6 picks our expert loves

Welcome to our weekly PGA Tour gambling-tips column, featuring picks from GOLF.com’s expert prognosticator Brady Kannon. A seasoned golf bettor and commentator, Kannon is a host and regular guest on SportsGrid, a syndicated audio network devoted to sports and sport betting, and is a golf betting analyst for CBS Sportsline. You can follow Brady on Twitter at @LasVegasGolfer, and you can read his picks below for the 2025 Rocket Classic, which gets underway Thursday in Detroit. Along with Kannon’s recommended plays, you’ll also see data from Chirp Golf, a mobile app that features both Free-To-Play and Daily Fantasy golf contests where you can win cash and prizes with each round and tournament.

The Midwest Birdie Fest has arrived on the 2025 PGA Tour calendar.

After hammering through three Signature Events and two major championships in the last seven weeks, players can breathe easy for a couple weeks here before we head across the the pond and gear up for the Open Championship and the home stretch of the season. Next week, it is the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois, but our first stop is in the Motor City at Detroit Golf Club for what will be the seventh edition of the Rocket Classic.

With the dip in the schedule, many of the game’s top stars are taking some time off but Collin Morikawa is here, along with Patrick Cantlay, last week’s champion, Keegan Bradley, and defending champion, Cam Davis, who is a two-time winner here in Detroit.

Detroit Golf Club is a classic, parkland-style course that was designed by the legendary Donald Ross over 100 years ago. It is relatively short by Tour standards as a par 72 that measures under 7,400 yards. The fairways are tree-lined but not especially narrow and are bordered by rough that is not brutally penal. In classic Ross-style, the greens feature shaved run-off areas, some undulation, tilt from back to front, and are a Bentgrass/Poa Annua blend.

Big hitters have won here in the past — Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, and as noted, Davis has done so twice. Without much penalty for missing fairways, the bombers can bomb. From here, wedge play and putting generally make up the recipe for success. I looked at Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Driving Distance, Good Drives Gained, Strokes Gained: Approach, Hole Proximity from 75-150 yards, and Strokes Gained: Putting (Bent/Poa).

Next week’s venue, TPC Deere Run, is similar to Detroit Golf Club, I believe. TPC Twin Cities, host of the 3M Open, which we will see immediately after the trip overseas, is also a correlated course in my opinion. I also looked at TPC Craig Ranch (Byron Nelson), Silverado in Napa (Procore Championship), Royal Liverpool (host of the 2023 Open Championship), and Hamilton Golf & Country Club (host of the 2019 and 2024 RBC Canadian Open).

Four of our five selections last week cashed a finish position for us but it has been two months now since we have hit an outright winner. Let’s see if we can change that this week.

Cameron Young (27-1)

I have been reluctant to back Young while many have recently but this could be the right spot — with a watered-down field, his return to form, and a golf course that really suits his game. He’s finished sixth here in the past and of course, runner-up, which he has done seven times in his “oh so close” career. We mentioned the heavy run on Tour the last seven weeks. Young made every cut during this stretch and finished top 10 three times, at the Truist Championship, the RBC Canadian Open, and at the U.S. Open three weeks ago. Young has been as high as sixth at the John Deere Classic and finished eighth at Royal Liverpool in 2023. He is fifth in this field for Birdies or Better Gained over the last 24 rounds.

Davis Thompson (40-1)

Thompson made our card last week and he finished a very respectable 25th. He also ranked third in the field last week for SG: Approach. He hits it plenty long, has finished runner-up here in Detroit, top 10 in Napa, and will be the defending champion next week at the John Deere. Thompson got red-hot this time of year last season after finishing ninth at the U.S. Open at Pinehurst — another Donald Ross design. He could be ready to peak again.

Stephan Jaeger (70-1)

Another big hitter who has had success at this tournament in the past, finishing ninth and fifth. He makes a bunch of birdies and his putting has improved immensely in recent years, now ranking 29th in this field for SG: Putting (Bent/Poa) over the last 24 rounds. Jaeger has only missed one cut in over three months and that was very forgivable, being it was at Oakmont. Last week at the Travelers, he was 15th in the field for SG: Approach and 22nd in SG: Putting.

Emiliano Grillo (80-1)

When I crunch the stats this week, Grillo comes out No. 1 on my board. Over the last 24 rounds, he ranks 17th in this field for SG: Off the Tee. He’s No. 1 for SG: Approach and is tremendous in Hole Proximity from everywhere between 75-150 yards. He’s won at Silverado, finished runner-up at both the John Deere Classic and the 3M Open, and he was sixth at Royal Liverpool in 2023. Grillo has finished top-25 in each of his last four starts and that includes taking 19th at the U.S. Open.

Chris Kirk (80-1)

Speaking of the U.S. Open, Kirk finished 12th at Oakmont three weeks ago. That got my attention, plus the fact that he is a tremendous wedge player from 75-150 yards. He has three top-20 finishes here in Detroit and has finished top-30 at the John Deere five times in seven appearances.

Victor Perez (87-1)

Like Grillo and Kirk, Perez too had an excellent showing at the U.S. Open. He finished 19th and ranked ninth in that field for SG: Approach. The week prior, he finished ninth at the Canadian Open, where he also took third last year at Hamilton Golf & Country Club. Over the last 24 rounds, he ranks ninth in this field for SG: Approach and sixth for Good Drives Gained. He is 35th for SG: Putting (Bent/Poa)

Who Chirp Golf users are picking this week

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