The sixth annual Professional Golf Association's Rocket Mortgage Classic will return to Detroit Golf Club on June 27 in Detroit off 7 Mile and Woodward Avenue.

Photo provided by Rocket Mortgage Classic


Take a look at who will be competing in the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic

By: Jonathan Szczepaniak | Metro | Published June 24, 2024

DETROIT — There’s two major things the Rocket Mortgage Classic consistently falls victim to — other high-profile tournaments surrounding it and a purse that isn’t necessarily a needle-mover for some of the biggest names in the game.

With these two factors in mind, it’s no secret as to why the Rocket Mortgage Classic, which is scheduled to tee off on June 27 at Detroit Golf Club, is set to have its most underwhelming commitment field, on paper, in its six years of existence.

Call it poor timing, but the three tournaments prior to the RMC were top-shelf events that drew the attention of the entirety of the PGA Tour with the Memorial, U.S. Open and the Travelers Championship all preceding the RMC.

That’s three tournaments with a $20 million or more purse, one of which is a major. For the next four tournaments, the PGA Tour enters its summer break for some of its top stars as the Rocket Mortgage Classic ($9.2 million), the John Deere Classic ($8 million), the Genesis Scottish Open ($9 million), and the ISCO Championship ($4 million) round out the next month.

The dollar figures don’t come particularly close to a Memorial or Travelers Championship, but the four tournaments also serve as preparation for The Open Championship, a major, on July 18.

Being in the top 10 of the world rankings and taking part in a Rocket Mortgage Classic or a John Deere Classic is always great for the game and helping it grow in certain areas of the nation where golf isn’t the pinnacle sport. Unfortunately, that type of mindset throws a wrench in the plans of some of golf’s best.

The Rocket Mortgage Classic had zero commitments from any top-10 players for the first time in the tournament's six years of play, but the field does still feature some fun names and storylines to look after.

Leading the commitment field is defending champion and Rocket Mortgage Ambassador Rickie Fowler, who won the RMC tournament in thrilling fashion last year in a playoff hole against Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin.

“I feel like we’ve seen this tournament continue to grow and grow and more fans come out every year,” Fowler said after the conclusion of last year’s tournament. “To feel the support this year, I feel like it helps that I’ve been playing well and have more people in my corner, so it seemed like it just kind of got bigger and bigger every day, especially today. I’m glad the weather cooperated for the most part, and to kind of see the crowds grow over the day, especially come the back nine, yeah, I could definitely feel it. They were pretty much pulling for me.”

Along with Fowler, currently No. 50 in the world golf rankings, are other top-50 ranked golfers such as Tom Kim (No. 16), Cameron Young (No. 23), Akshay Bhatia (No. 29), Chris Kirk (No. 33), Min Woo Lee (No. 36), Stephan Jaeger (No. 41), Will Zalatoris (No. 42), Robert MacIntyre (No. 44), and Nicolai Hojgaard (No. 45).

A slew of major winners will also compete, with Gary Woodland (2019 U.S. Open), Jason Dufner (2013 PGA Championship), Zach Johnson (2007 Masters & 2015 The Open), Stewart Cink (2009 The Open), Webb Simpson (2012 U.S. Open), Francesco Molinari (2018 The Open) and Jimmy Walker (2016 PGA Championship) all committed to the 2024 field.

Other notables are fan-favorite Joel Dahmen; four-time PGA Tour winner Kevin Kisner; nine-time PGA Tour winner Matt Kuchar; Taylor Pendrith, who’s currently ranked no. 52 in the world; nine-time PGA Tour winner Brandt Snedeker; and five-time PGA Tour winner Camilo Villegas.

Michigan will also have local golfers taking part with Traverse City’s Ryan Brehm and Grosse Pointe Woods’ Kyle Martin, who is competing in the Rocket Mortgage Classic for the second time after winning the 2023 Michigan PGA Professional Championship. Flint native Willie Mack III also earned an exemption to the Rocket Mortgage Classic field by winning The John Shippen Men’s Invitational, a pre-Rocket Mortgage Classic tournament at Detroit Golf Club that wrapped up play on June 23.

​​“I played in the U.S. Open a week ago and I’m probably more excited to play back in my hometown in Michigan,” Mack III said in a press release. “This is my first cut made on the PGA Tour in a couple of years so hopefully I can play well on Sunday, be in contention, and represent everybody in Michigan.”

The future of golf will also be on display in Detroit as 15-year-old amateur Miles Russell is set to make his PGA Tour debut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. A high school freshman from Jacksonville, Florida, Russell was the youngest player to make the cut in the Korn Ferry Tour’s 35-year history when he finished 20th at the LECOM Suncoast Classic.

Neal Shipley, the low amateur at both the Masters and the U.S. Open this year, and Luke Clanton, ranked No. 5 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, will both make their PGA Tour debuts while Jackson Koivun (No. 2 in world amateur rankings) and Benjamin James (No. 4 in world amateur rankings) will also compete at the RMC.

Tickets for the Rocket Mortgage Classic currently start at $65 for the June 27-June 30 tournament. Children 15 and younger are free with an adult, and active or retired military also receive complimentary tickets. Tuesday’s AREA 313 Celebrity Scramble, starting at 5 p.m., and youth clinic both have free admission along with parking. Wednesday's admission and parking for the pro-am is also free.

 

Below is a list of the 2024 RMC field (alphabetically):

 

​​Albertson, Anders

Alexander, Tyson

Baddeley, Aaron

Barjon, Paul

Barnes, Erik

Berger, Daniel

Bhatia, Akshay

Blair, Zac

Bramlett, Joseph

Brehm, Ryan

Bridgeman, Jacob

Bryan, Wesley

Buckley, Hayden

Campillo, Jorge

Campos, Rafael

Cauley, Bud

Champ, Cameron

Cink, Stewart

Clanton, Luke 

Cole, Eric

Coody, Parker

Coody, Pierceson

Crowe, Trace

Dahmen, Joel

Davis, Cam

Dougherty, Kevin

Dufner, Jason 

Dumont de Chassart, Adrien

Duncan, Tyler

Dunlap, Nick

Echavarria, Nico

Endycott, Harrison

Fishburn, Patrick

Fowler, Rickie

Fox, Ryan

Furr, Wilson

Garnett, Brice

Ghim, Doug

Gotterup, Chris

Greyserman, Max

Griffin, Ben

Griffin, Lanto

Gutschewski, Scott

Hadley, Chesson

Hale, Jr., Blaine

Hall, Harry

Hardy, Nick

Higgo, Garrick

Highsmith, Joe

Hisatsune, Ryo

Hodges, Lee

Hoey, Rico

Hoffman, Charley

Højgaard, Nicolai

Hossler, Beau

Hubbard, Mark

Jaeger, Stephan

James, Ben 

Johnson, Zach

Kim, Chan

Kim, Michael

Kim, S.H.

Kim, Tom

Kirk, Chris

Kisner, Kevin

Kizzire, Patton

Knapp, Jake

Knowles, Philip

Kohles, Ben

Koivun, Jackson 

Kuchar, Matt

Laird, Martin

Lashley, Nate

Lee, K.H.

Lee, Min Woo

Lindheim, Nicholas

Lipsky, David

List, Luke

Lower, Justin

MacIntyre, Robert

Malnati, Peter

Martin, Kyle 

McCormick, Ryan

McNealy, Maverick

Meissner, Mac

Merritt, Troy

Mitchell, Keith

Molinari, Francesco

Montgomery, Taylor

Moore, Ryan

Moore, Taylor

NeSmith, Matt

Noren, Alex

Norlander, Henrik

Norrman, Vincent

Novak, Andrew

Olesen, Thorbjørn

Pan, C.T.

Pendrith, Taylor

Pereda, Raul

Phillips, Chandler

Rai, Aaron

Ramey, Chad

Reavie, Chez

Riley, Davis

Rodgers, Patrick

Russell, Miles 

Ryder, Sam

Schenk, Adam

Schmid, Matti

Shelton, Robby

Shipley, Neal 

Sigg, Greyson

Silverman, Ben

Simpson, Webb

Skinns, David

Sloan, Roger

Smalley, Alex

Snedeker, Brandt

Spaun, J.J.

Springer, Hayden

Stevens, Sam

Streelman, Kevin

Suh, Justin

Svensson, Adam

Tarren, Callum

Taylor, Ben

Teater, Josh

Thompson, Davis

Thorbjornsen, Michael

Todd, Brendon

Tosti, Alejandro

Trainer, Martin

Tway, Kevin

Valimaki, Sami

van Rooyen, Erik

Vegas, Jhonattan

Villegas, Camilo

Walker, Jimmy 

Wallace, Matt

Whaley, Vince

Whitney, Tom

Wilkinson, Tim

Woodland, Gary

Wu, Brandon

Wu, Dylan

Young, Cameron

Young, Carson

Yu, Kevin

Yuan, Carl

Zalatoris, Will