This week on the PGA Tour feels like a juxtaposition of debuts and farewells, the new and the fading.
Days after 21-year-old Jackson Koivun won for the first time as a pro, the tour arrives at a tournament won last year by a 20-year-old in South Africa’s Aldrich Potgieter. But this young talent won’t be coming to Detroit much longer.
While Detroit Golf Club will introduce its new $16 million renovation this week, Thursday will mark the start of the final edition of the Rocket Classic.
The tournament won’t be part of the 2027 season as the PGA Tour continues to reshape its schedule.
“I mean, it’s sad to see the tournament not being here next year,” Potgieter said. “I think having some of the golf course changes, it looking so good and playing so nicely … it’s kind of sad to not have it again.
“I’m happy they got a new nice golf course for the members out here to enjoy as well and I’m looking forward to see what it’s going to play like this year.”
Potgieter said he’ll cherish the memories of getting across the finish line for his first PGA Tour win last year, when he beat Chris Kirk and Max Greyserman in a playoff.
For the time being, the focus for players like Potgieter (No. 64) is to stay inside the top 70 of the FedEx Cup points standings. Only the Rocket Classic and the Wyndham Championship remain in the regular season before the top 70 players qualify for the first leg of the playoffs.
Koivun vaulted to exactly 70th place this past week when he beat Scottie Scheffler by three shots to win the 3M Open in Minnesota. The former No. 1 amateur in the world and Auburn star was making his third start since turning pro.
The job’s not finished, but Koivun is in prime position to qualify for the playoffs mere weeks into his pro career.
“Being 70 is great,” Koivun said. “It’s a good and bad spot, but it gives me an opportunity to go earn making the playoffs. Just to have that opportunity to even have a chance at that is just so awesome. Not really changing my game plan. If I can just go play eight solid rounds of golf, I hopefully can sneak into that top 70.”
Detroit Golf Club will play as a par-70 course after years as a par-72. Nos. 7 and 17 were transformed from par-5 holes to par-4s measuring 505 and 537 yards, respectively.
“Visually it’s far more dramatic than it was,” said Cameron Young, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 3. “This is a very old-school golf course and felt very familiar to me to kind of Northeast golf. Everything’s kind of right in front of you. It’s flatter than at home in New York, but yeah, it’s always a place I really liked.
“… I think it’s going to be a bit more challenging. There’s some more fairway bunkers in play and with the greens being expanded, there’s going to be some more hole locations.”
Scheffler is taking the week off, but other notable names in the field include Russell Henley, Chris Gotterup, U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele, Si Woo Kim of South Korea, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Jordan Spieth. Brooks Koepka was in line to make his tournament debut but withdrew on Tuesday and is in danger of missing that top 70 in his first season back on tour from LIV Golf. He’s 84th.
“I feel very confident in my game,” Clark said. “You know, we’re coming into playoffs, last few events, so hopefully keep the momentum going and really put a nice cherry on top of an amazing season.”
