Michael Thorbjornsen had been close to winning before on the PGA Tour, and he learned from those experiences.
That showed Sunday when Thorbjornsen shot a flawless 7-under-par 63 to win the Rocket Classic and capture his first victory on the PGA Tour at Detroit Golf Club.
“I’ve been in that position a few times this year and didn’t have the outcome I wanted,” Thorbjornsen said. “I knew how to handle it.”
Thorbjornsen finished at 18-under 262 for the tournament by draining a 25 1/2-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
Thorbjornsen, 24, had the best round of the day for a two-stroke winning margin on Xander Schauffele (65 on Sunday).
“The feeling’s unbelievable,” Thorbjornsen said. “I don’t really know how to feel. I’m feeling a lot of things, I can’t really put the words to it. Just extremely, extremely grateful to be setting here right now.”
Third-round leader Davis Riley (70) placed third at 15 under and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard (68) was fourth at 14 under.
Thorbjornsen clinched a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs, but he had to wait for the final two threesomes to finish before fully celebrating the tournament accomplishment in his 65th start on the tour. He had two top-10 finishes this year prior to this weekend.
“Just to be in the playoffs first time is very exciting,” he said. “Always great to be playing against the best players in the world.”
On Sunday, Thorbjornsen played the final nine holes — including chipping in for birdie on the 12th hole — at 5 under.
Schauffele remains without a victory this year, but this marked his sixth top-10 finish (and third in the top four).
“I 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,” Schauffele said.
Riley, who hasn’t won since 2024, started the round with a birdie on the first hole before hitting a five-hole stretch with three bogeys.
“Just the start to today got the best of me and kind of put me behind the 8-ball early unfortunately,” Riley said of the first few holes. “Tried to claw my way back the best I could but unfortunately come up a little bit short. But a lot to build on.”
Hojgaard had an eagle on the par-5 fourth hole and reached 4 under for the round through 10 holes before a bogey on No. 11 and another on No. 18.
Before the final groups were halfway through the last round, at least seven golfers had ascended to at least a share of the top spot.
“It was such a battle,” Thorbjornsen said. “… Everyone was in the mix after nine holes.”
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (64) had the day’s second-best round and finished tied for fifth place at 13 under. He began on the back nine and was bogey-free.
Norway’s Kristoffer Ventura (68) and England’s Matt Wallace (67) joined Matsuyama at 13 under.
Because of weather-related concerns, the start of the round was pushed back and golfers were grouped in threesomes with the first and 10th tees used as starting spots.
–Field Level Media
