Steve Palmer's Rocket Mortgage Classic first-round preview, best bets, free tips

Golf tips, best bets and first-round preview for the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club on the PGA Tour.

When to watch

Sky Sports Golf, 11.45am Thursday

Best bets

Doc Redman first-round leader
1pt each-way 66-1 Betfred

Cameron Davis top Australasian
1pt each-way 11-2 bet365

Matt Wallace top Englishman
1pt each-way 7-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

First-round preview

Webb Simpson, the highest-ranked player in the field, joins Rickie Fowler, the Rocket Mortgage Classic tournament host, and Nate Lashley, the defending champion, to form the marquee morning threeball at Detroit Golf Club, but the trio may be upstaged by Doc Redman.

First-round leader punters should probably concentrate on the morning starters because intense Michigan heat could trouble the afternoon wave, which includes Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Hideki Matsuyama at 6pm UK and Ireland time. Redman, who starts his quest at 6.55am local time (11.55am UK), could ping the lids.

Progressive post-lockdown form figures of 58-21-11 highlight how increasingly comfortable Redman is becoming on the PGA Tour, swinging with authority, and he signed off from the Travelers Championship on Sunday with a bogey-free 63.

Given the fireworks Redman produced in Detroit last year with a 19-under-par total for second place, it is reasonable to expect birdies on his return.

Jason Day was downbeat at the Travelers Championship last week and looks a vulnerable short-priced favourite in the RMC top Australasian market. Day requested an extra Covid-19 test because he was so concerned about how he was feeling, playing his third round at River Highlands alone as a precaution, and 46th place followed missed cuts at Colonial and Harbour Town.

Young Cameron Davis, typically handicapped by lack of experience at more established PGA Tour venues, looks a better top Australasian investment in the second RMC. And Matt Wallace is worth chancing for top Englishman.

Wallace was bullish about the state of his game in an interview after the third round of the Heritage. A Sunday nightmare alongside DeChambeau followed, then he was unsettled by playing partner Denny McCarthy testing positive for Covid-19 during the Travelers. He could get back among the birdies in Detroit.

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