DeChambeau Breaks Through and Wins Rocket Mortgage Classic

By Dave Shields

You knew it was coming, and you knew it would probably be sooner rather than later. On Sunday, the most consistent golfer on the PGA Tour in recent weeks, Bryson DeChambeau, finally broke through for his first win of the season.

DeChambeau won the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Mich., his 6th PGA Tour victory and his first since Nov. 4, 2018 when he won the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

DeChambeau had been playing the best golf on tour both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic suspended play for three months. DeChambeau has had 6 straight top 10s leading up to this tournament, including a tie for 6th at the Traveler’s Championship last week.

DeChambeau came into the final round 3 shots behind third-round leader Matthew Wolff, who carded back-to-back 64s in the second and third rounds to get to 19-under. DeChambeau was tied with Ryan Armour at 16-under.

But Sunday, DeChambeau got off to a great start with birdies on 3 of his first 4 holes, while Wolff struggled on the front 9 with 4 bogeys to fall back to 17-under. But things got interesting on the back 9 when DeChambeau bogeyed the par-5 14th after putting his second shot in the hazard to fall to 20-under.

Meanwhile, Wolff had birdies on 12, 13, 15, and 17 to put some pressure on the leader, but it wasn’t enough as DeChambeau got hot down the stretch. DeChambeau closed with birdies on 16, 17, and 18 to finish with a 7-under par 65 to win with a final score of 23-under. Wolff carded a 1-under 71 to finish the tournament alone in second at 20-under.

The win will move DeChambeau up to No. 4 in the FedEx Cup standings.

“I wanted to show people if you work hard enough, if you do your absolute best, if you give everything you’ve got, you can achieve amazing things and that’s what I was able to do, that what we’ve been able to do as a team,” DeChambeau said after the round. “I hope everyone appreciates the hard work we’ve put in. I didn’t really get going on the back, got a little unlucky on 14, ball goes into the water, but I was able to persevere, adapt, overcome and improvise and did my best to make 3 birdies coming in to win.”

Kevin Kisner finished in third place alone at 18-under while Ryan Armour, Adam Hadwin, Tyrell Hatton, and Danny Willett all finished in a tie for 4th at 16-under.

Next week, the tour moves Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. This was the former Memorial Tournament, which Patrick Cantlay won last year and DeChambeau won two years ago.