Michael Thorbjornsen wins first PGA Tour title at Rocket Classic

Sunday at Detroit Golf Club had all the makings of a Xander Schauffele coronation. He came into the final round with the lead and was still pacing the field with holes to play, looking every bit like a guy about to add another trophy to an already loaded resume.

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XANDER SCHAUFFELE LEADS AT THE ROCKET

Then Michael Thorbjornsen happened. The 24-year-name, who came into the day 3 shots back of leader Davis Riley, caught fire on the back nine and just kept making putts. It built to a closing birdie on 18 that put him 2 shots clear of the field, and the leaderboard graphic told the story better than any commentator could - Thorbjornsen on top, with Riley, Schauffele, Hojgaard and Young all chasing.

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THOR. BIRDIE AT 18. 2 SHOT LEAD.

The final number: a Sunday 63, a back nine 30, and a closing birdie for a 2-shot win over Schauffele. It's his first PGA Tour title, and it comes in the final edition of the Rocket Classic before the tournament leaves Detroit for good, which makes it a nice little bit of history to be the last name on that trophy.

This wasn't some out-of-nowhere fluke either. Thorbjornsen starred at Stanford and turned pro with real hype behind him, and Sunday's win locked up his spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs, sneaking into the top 70 in the standings with the postseason field set after next week's Wyndham Championship. He's the 8th first-time winner on Tour this season, and the 2nd in a row after Jackson Koivun broke through at the 3M Open the week before.

And people actually watched it happen. CBS' numbers came out a couple days later and the final round drew the most-watched Rocket Classic broadcast ever, up 16% year over year and peaking at nearly 4 million viewers. Not bad for a tournament playing its farewell edition.

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Another week, another viewership record for the PGA Tour. Thor’s win was the most watched Rocket Classic ever, up 16% vs. last year and peaking at nearly 4 million viewers, per CBS.

The PGA Tour keeps finding new names to get people to tune in, and Thorbjornsen is the latest example. He'll head into the FedEx Cup playoffs as one of the hottest stories on Tour, and after a finish like that, nobody's betting against him doing something with it.