was well off line and for a moment his chances seemed to be dwindling. Hadwin had about 20 feet for birdie, and Morikawa’s ball bounced just over the back edge of the green and settled in the rough. With both of them being unable to convert, Fowler had an uphill look for the win. As his putt fell into the cup, Rickie looked to the sky and let out a sigh of relief, followed by an infectious smile and a tight embrace with his caddie. This was followed by a lovely reunion with his wife and young daughter. This was Rickie’s first win since the 2019 Waste Management, 6th tour title, and his first win as a father, making it all the more fulfilling- the kid in the bright clothes is now the dad in the bright clothes and once again, a winner.

Winner’s Bag - Rickie Fowler 

The jailbird train keeps rolling this week as Rickie Fowler picked up the win this week making it back to back weeks for jailbirds and the 4th win with it since the Wells Fargo Championship in May. Cobra also will be pleased to get on the board this week, as Fowler still sports primarily Cobra clubs and the patented orange Puma hat. Off the tee, Fowler plays the new Cobra Aerojet LS driver (9 degrees). He pairs that with a Cobra Aerojet LS 3-wood (14.5 degrees), and a Cobra LTDx LS 5-wood (17.5 degrees). Fueling his impressive approach game this week are the Cobra King Tour irons (4-PW). He also plays a trio of Cobra King Forged wedges (54, 56, and 58 degrees). On the greens Rickie rolls the hottest putter on the planet- the Odyssey Jailbird Versa. This unique putting setup has brought Rickie from rags to riches, and back to one of the best putters on tour. Along with fellow tour players Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley, the putter has become one of the hottest clubs in the golfing world. Fowler also plays the Taylormade TP5 ball. 

Key Stats: 

Strokes Gained: Off the Tee- 30th 

Strokes Gained: Approach to Green- 2nd 

Strokes Gained: Around the Green- 14th 

Strokes Gained: Putting- 12th 

Strokes Gained: Tee to Green- 3rd 

Strokes Gained: Total- T1