24-year-old Michael Thorbjornsen put on a clinic in Sunday\u2019s final round of the Rocket Classic in Detroit with the American posting a seven-under-par 63 to climb six places and win by two strokes at 18-under.<\/p>\n
Thorbjornsen was bogey free around Detroit Golf Club but it was his back nine performance that sealed a first PGA TOUR win for the youngster. Two-under on the front, Thorbjornsen would make five birdies on the back with his best coming at the last where he drained a 26-foot putt.<\/p>\n
This win jumps Thorbjornsen into the top-70 of the FedEx Cup standings. The top 70 advance to the postseason after next week\u2019s Wyndham Championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust to be in the playoff for the first time is very exciting, he said. \u201dIt\u2019s great to be playing against the best players in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was such a battle, playing with some great players,\u201d Thorbjornsen added. \u201cEveryone was in the mix after nine holes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thorbjornsen is the eighth first-time winner this season on the PGA TOUR and the second straight, following Jackson Koivun\u2019s victory last week at the 3M Open.<\/p>\n
Xander Schauffele earned his best finish of the year as his 16-under score was enough to hold second place. After a somewhat lackluster season, Schauffele is trying to get back to basics and tap into his rookie season mentality.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to come here and get a few feels, I guess, in play and kind of just freewheel it with sort of a nothing-to-lose mentality. I felt like I spoke about that when I was a rookie on TOUR,\u201d Schauffele said Sunday. \u201cI\u2019m trying to be free and if I hit loose shots, I hit loose shots, but feel free when I\u2019m swinging \u2013 and I think we did a pretty good job of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Schauffele, whose previous best result of 2026 came at THE PLAYERS Championship where he finished solo third, was chuffed with his debut performance at Detroit Golf Club.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel good. You know, I fell short, but I played well,\u201d Schauffele said. \u201c(Thorbjornsen) just played \u2026 he played incredible. If you look at his stretch for the last 12 holes, he played incredible golf.<\/p>\n
With the FedExCup Playoffs around the corner, it\u2019s as perfect a time as any for Schauffele to be playing good golf again.<\/p>\n
54-hole leader Davis Riley dropped to third place after an even-par final round seen him finish at 15-under. Riley started with a one-shot lead and quickly lost it \u2013 and couldn\u2019t find his ball in fescue at the fourth after about a dozen people helped him try.<\/p>\n
Riley rallied with three birdies in a seven hole stretch but the early bogeys were too costly and another at the 17th nulled any chance of a playoff.<\/p>\n
Rasmus H\u00f8jgaard finished fourth at 14-under. Hideki Matsuyama, Matt Wallace, and Kristoffer Ventura finished in a tie for fifth at 13-under.\u00a0<\/p>\n