DETROIT ~ Michael Thorbjornsen secured the win in Sunday’s final round of Rocket Classic with a 26-foot putt for birdie on the eighteenth hole and Xander Schauffele took second.
25-year-old Thorbjornsen took the tournament by two strokes with a total 18 under. Sunday’s average score was the worst of the weekend with more difficult pin-placement and variable weather. Thorbjornsen, though, posted his best score of the tournament and the best score of the day, 7 under 63. The first-time champion entered Rocket Classic world No. 69, teetering on the 70-player cutoff for the FedEx playoffs. The win secured his spot in the playoffs where he is set to face Sunday’s runner up No. 15 Schauffele again.
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Competition was close on the leaderboard and on the course–Schauffele and Thorbjornsen played in the same group Sunday. Schauffele had a promising 4 under at the twelfth hole Sunday, but lost momentum late in the round. He told reporters that a hole thirteen bogey and shanked shot from the rough hurt his game. This change of pace could have conditions to blame. Morning rain softened the greens, testing players to adjust as the surface gradually firmed through the afternoon. But Thorbjornsen managed the same shifting conditions while playing alongside Schauffele.
The early career accomplishment for Thorbjornsen provides more than a first title. Thorbjornsen earned a two-year PGA Tour exemption and will move up in world rankings ahead of the FedEx Cup. Thorbjornsen’s debut victory capped the Detroit Golf Club’s final Rocket Classic.
