Golfbet Insider Rob Bolton on the Rocket Mortgage Classic | TOTT Podcast

Rob Bolton discusses Detroit Golf Club and how players can go low there. He previews the Rocket Mortgage Classic and highlights players like Rickie Fowler, Tom Kim, Camron Young, Akshay Bhatia, Troy Merritt and Maverick McNealy.

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on the heels of The Travelers Championship we head for mtown the rocket mortgage classic in Detroit this week and probably toward scoring the likes of which we saw at TPC River Highlands uh let’s get into it with the golf bet Insider from PJ tour.com Rob boltson 23 underpar or better four of the five editions of this event at the Detroit golf club and uh go low or go home right big fella down the stretch they come towards the FedEx Cup playoffs and I got to think that all of the guys uh the 156 in the field at Detroit Golf Club this week they couldn’t they wouldn’t want a better way to display uh their talents than with a course that’s ready to reward uh what they do best um it’s a little bit like the old qualifying school out of PGA West um if you can play golf I mean if you can play you’re going to be able to score and that’s the vibe this week in Detroit so many low scores have already been recorded on this place and by the way it’s the sixth edition of the rocket mortgage classic I think it’s finally a classic I know I had some fun with that when I launched five years ago kind of like the Myrtle Beach Classic uh uh a couple months ago it’s it’s an inaugural classic fine give it some time we’ll get we’ll get there we’ll get there they get a nice agreement there along the along the Atlantic there but this this week finally a classic it’s in its second decade let’s start there you know um but yeah man I mean it’s just it’s just you know as soon as the light turns green you floor it and see what happens and and then uh shake hands at the end that’s this week and next week so it’s we have a fortnite of that type of competition Straight Ahead John Deere classic next week stop in the Quad Cities um so it makes sense that you’re identifying players who performed really well in Hartford beginning with Tom Kim number one in the power rankings you push Scotty sheffler to the brink but you just can’t beat Scotty Sheffer on Sundays the man just does not blink it just does not give you an ounce of breathing room but Tom Kim played beautifully and he heads for Detroit with a full head of steam Rob and he is the betting favorite on the board at plus 1200 this week who does Tom Kim think he is anyway right by the way so there’s been a lot made about Tom Kim and his ninth consecutive start it’s just a fact of the matter he doesn’t doesn’t relax doesn’t rest he’s 22 so what else is he going to do anyway I love that part of a young man’s game before like he’s to a man he’s he’s I think he’s set for for life and he’s only 22 so he’s way out ahead of that curve I go back though to 2010 um with Stuart applebe Stuart applebe struggling he he he wasn’t assured of uh finishing inside the top 125 back then money and uh played in uh 10 straight over the over May June and July ended up winning the Green Brier classic and that win got him into the into the Bridgestone and then the PGA the following two weeks so he played 13 in a row he won in his 11th consecutive start this is nothing nine in a row big deal and he’s 22 he’s nothing else to do so of course he’s going to be at top of the power rankings after what he did last week he had a fourth place finish four starts to go it’s very simple um the odds are fine look they’re not Sheffer odds but he’s going to be the best on the board at what 12 to1 right I were speaking for bmgm hey that’s favorable and uh he’s the type of guy who who can hit the ground running he just did it last week came close so he’s still chasing that uh chasing that carrot that he hasn’t tasted in a while so I love the I love the I love the play in every format no one went lower than Cameron young last week in fact he’s now one of just 12 players who has broken 60 on the PJ tour he did it on Saturday then he birdies his first four holes on Sunday and I thought wow not only is he going to back it up he may actually win for the first time on the PJ tour but he faded on Sunday understandable um tied for ninth but some of the best golf that Cameron young has played the season obviously Robin the betters and the markets agree plus 1,400 as the second choice on the board here the funny thing about the start on Sunday is that you know he was feeling that it’s just more of the same how do you follow up a 59 he’s about to show you um it’s understandable sure I mean he was the only guy inside the top 15 with an overpower overpower round I think in every every round uh open was 72 I mean he was he was he was I mean there was a there was a no cut last week but that’s that’s what that type of format shows you you’re that good you can belong but that’s TBC River Highlands for you too I mean this week it’s a par 72 you have two more par fivs it’s a stock stock setup yeah man I mean the thing about Cameron young the thing that scares me a little bit is that he has been too inconsistent I I feel like the he I mean he has the metal but he’s missing that extra something missing that gear despite what happened on Saturday I want to see it with the lights a little bit brighter I want to see him with a little more stakes in the game when it comes to that and obviously that’s what you get when you don’t win on the PGA tour obviously he’s playing in some of the deepest feels because of his uh because of where he is in in the hierarchy this isn’t necessarily that so it’s a tremendous opportunity for him just hope that he he leans into he leans into a little bit more than we have seen him you know two years ago is the Rookie of the Year by by a long I mean no one was close with the five Runner finishes and he hasn’t really regressed from that I I mean let’s be fair about it that’s an incredible season um need to see him win that’s where we are with the guy uh so that’s the only way he’s really going to fulfill any expectation because right now the board isn’t going to reward you much especially in a field of 156 it’s going to be smart to invest elsewhere uh perhaps a fraction of unit if you can’t stay away but divy it else up another way that extra something that you described I think AA ba has got it he knows how to win man 22 years of age but with a lot of golfing experience in his lifetime this is a kid of term professional as a teenager he’s won twice he understands what it takes on a PJ Tour Sunday he just played with Sheffer on both weekend days last week at River Highlands Rob finishing fifth uh he’s high in the power rankings this week and getting some respect from the markets at 20 to1 here yeah that’s nice and that’s the guy I would lean into you you really set it up nicely there Swani he’s sixth in the power rankings it feels a little bit low I’ll be honest with you but the trajectory is strong the form is is even better than that and yeah there’s really no reason I think it’s just a matter of me coming from a conservative standpoint wanting to see a little bit more and then I look at the record I look at the the statistics uh I watch him the eye test he’s yep check check check what are you worried about not um and what the best thing about him is is he wasn’t that long ago like within the last year where he was basically identified as a guy who could play in the wind uh tropical venues and that is not that anymore uh so he’s super impressive and he has a good head on his shoulders and if anything you know he’s only 22 he’s he he hasn’t gone through some of the same things the other guys have but that hasn’t mattered either so I know I’m kind of speaking out of both sides of my mouth but that’s what he does to you when he’s that good at such a young age as you said twice a winter um and he doesn’t mind a shootout and that’s what we have this week so yeah super impressive he’s the type of guy where you wouldn’t be surprised if he strengths to together multiple win Seasons um and and we may be on the verge of this this week already has one win earlier this year when Ricky Fowler won in Detroit last year we all thought finally Ricky’s back it was a long dry spell struggled with his game his confidence but he looked like the old rookie when he finally broke through in Detroit last year and I have been as surprised as anyone Rob that he has not been able to follow that up with more consistent play this season there were glimpses last week in Hartford we watched him a lot on PGA Tour live he finished 20th pretty respectable there’s going to be some casual betters who are always going to be on Ricky right and those who are this week are going to get him at 40 to one yeah what’s um what’s surprising is that win a year ago in Detroit is his most recent top 10 you know we know so much about him he’s had an incredible career he’s in his prime at the moment but he’s balanced his life outside the ropes and sometimes there’s just a lot to maintain he he did what he needed to do in his 20s um yes he’s still on the short list of best of his generation without a victory in a major there is that uh void at the moment but uh last years we see this so many times with certain guys who we know they they disappear then they they they come back with a vengeance you Justin Rose winning the FedEx Cup I mean that was not something that anybody had on their bingo card had at the beginning of that season except for Justin Rose and uh and he’s sort of tailed off it still you know glimmers so when it comes down to what we do at golf B it’s like yeah I don’t know I I I mean the power rankings are agnostic so power follow at number 15 it’s a respect for him as a defending Champion relative in this field um but I I can’t really endorse him at 40 to1 or really anything longer than maybe I mean maybe even double that to win again it’s just difficult to defend that have that you know layer to it we want to see him play better we expect him to play better and he hasn’t been so it’s one of those no plays good luck again you know spread the units elsewhere be smart about it sleeper content outright winner Maverick mcney I like it he’s been on a run of some nice form recently Rob plus 2800 those odds are kind of short they struck me as kind of short for non- winner yeah same but again it’s it’s the rocket mortgage classic you know last week he might have been something like 60 to one or something uh to win that thing he didn’t play in it but uh that’s that’s just the that’s what you’re that’s what you’re going to get so you know the house is going to stay in business at those at that rate and again as a non-winner this is the type of we’ve had two non-winners uh in this event n Nate Nate Lashley opened the event uh with a first time win uh and then Cam Davis broke through a couple years ago so yeah yeah there’s it’s it’s possible certainly in a shootout you never know what’s going to happen and what would we look at we look at a guy who is in form and is a tremendous Putter and well that’s Maverick mcney so ignore the odds it’s more of a traditional sleeper in terms of a guy that that hasn’t won deserves it uh the attention uh will play very well on this course uh he’s a tremendous fit for PJ tour fantasy golf if you’re looking to avoid a cut missed which is pivotal this week it’s going to be a churn week in that format um and and again I just for for for the people a sleeper outright has not won yet in 2024 but this is the kind of week where it makes a little bit more sense because of the randomness of the event not yet not yet not yet not yet uh top 10 prop you’re on uh Troy Barrett at plus 900 he’s only had one top 10 this season however this is the time of year if you’re sort of a golf nerd you’re really dug into the players down the FedEx Cup list this man meets the challenge of crunch time late in the season we’re not quite there yet we’ve got uh what I think seven events until the regular season try and make the playoffs but this is a guy who when his back is up against the wall Rob he seems to perform yeah I open the show was by St down stretch they come uh it’s more like the final lap uh you know they’re still they still got a a couple of turns ahead but yeah that’s on the horizon these guys that have not played regularly for a couple three months this is their time to show up uh or it’s going to be more time in the FedEx Cup fall still waiting the release of that schedule uh but Meritt has always delivered it seems like about once a month guys like him uh chest Hadley these guys they they they uh they enter a Consciousness is oh yeah that’s right yeah he still that’s because he always delivers and Troy Merritt he’s kind of that poster boy Doug gim is another guy but he’s Doug gim is fine this year because he had a really nice uh five week stretch early in the year and I like Doug gim this week but but uh but Meritt four straight top 20s uh the last four editions uh the one top 10 that’s fine it doesn’t matter it’s about right now what’s ahead the fact that he’s outside the top 12 125 obviously this top 70 make the playoffs uh but this is the time of year for Troy M to show up uh Northern kid grass is more familiar it’s POA bent blend this is more of his climate uh that’s not a huge Factor but it certainly doesn’t hurt it may be a reason why he does perform well the Midwest that has some correlation uh but in a field one we’re looking for sleepers top 10 let’s go with Troy Meritt 9 to1 that makes a lot of sense to me you’re endorsing Chandler Phillips for a top 20 prop here this week I like this kid he’s really fun he was on the podcast earlier in the in the year he’s a real free spirit he’s got a joy for for the game the way he plays and he’s played quite well six top 25s in his rookie season in fact you’ve got a little metric that you you have built um which has identified him as the best rookie without a victory this season I like that and for a top 20 you’re getting Chandler Phillips at plus 350 this week not bad yeah thanks for mentioning that I follow the the rookies on on X every week it’s an update and you get uh Matthew Pavone you got Jake knap and you have Nick Dunlap 1 two3 currently in a subjective ranking there’s nothing mathematical to it and then Chandler Phillips is sitting there right at number four but uh I do follow it’s for anybody who likes to follow the rookies on the PGA tour current 29 of them at some point Michael thorbjornson will join that list likely in the fatex cup fall unless he wins of course before that and then it’s just a matter of time potentially getting the playoffs all those sorts of nuance but right now Phillips another Midwest uh connected kid uh with the right fit the right form uh and uh he’s comfortable right now in terms of keeping his job at the end of the year so now his uh focus is is singular to get to the FedEx Cup playoffs but you know he doesn’t even need a win to get inside that bubble right now so just keep the motor going and and he’s going to continue to play regularly uh and a kind of guy who’s been able to navigate the season it’s been real choppy with terms of playing time it’s been difficult it’s always been difficult in the spring and early summer with some of the courses because they’re really difficult as well uh he’s been able to navigate that it’s been impressive he has the the right balance I know he’s yes free spirit is one thing he’s a really good balance in his life and that’s I think that’s really rewarded him it’s it’s come through in terms of his performances week after week so again we’re looking at 3 and 1 half to one plus 350 US market for top 20 that again very tasty right now in in in this particular week on a board that has a lot of value uh and and he’s right there at the top of it read Rob Bolton’s terrific work PJ tour.com in the golf bat space follow him on X at Rob Bolton golf two of our four Mets Cub’s bets have been closed out yeah in big Swan’s favor it’s as Edward Diaz might say it’s a sticky situation for you uh for the rest of the year just to get a split big fella I I love the fact that from a from my perspective um that what happened on the mound before he didn’t even throw a pitch and it it really spoiled your two wins at least from your fans perspective you have that and and he’ll come back but uh yeah yeah it’s it’s weird rooting for a tie now you know and the team the Cubs are not good right now so um I’m already starting to shop I’m going I’m already done some shopping and it’s not even July 1st I even all start break yet man so uh but yeah I mean I created this I said you’d like it and you like it so do I guess I was right we’ll talk to you next week for the John Deere classic look forward to it big fell all right pal see you then