Jake Yono Rocket Mortgage Classic 2024 Recap

JY Journalism

7/1/24

Hello again, as you might have seen last year I volunteered at the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club by holding up the score walking with the golfers, I did this on Friday and Sunday of the tournament and it was an amazing experience meeting and watching some of the worlds best golfers on the PGA Tour. This year I was a standard bearer and did the 2 final rounds of the event (Saturday and Sunday) where I saw some very competitive action-packed golf. In this article, I will be sharing my experiences on these days and also will be talking about the whole tournament in general.

For round 3 on Saturday the tournament was delayed because of rain and storms in the morning, these conditions pushed the starting tee times back to 12:48-3:00EST with players teeing off from the 1st and 10th holes (Rocket Mortgage Classic Tee Times). My tee time was scheduled at 8; 20 am with a normal 6:45 start time going off 1 and 10 but we started at 1:10 due to the delays, going off 1 The players in my group were Bud Cauley, Ben Kohles, and who would eventually finish tied for 2nd in the contest Davis Thompson. First Bud Cauley had a horrific injury in 2018 which put him at a disadvantage for a few years while being out, In round 1 he shot an even-par 72 round, and in round 2 he had a -7 65 shows, in round 3 on the front 9 he was 1 under than on the back then on the back he made all pars leaving him at a 71 (-1) round for the day. Bud finished the tournament on Sunday with a +1 showing leaving him at -7 in the entire tournament which was good enough for a 52nd-place finish. the 2nd golfer in my group was Ben Kohles who is currently in contention for the FedEx Cup playoffs at 78th place, coming into round 3 Kohles was at -7 for the tournament with a 67 and a 70, in round 3 he opened the front 9 with a 34 (-2) and closed at even with 3 bogeys, this led to a 70 in round 3. In the whole tournament, Ben Kohles was -11 and tied for 20th place. The final player I held the sign for was the best in the group the 25-year-old kid from Georgia Davis Thompson. First I would like to say that I was a standard bearer for Davis last year and he was very nice and gave me an autographed ball, he also did that for me this year, also he drives the ball as far as the whole round he was outdriving Cauley and Kohles. Coming into round three Davis was -7 with a 68 and a 69 and he played better in his final 2 rounds with a 66 and a 68 putting at -17 for the tournament and 1 shot off the winner for a share of second place and taking home a million dollars. Saturday was a fun day for me as I watched Davis Thompson nail birdie putts and climb his way up the leaderboard.

This round 4 group was the greatest experience I've ever had in my 3 years working in the standard bearer position at the RMC. Originally my schedule for this day said 1:30 was my tee time which was the 4th to last group which was Luke Klanton and Min Woo Lee, the kid with the final grouping is a big fan of Min Woo Lee who finished tied for 2nd and wanted to switch with my group which meant I was going to be the standard bearer for the 2:00 tee time Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai the leaders going into the final round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. This experience of a championship-level golf round is truly unmatched, the huge crowds, cameras, reporters, and overall attention are truly flawless. I am very blessed to have had this experience, I did not need it but will take it. Going into the day Akshay and Aaron were both -17 for the tournament, watching and listening to the broadcast on Saturday the broadcasters kept saying "Someone from behind is gonna put up a massive day and try to win this thing tomorrow" but that never happened. On the first hole, Aaron Rai made a birdie while Bhatia pared, then on Hole 3 Akshay bogeyed but came back on Hole 4 with a bogey, 6 Rai bogeyed leaving the door a little more open for Bhatia where he took advantage of the Birdied hole 7. On the front 9 Bhatia was 1 under while Rai was 1 over. On 10, Rai made a birdie but on 11 he struggled to make par and hopped back on the bogey train until hole 14 where he birdied the par 5 to bring him back to a 1-shot deficient. The next 3 holes were pared out until hole 18 where both of the players hit excellent approach shots into the green leaving Rai with 78ft to go for par and Akshay with 28ft left for par. Rai made it to 5 feet and made it for par keeping him at a shot back from Bhatia. Akshays first putt from 28ft was short and made it to 5ft, at this point he was tied with Cam Davis from the group before and he had a 5ft 9in putt to send it into a playoff with Davis but it broke right before the hole and the missed right. Akshay would tap in to finish tied for second in the tournament while Cam Davis would become the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic Champion. All Cam needed was a -2 day and he did it, with a birdie at 17 Akshay had to save par on 18 to advance but sadly he didn't.

This year's edition of the Rocket Mortage classic was the most surreal experience I've ever had at the tournament. I would have liked to see Akshay win the tournament outright or to have a playoff at least but it is ok as with this finish he is now ranked #11 on the FedEx Cup standings with a few more events until the playoffs, Aaron Rai from England is in 57th place, Cam Davis is in 40th place, and Davis Thompson is now sitting in 51st place. This year's edition of the tournament was the best experience for me as I got to walk with the final group and get a taste of world-class championship-level golf.