Rocket Mortgage Classic Bets: 3 Matchup Plays, Including Min Woo Lee

Keep it simple, stupid. 

That’s a good mantra in life — and it’s certainly a good mantra in golf, in betting and especially in golf betting. 

With three days to prepare our wagers before the usual Thursday start of most professional events, there’s enough time to think about them, then overthink ‘em to the extent that they don’t even make much sense anymore. 

All of which leads to my recommended matchup plays for this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. 

As you might recall from my full preview article, I listed three potential outright selections — one conservative play, two listed as aggressive, though that’s a bit of a misnomer, as they were still in the top tier on this board. (For some plays in the triple-digits, I also wrote this Rocket Mortgage Classic longshots piece.)

My selections were Min Woo Lee (+2000), Davis Thompson (+3300) and Keith Mitchell (+3300). 

Now, here’s where that KISS mantra comes into play: If I believe each of these players has a chance to win this week, then I should probably believe they can each beat one other player in a H2H matchup. 

As such, I’ve identified three plays as my favorite matchups for the week. 

Rocket Mortgage Classic Bets: 3 Matchup Plays

Min Woo Lee (-110) over Akshay Bhatia

There’s a little recency bias that exists here, as Bhatia is fresh off a title contention at last week’s Travelers Championship. Lee, though, isn’t just fresher, but a better fit for this Detroit Golf Club host venue. While I like him in the outright market to pick off his first PGA Tour victory, it’s not a terrible idea to play his floor over his ceiling. With five straight results between 21st and 26th place, he offers plenty of leverage as a low-end play.  

Davis Thompson (-120) over Robert MacIntyre

Even though Thompson is the fave here, this might be a bit of a case of, “What have you done for me lately?” as Bobby Mac of course won the RBC Canadian Open and finished T-16 last week. In between, though, he MC’d at the U.S. Open, while Thompson thrived, posting his first career top-10 at a major. I think the former No. 1-ranked amateur is on the verge of some very big things and those big things could start this week.

In general, I often think of golfers (of the non-Scheffler variety, that is) having the peaks and valleys of a cyclical process. Give me the guy that’s riding that roller coaster on the way up, as opposed to the one who already recently reached the top. 

Keith Mitchell (+105) over Stephan Jaeger

My favorite H2H plays are those where I like one player, dislike the player on the other side and there’s plus-money value on the former. Well, two outta three ain’t bad. I’ve got zero qualms with Jaeger, who won for the first time just a few months ago and hasn’t let up too much since. Even so, I really like Mitchell this week, as his prowess off the tee should be the perfect antidote to any defense this course is trying to play. Not gonna lie: I would’ve preferred him against Alex Noren or Will Zalatoris — other players at similar prices this week — but as a small ‘dog, I still see some value on the Georgia Dawg this week.