Michael Thorbjornsen goes low in final round for win in final Rocket Classic

The scores rose as the rain fell at Detroit Golf Club.

But after a wet and windy final round, Michael Thorbjornsen emerged victorious at the 2026 Rocket Classic for his first career PGA Tour win.

Thorbjornsen nailed four birdies on his first six holes on the back nine to pull away from a crowded field at the top of the standings, including consecutive birdies on the 14th and 15th holes that gave him a two-shot lead. His previous best finish this season came at the WM Phoenix Open, where he finished tied for third.

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Rocket Classic concludes 8-year run with wet final round in Detroit

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Rocket Classic concludes 8-year run with wet final round in Detroit

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Rocket Classic concludes 8-year run with wet final round in Detroit

The 24-year-old American fired a 7-under 63 – while hitting 17 of 18 greens in regulation – on Sunday, Aug. 2, to become the final champion at Detroit’s PGA Tour event at 18 under par, two shots better than Xander Schauffele.

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The weather didn’t dissuade fans from coming out to Detroit Golf Club, which is hosting the Rocket Classic for the last time. And after braving light rain and whipping winds, the crowd absorbed the emerging sunshine in the middle of the afternoon as the competition heated up on the final nine.

The 2026 Rocket saw its course record tied by three golfers in as many days, with Peter Malnati shooting a 61 in the first round on Thursday, world No. 3 Cameron Young following him with a 61 on Friday and Danish golfer Rasmus Højgaard shooting a 61 on Saturday. But with a light rain falling on the course throughout the day and winds picking up in the early afternoon, no golfer approached that mark on Sunday, with the best performance of the day through 18 holes going to Thorbjornsen and Hideki Matsuyama at 6-under.

CARLOS MONARREZ: Final Rocket Classic tees off bittersweetly at Detroit Golf Club

Crowded leaderboard throughout

The final round began with Davis Riley on top at 15-under and Michael Brennan one stroke below him. But after both golfers birdied the first hole, Riley bogeyed the second, allowing Brennan to take the lead after a birdie on the third hole. Riley bogeyed the 6th to drop him three strokes under the lead, needing an awkward left-handed shot from behind a tree to get him on the fairway.

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Højgaard, who tied the tour record with a 9-under in the third round on Saturday, followed a birdie on 3 with an eagle on 4, sinking a 53-yard shot from the rough to bring him to 14-under and a tie for second place with Riley and Chris Kirk.

Højgaard was centimeters away from birdies on the fifth and sixth holes that would have brought him in a tie for the lead, instead settling for consecutive pars. But he would soon join a six-way tie at the top after Brennan double-bogeyed on the 7th hole, dropping him to even-par for the day.

Schauffele broke through with consecutive birdies on the eighth and ninth holes to bring him to 15-under and get his first lead of the tournament, though Højgaard and Brennan both got even with Schauffele with birdies of their own on 8.

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Højgaard once again found himself ahead with a birdie on No. 10 to start his tour of the back end but dropped back down to 15-under after a bogey on 11. Thorbjornsen was bogey-free through 12 holes, scoring birdies on 10 and 12 to bring up to 15-under and in a three-way tie for first with Riley and Højgaard. Schauffele made that a four-way tie once again after a birdie on 14 before Thorbjornsen took his first overall lead at 16-under with his own birdie on 14, extending his lead to two strokes after another birdie on 15.

Why the Rocket Classic is done after 2026

Rocket confirmed in June that the 2026 Rocket Classic would be the eighth and final one, with no PGA Tour event scheduled to come to Detroit in 2027. Rocket hasn’t officially given a reason for pulling out of the tour, but many analysts suspect the company’s decision was a financial one, with Rocket unwilling to pay an extra $15 million for a more premium placement on the 2027 Tour calendar.

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In a statement, the Tour said it was “interested in the Detroit market” and would continue pursuing sponsorship opportunities for future events in the Detroit metro area. But golf fans in Michigan might have to wait a while before another Tour event passes by, whether at the Detroit Golf Club or anywhere else in the state.

Part of the PGA Tour’s interest in Detroit has to do with market size. In a March news conference, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said the Tour is interested in expanding its presence in large markets, pointing out that the Tour doesn’t hold events in some of the country’s biggest markets like New York, Chicago and Boston.

The Classic is considered a lesser event on the PGA Tour schedule, with a $10 million purse less than half that of major tournaments like the Masters and PGA Championship, as well as other big tournaments like the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida and the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.

That could be a reason why the Classic has struggled to attract some of the biggest names on the tour. The 2026 edition included top-ranked golfers like Cameron Young but failed to attract bigger stars like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, with the event holding local prestige but failing to develop significant national attention.

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Rocket Classic winners

• 2026: Michael Thorbjornsen (18 under par).

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You can reach Christian at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michael Thorbjornsen goes low in final round for win in final Rocket Classic