Rocket Mortgage Classic has gone from Buick Open spinoff to hit series

DETROIT — Ten years after the Buick Open ended and Tiger Woods stepped off the 18th green for the last time, fittingly as the tournament’s final champion, I wondered what would become of PGA Tour golf when it returned to Michigan in 2019.

I wondered because the Tour was attempting a reboot in our state after a decade’s absence. It reminded me of a long-running television show attempting a spinoff series.

The Buick was a fun and quaint tournament at cozy Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc. You might still be able to find some leftover beer cans around the famously raucous 17th green.

The hope was the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club would be the Buick’s successful spinoff, like the way “Frasier” followed “Cheers.” But who knows? Maybe the Rocket would turn out to be “Joanie Loves Chachi.”

Instead, the Rocket became “The Simpsons” — such a wildly successful spinoff that it easily eclipsed, and perhaps erased, its great origin show. (Sorry, Tracey Ullman.)

As the Rocket kicks off its fifth year this week, it’s clear the tournament has done something most sporting events only dream of doing. It has created magic by blending an easily accessible metropolitan location in a sports-mad city at an affordable price in a cold-weather state that’s only too eager to bask in the sun and cut loose.

If you’ve been to the tournament, I’m not breaking any news. There’s an area near the back of the clubhouse where the putting green sits near a confluence of holes that is so jam-packed with cocktail-wielding patrons that you might mistake it for the French Quarter during Mardi Gras. And that’s a great thing.

Let’s be honest. There’s also huge upside to the tournament being held in a real city instead of some far-flung suburb. Yes, I’m talking about diversity. And you know the often overlooked group of people I’m talking about. That’s right: Canadians. I’ve run into more than a few of our hearty neighbors who venture north from Windsor to enjoy PGA Tour golf and exotic foreign beers such as Michelob Ultra.

One of the keys to the tournament’s success has been the way organizers have leaned into the event’s strength, which is its fans. They know they’re never going to get elite players like Woods, Rory McIlroy or Jon Rahm to play an easy course like Detroit Golf Club without an extraordinary incentive like a sponsorship deal with Rocket Mortgage.

The Rocket will still have a fine…