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Who’s going win the Rocket Classic? The News’ golf ‘experts’ take their best swings

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Who’s going win the Rocket Classic? The News’ golf ‘experts’ take their best swings


Detroit ― Picking winners at professional golf tournaments is no breezy task. There are 156 players in the Rocket Classic field this week at Detroit Golf Club, and theoretically, anyone can get hot and win.

We’ve seen surprises over the years, like inaugural winner Nate Lashley and two-time winner Cam Davis, whose only two PGA Tour tournament victories (2021 and 2024) have come right here at Palmer Park.

We’ve seen the favorites win, like Bryson DeChambeau in 2020 and Tony Finau in 2022.

And we’ve seen the fan favorite win, with Rickie Fowler’s thriller in 2023.

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In other words, good luck with those picks.

Our resident golf “experts” are taking their best swings, and trying not to shank ’em.

Tony Paul

▶ Favorite: It’s been a frustrating season for former U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, with his temp reaching a boiling point at the U.S. Open at Oakmont, where he destroyed a locker. But he’s got a decent history in Detroit, with a tie for eighth in 2022 and a tie for 17th in 2019, and he’s coming off one of his better showings of the season (and his best since March), finishing tied for 17th at the Travelers Championship. (Vegas: +3000)

▶ One to watch: Tom Kim used the Rocket as his springboard onto the PGA Tour in 2022, with a Sunday 63 vaulting the then-20-year-old to a seventh-place finish. He won the very next week, his first win on the PGA Tour. Kim is an electric player who’s not afraid to fire at the pins, leading to lots of low-scoring potential. If his iron game is on at Detroit Golf Club, he could turn around what’s been his toughest season on the Tour. (Vegas: +6600)

▶ Dark horse: Cameron Champ lost his PGA Tour card for 2025, so he’s had to claw for opportunities. The Rocket will be just his seventh appearance on the PGA Tour this season, but in two of the last three, the CJ Cup and the Canadian Open, he’s fared well, with a tie for 15th and a tie for ninth, respectively. It’s easy to forget, too, that he’s a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, who has a T12 and T20 in four showings at the Rocket. (Vegas: +12500)

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▶ My pick: For this, we’ll go with another Cameron (one of three in the field this week, including two-time champ Cam Davis) ― Cameron Young, who, against all odds, hasn’t yet won the PGA Tour. He’s got four top-10s this season, including three in his last six starts, and he’s been in contention in previous years at the Rocket, a shorter course by Tour pro standards that he can manhandle so long as he keeps the driver somewhat on the grid. (Vegas: +2500)

John Niyo

▶ Favorite: Keegan Bradley keeps making life more difficult for the U.S. Ryder Cup captain. But the captain has no one else to blame, because the way Bradley is playing he just might have to name himself to the roster. Bradley is coming off a win at the Travelers Championship after a pair of top-10s in three starts before that. And since he seems to love Donald Ross courses, don’t be surprised if this turns into more than just a scouting trip. (Vegas: +1800)

▶ One to watch: Taylor Moore doesn’t know what it feels like not to finish in the top 10 in Detroit. That’s all he has done here in his first three years on tour, with last year’s T10 being his worst showing. Moore battled an injury earlier this spring and missed the cut in his last start three weeks ago, but his form coming in hasn’t mattered in the past. (Vegas: +8600)

▶ Dark horse: The Rocket Classic becomes a putting contest. And that certainly plays to one of the strengths in Harry Hall’s game, as the Englishman once again ranks among the Tour leaders in putting and birdie average. He also has posted top-25 finishes in his last five starts, including final-round 65 Sunday at the Travelers. (Vegas: +3500)

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▶ My pick: Ben Griffin already has won twice this year, and his last five starts have all ended in top-15 finishes, including this past week at TPC River Highlands. Behind those aviator sunglasses he wears, there’s a golfer who seems as driven as anybody right now on the PGA Tour. He plays a lot, he can go low, and even though this will be his Detroit debut, Griffin figures to be in contention again this weekend. (Vegas: +2000)

Angelique S. Chengelis

▶ Favorite: Collin Morikawa is winless so far this season, but has a couple of runner-up finishes and is due for a breakthrough. What better place than Detroit, where he tied for second in 2023, losing in a playoff to Rickie Fowler. He’s a six-time PGA Tour winner, including wins at the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Championship. His two runner-up finishes this season were earlier in the year, the second at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. Morikawa tied for 10th at The Players Championship and tied for 14th at the Masters. (Vegas: +1200)

▶ One to watch: Keegan Bradley is the captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, but he also arrives in Detroit with plenty of momentum, coming off a win at the Travelers last Sunday. Bradley has entered 15 events this season and has five top-10 finishes. He finished tied for 21st in Detroit in 2023 and had his top finish here in 2021, tied for 14th. (Vegas: +1800)

▶ Dark horse: Luke Clanton, 21, the former No. 1-ranked amateur in the world who played collegiately at Florida State, has tremendous upside. He made his PGA Tour debut as an amateur at the Rocket Classic in 2024 and finished tied for 10th He has made 11 of 15 cuts and has two runner-up finishes in his brief time on Tour. (Vegas: +3300)

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▶ My pick: Patrick Cantlay might not be the most popular golfer out there, and he missed the cuts at the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship but, he’s coming off a strong finish at the Travelers Championship, where he tied for 12th. Cantlay tied for second in Detroit in 2022. (Vegas: +1400)

Craig Yuhas

▶ Favorite: Collin Morikawa just missed winning two years ago, losing in a playoff to Rickie Fowler and Adam Hadwin. He has had a good year with nine top-25 finishes out of 13 events, including two runner-up finishes. He has a good chance to get victory No. 1 on the season this week in Detroit. (Vegas: +1200)

▶ One to watch: Akshay Bhatia nearly won last year, but he struggled late to finish second. There likely will be some motivation to make up for a missed opportunity. (Vegas: +4500)

▶ Dark horse: Hadwin, the longtime PGA Tour pro from Canada, has come close here (he lost in that playoff to Fowler in 2023), but has come up just shy of winning the Rocket. He flies under the radar at most events, but has game enough to win on the PGA Tour. (Vegas: +15000)

▶ My pick: In the last year, Max Greyserman has turned his game up a notch. He has four runner-up finishes and has made a ton of cuts. I like guys at this event that are on the “verge” of breaking through. This could be the week he breaks down the door. (Vegas: +3500)

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tpaul@detroitnews.com

@tonypaul1984



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Detroit, MI

Detroit Lions score 4 players with AP All-Pro nods, including 2 first-timers

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Detroit Lions score 4 players with AP All-Pro nods, including 2 first-timers


ALLEN PARK — Jack Campbell and Penei Sewell were named to the AP All-Pro first-team for the Detroit Lions.

It’s the third consecutive first-team nod for Sewell, 25, who was also named Pro Football Focus’ protector of the year earlier this week. PFF graded Sewell as the top offensive lineman, and not just tackle, in the NFL this season. He allowed only two sacks and 19 pressures across 601 pass-blocking snaps as the top-ranked pass-blocking offensive lineman.

For all the focus on the offensive line and what needs to happen this offseason, Sewell’s presence gives them a cornerstone, blue-chip piece to build around.

Campbell earned his first Pro Bowl and All-Pro nod this season, putting the bows on a true breakout campaign for the former first-round pick. The 25-year-old joins Chris Spielman and Joe Schmidt as the only Lions linebackers ever to make the All-Pro first-team.

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The linebacker finished the season by playing all 17 games for the third straight season, posting career highs in tackles (176), sacks (five), forced fumbles (three), fumble recoveries (two) and tackles for loss (nine). Campbell did all this while taking over the green dot for the first time, and playing more snaps than any other teammate — offense, defense or special teams.

The third-year linebacker finished the season as PFF’s second-best overall linebacker, trailing only Fred Warner of the San Francisco 49ers. Campbell’s 176 tackles were the second-most in the league in 2025.

“He’s extremely valuable,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said of his linebacker last month. “He’s taken more reps than anybody on this team. He plays on kickoff for us, and he’s an asset on kickoff and then everything you see on defense. He doesn’t come off the field; he’s our bell-cow, green-dot. And he does –, and the guy is smart, and he’s instinctive, and he is snap-to-whistle all-out, all the time, in practice too. And he doesn’t take plays off, he doesn’t take days off, he goes after the football, he’s a ball guy.

“So, he’s invaluable.”

Amon-Ra St. Brown, who had made the first team in consecutive years, was named to the AP’s second team this time around. St. Brown finished the season fifth in receptions (117), fifth in yards (1,401), tied for second in touchdowns (11) and seventh in yards after the catch (570).

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The star wideout became the first player in league history to have at least 90 catches through a player’s first five seasons. St. Brown has at least 100 catches and 1,000 yards in four straight seasons, and has caught double-digit touchdowns in the last three.

Aidan Hutchinson joined in on the fun this year, too. Hutchinson earns his first AP All-Pro team nod, landing a second-team spot this season. Not too shabby for someone returning from a season-ending leg injury, and his return served as quite the response.

Hutchinson, who got his big extension this year, played every game and set a new career-best mark with 14.5 sacks and 35 quarterback hits. He also scored his second Pro Bowl appearance this year, as well. Since PFF started tracking pressures, there have been six players to reach the 100-pressure mark. Hutchinson is the only one on that list to have done it twice.

The pass rusher led the NFL in pressures created, finishing the campaign with a clear 100. The next closest player was Jacksonville’s Josh Hines-Allen, who had 95.

“The number of things that he’s able to do for us in the run and the pass game,” Dan Campbell said of Hutchinson earlier in the season. “Man, it takes up — he pulls a lot of slack, man. You talk about pulling your weight, he pulls his weight and then some. He requires a lot of resources offensively, which helps everybody else out. Guys like him, he’s in that rare world of man, you don’t get the easy way out. He’s got to beat the nudges, he’s got to beat the back chip, then the tackle’s on him. Or he’s got to beat the nudge, sometimes the back, the tackle, and the slide’s coming to him with the guard also.

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“So, sometimes you may have to beat three, sometimes four. But if that’s the case, somebody else is winning. They’ve got to win. So, what he does is not easy, and I go back to this. He is a complete football player; he does it all. And he’s disruptive, he’s violent, he’s high motor, he’s crafty, he’s explosive, he’s tough, he’s competitive. And he does it all. He does it all.”

For a full look at the AP’s All-Pro voting results, click here. Of note, longtime former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford earned the first All-Pro first-team nod of his career this year. Stafford remains in the MVP hunt, and this honor usually leads to that.



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Detroit, MI

Vigil, protest held for Renee Nicole Good at Detroit’s Clark park

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Vigil, protest held for Renee Nicole Good at Detroit’s Clark park


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The name Renee Nicole Good bounced off the buildings of southwest Detroit as hundreds marched on the evening of Friday, Jan. 9, following Good’s fatal shooting by an immigration agent in Minneapolis earlier in the week. 

A candlelight vigil was held at 6 p.m. at the city’s Clark Park in memory of Good, before attendees took off marching down Vernor Highway. 

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As of 7:30 p.m., the mass crowd had reached Cavalry Street, about half a mile away from the park, and turned, yelling “What do we want? Justice ” and calling for ICE’s ousting from communities.

Good, 37, was in her car when she was shot in the head on Wednesday, Jan.7, by a federal immigration officer in south Minneapolis. She leaves behind three children, ages 6, 12 and 15.

The shooting was recorded by witnesses and heightened political and community tensions over federal immigration enforcement as part of President Donald Trump’s nationwide immigration operations. The Trump administration has since said the shooting was done in self-defense, USA TODAY reports.

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Protests have occurred in cities across the U.S. since Good’s death, including gatherings in Michigan, and additional demonstrations are scheduled throughout the weekend.

This is a developing story.



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Debating Mike McDaniel’s fit for Detroit Lions OC job

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Debating Mike McDaniel’s fit for Detroit Lions OC job


But we also can’t ignore the drastic fall-off from the Dolphins’ offense. Partially because of injuries to Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill over the past two seasons, the Dolphins have finished 22nd and 25th in scoring offense in 2024 and 2025, respectively. Injuries can be used as an excuse, but the greatest coordinators find a way through the adversity.

Beyond that, there are questions about his philosophical and schematic fit. While the Lions have built their offenses on grit and physicality, McDaniel seems to favor speed and finesse. But maybe that’s exactly what the Lions need. Detroit has two speedy players in Jameson Williams and Jahmyr Gibbs, who could probably be utilized more creatively, and it’s hard to imagine anyone better than McDaniel to do so.

McDaniel also has a very long coaching history with a lot of different coaching influences and schemes—including his closest coaching guru: Kyle Shanahan. The 49ers head coach has a scheme that is both more congruent with what the Lions do and much more adaptable.

On this EMERGENCY PODCAST, our crew debates the fit of McDaniel in Detroit, along with our thoughts on the Lions’ other known candidate: Commanders quarterbacks coach David Blough.

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Before that, Erik Schlitt, Ryan Mathews, and I discuss our biggest takeaways from Lions general manager Brad Holmes’ end-of-season press conference, including the future of David Montgomery, whether Holmes really took accountability for his mistakes, and our confidence in him moving forward.

You can catch our discussion in the embedded podcast below or on any podcasting platform you’d prefer. Just search “Pride of Detroit.”

You can also catch video of the show over on our YouTube pages. Here are the links:



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