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Detroit — The field for the eighth and final Rocket Classic is nearly finalized.
All but a handful of spots in the 145-player field for the PGA Tour tournament at Detroit Golf Club are spoken for, with headliners including Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka, each of whom is playing in the event for the first time, as well as Rickie Fowler, the 2023 champion who has played in each of the first seven Rockets.
The list of commitments also includes four players ranked in the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, led by No. 3 Cameron Young, No. 5 Russell Henley, No. 7 Chris Gotterup and No. 9 Wyndham Clark, this year's U.S. Open champion. The field currently includes eight players ranked inside the top 20, and 53 players ranked inside the top 100, with tournament officials holding out hope to snag another big name or two with the PGA Tour playoffs looming.
The deadline for PGA Tour players to commit to the Rocket, the second-to-last tournament before the start of the PGA Tour playoffs, is Friday night. The tournament is July 30-Aug. 2.
The final four spots in the field then will be determined at Monday's 18-hole qualifier at The Orchards Golf Club in Washington Township, where the competition is open to the public and free to attend. The qualifier will feature several notable former PGA Tour players, as well as players with local ties. At last year's qualifier, Brighton's Otto Black and Grand Rapids' Brett White were two of the players who Monday-qualified into the 2025 Rocket Classic.
So far, this year's Rocket field has two local players — Detroiter Joe Hooks, who was given a sponsor's exemption, and Ann Arbor native Patrick Wilkes-Krier, who won the 2025 Michigan PGA Championship to earn his spot.
The list of player commitments always is subject to change, and already has changed a bit. Sam Burns, who is ranked 11th in the world and had top-10 finishes at this year's Masters, U.S. Open and British Open, decommitted after the birth of his second child earlier this month. Aaron Rai, world No. 20, also was committed until he won the PGA Championship in May, and then reevaluated his schedule for the rest of the season.
Who's playing in the 2026 Rocket Classic?
Rocket Classic commitments, as of July 21:
- Zach Bauchou
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout
- Akshay Bhatia
- Chandler Blanchet
- Keegan Bradley
- Michael Brennan
- Jacob Bridgeman
- Dan Brown
- Brian Campbell
- Rafael Campos
- Patrick Cantlay
- Ricky Castillo
- Davis Chatfield
- Luke Clanton
- Wyndham Clark
- Eric Cole
- Corey Conners
- Pierceson Coody
- Trace Crowe
- Joel Dahman
- Brad Dalke (sponsor's exemption)
- Cameron Davis
- Jason Day
- Zecheng Dou
- Adrien Dumont de Chassart
- Nick Dunlap
- Nico Echavarria
- Austin Eckroat
- A.J. Ewart
- Tony Finau
- Patrick Fishburn
- Steven Fisk
- Rickie Fowler
- Brice Garnett
- Doug Ghim
- Lucas Glover
- Chris Gotterup
- Max Greyserman
- Ben Griffin
- Lanto Griffin
- Emiliano Grillo
- Harry Hall
- Russell Henley
- Garrick Higgo
- Joe Highsmith
- Kensei Hirata
- Ryo Hisatsune
- Lee Hodges
- Rico Hoey
- Tom Hoge
- Nicolai Hojgaard
- Rasmus Hojgaard
- Joe Hooks (sponsor's exemption)
- Billy Horschel
- Beau Hossler
- Mark Hubbard
- Mackenzie Hughes
- Sungjae Im
- Stephan Jaeger
- Ben James
- William Jennings (sponsor's exemption)
- Takumi Kanaya
- Jeffrey Kang
- Johnny Keefer
- Michael Kim
- Si Woo Kim
- Chris Kirk
- Patton Kizzire
- Jake Knapp
- Brooks Koepka
- Jackson Koivun
- Matt Kuchar
- Christo Lamprecht
- Hank Lebioda
- Haotong Li
- David Lipsky
- Justin Lower
- Peter Malnati
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Stefano Mazzoli
- Denny McCarthy
- Matt McCarty
- Max McGreevy
- Maverick McNealy
- Mac Meissner
- Keith Mitchell
- Taylor Moore
- William Mouw
- Keita Nakajima
- Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen
- Andrew Novak
- Pontus Nyholm
- Thorbjorn Olesen
- John Parry
- Matthieu Pavon
- Taylor Pendrith
- Marco Penge
- Chandler Phillips
- Aldrich Potgieter
- Seamus Power
- Andrew Putnam
- Chad Ramey
- Davis Riley
- Patrick Rodrgers
- Kevin Roy
- Marcelo Rozo
- Ryan Ruffels (sponsor's exemption)
- Adrien Saddier
- Gordon Sargent
- Xander Schauffele
- Adam Schenk
- Matti Schmid
- Neal Shipley
- Webb Simpson
- Jordan Smith
- Austin Smotherman
- Brandt Snedeker
- J.J. Spaun
- Sam Stevens
- Kevin Streelman
- Jackson Suber
- Adam Svensson
- Jesper Svensson
- Nick Taylor
- Davis Thompson
- Michael Thorbjornsen
- Brendon Todd
- Alejandro Tosti
- Erik van Rooyen
- John VanDerLaan
- Kristoffer Ventura
- Karl Vilips
- Danny Walker
- Matt Wallace
- Vince Whaley
- Patrick Wilkes-Krier (Michigan PGA champion)
- Aaron Wise
- Dylan Wu
- Sudarshan Yellamaraju
- Cameron Young
- Kevin Yu
When is the 2026 Rocket Classic?
▶ When: July 30-Aug. 2
▶ Where: Detroit Golf Club
▶ 2025 champion: Aldrich Potgieter
▶ Tickets: Starting at $68; children 15 and younger get in free with a ticketed adult. Details at RocketClassic.com.
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Rocket Classic field almost set: Here's who will tee it up in Detroit
