By Vik Chokshi
FOX Sports Gambling Lead

Last week, we were so close to striking gold on one of our long-shot bets to win the Travelers Championship. 

Brian Harman finished tied for ninth, while Patrick Cantlay and Akshay Bhatia both finished tied for fifth. But the one that got away was Tom Kim (+4000), who was leading for the majority of the event before losing in a one-hole playoff to Scottie Scheffler.

Once again, Scheffler was just too good. 

The good news for long-shot bettors this week? Scheffler is sitting this one out, and reportedly taking a short break until the British Open.

This week the PGA Tour heads to Detroit for the Rocket Mortgage Classic. 

The event will be played at the Detroit Country Club, a par-72 track that’s 7,370 yards long with Bentgrass greens.

As for betting on the tournament, we’ve got you covered with everything you need, from the odds to best bets.

Let’s dive into the action.

FAVORITES

In addition to Scheffler, Rory McIlroy is also out until the tour heads overseas.

With two of the big dogs staying home, the betting board looks a little different this week than most. Kim is currently the favorite to win the tournament at +1200, and Cameron Young is right behind him at +1600. 

Young tied for second here in 2022.

Rickie Fowler, who won last year’s tournament, is a bit of a long shot to repeat at +5000. His win came in a playoff against Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa, both of whom are absent this weekend. 

Now that we teed off with the basics, let’s approach the top favorites and my portfolio for this tournament.

ODDS LIST

Tom Kim: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Cameron Young: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Min Woo Lee: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Akshay Bhatia: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Taylor Pendrith: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Stephan Jaeger: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Maverick McNealy: +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)
Keith Mitchell: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Alex Noren: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Aaron Rai: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Will Zalatoris: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Robert MacIntyre: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Davis Thompson: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)

* Odds as of 6/26

LONG-SHOT OUTRIGHT BETS TO MAKE

If you follow me on Twitter or read this column, you know I love betting on golf long shots (+1500 to +2000 or longer). There’s just something thrilling about holding a lottery ticket deep into Sunday. It also presents you with multiple hedging opportunities if you want to eliminate some of your risks.

A lot of my bets this week are based on course history and form, so here are a couple of guys worth sprinkling pizza money on:

Min Woo Lee +2000
Taylor Pendrith +2500
Maverick McNealy +2800
Aaron Rai +3000
Matt Wallace +6000
Troy Merritt +12000