[Photo: Gregory Shamus]
Michael Thorbjornsen employs a 10-finger grip. Given that, it was only fitting that he grabbed hold of the Rocket Classic with both hands with consecutive birdies on Nos. 14 and 15, and a 26-footer at the last to secure his first PGA Tour victory.
Thorbjornsen conquered the revamped Detroit G.C. with an impressive tee-to-green game. He ranked fourth in strokes gained/off the tee with his 9-degree TaylorMade Qi4D LS driver with a Fujikura Ventus Black VeloCore+ 7 X shaft.
He also ranked first in greens in regulation, only missing nine greens over the four rounds (and just one on Sunday) with his split set of TaylorMade irons. Thorbjornsen told Golf Digest last year that he had been playing TaylorMade irons since the start of high school and that “they’re basically an extension of my arms at this point.”
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His choice of club on the greens is also familiar – TaylorMade’s Spider Tour mallet. “I’ve used a Spider putter for – wow, I’m getting old – eight years now. This might be my favourite of them all. My putting coach, Stephen Sweeney, and I experimented with different combinations of putters, hosels and grips, and we’ve found one that I’m really comfortable with. It gives great feedback. Good putts feel soft, like when you’re biting into a nice, soft cookie.”
Although Thorbjornsen no longer employs a Pac-Man putter cover, he gobbled up six birdies on Sunday, including a 12-footer at the first hole and then a 35-foot bomb at the 12th that ignited his back-nine run, closing with the 26-footer at the last.
Give that man a nice, soft cookie
What Michael Thorbjornsen had in the bag at the 2026 Rocket Classic:
Ball: TaylorMade TP5
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (Fujikura Ventus Black VeloCore+ 7 X), 9 degrees
3-wood: TaylorMade r7 Quad, 135 degrees
Irons (3): TaylorMade P770; (4): TaylorMade P7MC; (5-PW): TaylorMade P7MB
Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind 5 (52, 56, 60 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X X7
