Michael Thorbjornsen Earns First Win at Last Rocket Classic

For the second straight week on the PGA Tour, an up-and-coming talent has found the winner’s circle for the first time. Michael Thorbjornsen, the long-hitting 24-year-old out of Stanford, fired a bogey-free 63 to win the final edition of the Rocket Classic by two shots. He hit 17 greens on Sunday to erase a four-shot deficit and holed a 25-foot birdie putt to seal the win. Afterward, Thor credited instructor Sean Foley, whom he has worked with for just over a month, for helping him gain control of the golf ball “for the first time” in his life. A well-rounded player with effortless speed and sneakily crafty around-the-green play, Thorbjornsen is firmly on the short list of best pros under 25 alongside Jackson Koivun, Akshay Bhatia, Tom Kim, and Blades Brown. He turns 25 in September. While this may have been Thorbjornsen’s first win, it was far from his first experience contending on a weekend since turning pro. Sunday marked the eighth time since the start of 2025 that he entered the final round within three shots of the 54-hole lead, spanning 44 starts. Back in March, Thor played his way into the final pairing at the Players Championship before having a rough outing on Sunday and falling all the way to T-22. He has flashed upside on plenty of occasions, and with more time to develop and sharpen his skill set, his consistency should improve as he hits the prime of his career over the next 12-24 months. The price of his stock just went up, but he is a long-term buy.

In other notable finishes, Jackson Koivun finished T-31 in Detroit despite a cold week with the flatstick. Next week could be a big week for Koivun. He entered the Rocket 70th in the FedEx Cup standings and his position remains unchanged heading into next week’s regular-season finale at the Wyndham Championship. The top 70 players in the standings after the Wyndham qualify for the playoffs. Koivun’s case for a Presidents Cup captain’s pick could very well hinge on reaching the postseason. Other notable names hovering around the playoff bubble: Keegan Bradley (72), Jason Day (75), and Brooks Koepka (87).

The Tyler Rae-led restoration of Detroit Golf Club drew nearly universal praise from Tour pros. “It’s one of the best redos I've seen maybe ever in golf course design,” Wyndham Clark said before the tournament. The project aimed to restore key elements of Donald Ross’s original design, including revitalized green complexes, improved drainage, enhancing the prominence of the ditches, and additional areas of thick fescue to steepen the penalty for errant shots, including around the bunkers.

Changes were significant throughout the entirety of the golf course, but perhaps nowhere were they more dramatic than at the par-5 14th. The left-side ditch was sharpened, the right fairway bunker was repositioned to cut more into play, the green was rebuilt, and the pond protecting the left side of the green was replaced with bunkers and extensive thick fescue. Over the tournament, No. 14 proved to be a demanding, engaging par 5 for the pros and an appropriate representation of Rae’s restoration goals.

From afar, the changes appeared to be a significant upgrade, at least in the context of testing the best golfers in the world. Unfortunately, the changes will be showcased just once on the PGA Tour. Rocket has elected not to renew its title sponsorship, and the tournament is expected to disappear from the Tour schedule going forward.