The Rocket Mortgage Classic is the first PGA Tour event within the city limits of DetroitROCKET MORTGAGE
The PGA Tour over the next two weeks will "feature two new events in markets that have been home to major championships and senior golf but now are stepping up to the major leagues," according to Dave Shedloski of GOLF DIGEST. The Rocket Mortgage Classic teed off this morning at Detroit Golf Club and next week the Tour heads to suburban Minneapolis for the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities. Both events have "drawn decent fields despite the unknowns that go with inaugural outings." Rocket Mortgage parent company Quicken Loans is headquartered in Detroit and 3M is based in Minneapolis, but "that’s where the similarities end" between the tournaments. Rocket Mortgage Classic Exec Dir Jason Langwell said, "We’ve had 13 months to put this together when the tour said you need 18-20 months. Unlike 3M, we had no ticketing infrastructure, we had no program in place to segue into. The scale is different for them obviously, but they had a base to build from (after being a long-time PGA Tour Champions venue). We did not. We had to build awareness and consensus, build our brand from scratch." For 3M Open Tournament Dir Peter Mele, the challenge has been about "making everything bigger, including the golf course." Mele said, "One of our big challenges is communicating that this is not the 3M Championship, this is the 3M Open, this is the PGA Tour. We want it to have a different look and feel when fans step on site" (GOLFDIGEST.com, 6/24).
STARTING STRONG: In Detroit, Matt Charboneau notes it can "take many years for events on the PGA Tour to build momentum and recognition," but there are seven major champions "in the field this week" in Detroit, including recent U.S. Open Champion Gary Woodland and world No. 2 Dustin Johnson. There are "plenty of other big names, as well, including Rocket Mortgage pitchman Rickie Fowler" (DETROITNEWS.com, 6/27). Also in Detroit, Tony Paul noted the Rocket Mortgage Classic has "sold out grounds tickets" for both Saturday and Sunday's third and fourth rounds. Tournament officials "haven't offered a target number of fans, but it's likely more than 100,000 will be on the grounds" throughout the event (DETROITNEWS.com, 6/23). In Minneapolis, Jerry Zgoda notes the 3M Open has "persuaded world No. 1-ranked Brooks Koepka and fellow major winners Phil Mickelson, Jason Day and Patrick Reed" to join next week's field. Bryson DeChambeau last December was the "first notable name to commit, partly because he wants to meet with 3M scientists." Mickelson said that he "wants to support a golf market that has always strongly supported its major championships" (STARTRIBUNE.com, 6/27).
THINKING AHEAD: Quicken Loans was title sponsor of the Tour's annual event in DC from '14-18, but company CEO Jay Farner has said the "mission the entire time was to bring the first PGA tournament event" to the city of Detroit. He said, "The PGA [Tour] was great in working with us trying to find an open spot on the calendar that was a great date. And after that five-year period of time (in D.C.) we were able to find that spot" (FREEP.com, 6/23). In Detroit, Daniel Howes wrote fans should thank Quicken Loans Founder & Chair Dan Gilbert, whose company's five-year sponsorship of the DC Tour event was a "means to a deliberate end: That is, making Detroit and the Rocket Mortgage Classic a recurring stop" on the calendar. This is "vintage Gilbert." Howes: "Leverage sponsorship of high-profile events to achieve the dual purpose of building the Quicken brand and benefiting the company's hometown by garnering media attention, rebuilding its reputation and driving dollars into the local business ecosystem" (DETROITNEWS.com, 6/24).
