Rocket Classic battled COVID, tornadoes, wildfire smoke but the PGA Tour stop is over

DETROIT — The Rocket Classic left its mark. Now, it's leaving a void.

>The PGA Tour's run in the city of Detroit came to an end Sunday — at least, for now — with the eighth and final playing of the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club, where stars were out, galleries were out, the sun was (mostly) out.

>Just about everything that could've gone right for the Rocket's swan song did go right — except that it's now over.

>"Eight unbelievable years," Mark Hollis, the first-year tournament director, said early Sunday afternoon, just as the leaders were starting to tee off. "It's something to celebrate this year.

>"We started this thing back in '18, with 2019 being the first event. We've battled through COVID and tornadoes, smoke (from wildfires) and all kinds of different things going on out there.

>"And I'm just proud how we pulled everything together this year in a positive way."

>It didn't always seem like this was going to be the most positive of weeks, especially back in early June, when Rocket Companies made the announcement that it was dropping its title sponsorship of the tournament rather than picking up its option for 2027 and continuing negotiations about a long-term extension. Rocket officials cited the changing landscape of the PGA Tour scheduling, with his going to a two-tier tournament model starting in 2028, as one of the major reasons it decided to end the sponsorship, though Rocket isn't ruling out getting involved again in the future.

>The PGA Tour said at the time it still values the Detroit and Metro Detroit market. Nothing has changed on that front in the PGA Tour's mind, as it continues to engage in potential sponsors and venues about a future event.

>But, for now, the ship has sailed. If Detroit does get back in the mix one day, it likely won't be in 2027. Beyond that, we'll see. As Rickie Fowler, the face of this event for eight years, said a few days ago, "Never say never."

>"I think it is bittersweet, kind of understanding that this is potentially the last time you'll see, the best players in the world play your golf course," said Keith Hazely, club president of Detroit Golf Club, who'll remember this week for lots of reasons, starting with the hole-in-one he made at the par-3 15th hole in Wednesday's pro-am — his first ace, the first on the North Course since the renovation, and playing alongside 54-hole leader Davis Riley, no less.

>"(The Rocket) has put us on a national stage."

>Detroit Golf Club, for what it's worth, would be open to considering a PGA Tour tournament in the future, Hazely said, especially after the success of this week, including how the renovated course looked on TV and the rave reviews from just about every player in the field — from those who played the old course and those who'd never played DGC before.

>There are lots of complexities in what led to the demise of the Rocket, but the simplest reason is this: After eight years, the key three stakeholders — Rocket, the DGC membership of 750-plus and the PGA Tour — couldn't all get on the same page about what was best for their own future, even though all three saw different levels of value in the event.

>Meanwhile, the 2026 Rocket drew arguably its best field ever, with four players ranked in the top 10, eight in the top 20, and more than half of the top 100. Xander Schauffele played the Rocket for the first time, and took the lead Sunday. Jordan Spieth also played for the first time. That led to some of the largest galleries the Rocket has seen in the last several years, certainly larger than last year, when the Rocket had its worst attendance ever (not including the fan-less COVID year in 2020). The PGA Tour doesn't release attendance figures, but it was obvious if your eyes and ears were open — the grounds of DGC had a buzz similar to the inaugural year, in 2019, when the PGA Tour returned to Michigan for the first time since the Buick Open ended in Grand Blanc a decade earlier.

>And fans this year were treated to lots of great golf, yet another Sunday shootout, and one more bright spotlight on the city of Detroit. The Rocket also gave out more than $10 million to local charities during its eight-year run, including a legacy gift from Rocket founder Dan Gilbert announced this week that will build on the tournament's "Changing the Course" initiative that's set out to one day complete end the digital divide in Detroit.

>"When we got going, it was, 'How do we create a really awesome golf event, and then quickly it was like, 'There's so much more opportunity than this,'" Jason Langwell, the Rocket tournament director for the first six years before leaving to join TMRW Sports, said during Wednesday night's pro-am pairings party at the new Hudon's downtown, after the nationally televised par-3 shootout from a rooftop featuring Fowler, Schauffele and Co.

>"Dan was like, 'This needs to be about impact for Detroit, and this needs to be more than a golf tournament.' And when he said that, all the lights went on."

>Eight years later, the lights are going out.

>For how long, time will tell.

>tpaul@detroitnews.com. @tonypaul1984

>This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Rocket Classic battled COVID, tornadoes, wildfire smoke but the PGA Tour stop is over