DETROIT (AP) — Michael Thorbjornsen pumped his right fist after making a 26-foot putt for birdie on his last hole to shoot 7-under 63 and reach 18 under to win his first PGA Tour title by two shots at the final Rocket Classic on Sunday.
“Perfect pace, perfect read,” he said.
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Michael Thorbjornsen poses with the trophy after winning the Rocket Classic golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Michael Thorbjornsen hoists the trophy after winning the Rocket Classic golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Michael Brennan hits from the fifth tee during the final round of the Rocket Classic golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Rasmus Hojgaard, front right, of Denmark, is congratulated by fans after he hit an eagle on the fourth hole during the final round of the Rocket Classic golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Xander Schauffele hits from the fifth tee during the final round of the Rocket Classic golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Davis Riley putts on the fourth green during the final round of the Rocket Classic golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Michael Thorbjornsen hits from the fifth tee during the final round of the Rocket Classic golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
The 24-year-old Thorbjornsen sealed his spot in the FedEx Cup playoff after rolling into the Motor City No. 69 in the standings. The top 70 advance to the postseason after next week’s Wyndham Championship.
“Just to be in the playoff for the first time is very exciting, he said. ”It's great to be playing against the best players in the world."
Thorbjornsen started the fourth round three shots behind leader Davis Riley, whose rough start opened opportunities for the field.
“The start got the best of me and kind of put me behind the eight-ball early unfortunately,” Riley said.
Thorbjornsen took advantage, surging into the lead at No. 14 with his third of four birdies in a six-hole stretch and closing with a clutch, curling putt that went in the right side of the cup.
He's the eighth first-time winner this season on the PGA Tour and the second straight, following Jackson Koivun’s victory last week at the 3M Open.
“It was such a battle, playing with some great players," Thorbjornsen said. "Everyone was in the mix after nine holes.”
Xander Schauffele (65) briefly led during the final round and finished second, two shots behind Thorbjornsen.
“I played really well and he just beat me straight up, so hats off to him,” Schauffele said.
Riley (70) was another stroke behind in third, falling out of the lead with four bogeys.
Rasmus Hojgaard (68) was alone in fourth, four shots back.
Hideki Matsuyama (64), Matt Wallace (67), Kristoffer Ventura (68) were another stroke back, tied for fifth.
Thorbjornsen was born in Cleveland, grew up in Massachusetts and attended Stanford. He won the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur over Akshay Bhatia, who has three PGA Tour wins.
He went straight to the PGA Tour in 2024 as the No. 1 player in the PGA Tour University ranking.
“I think it's one of the best programs in golf,” Thorbjornsen said. “It’s changed all of our lives.”
Thorbjornsen chipped in from 35 feet for birdie at No. 12 on a day when he accurately aimed for pins that left him with some short birdie putts before his long one on his 72nd hole.
He had a bogey-free round, an accomplishment many other players on the leaderboard were unable to pull off on a day that started with rain and became windy when the clouds cleared.
Riley started with a one-shot lead and quickly lost it — and couldn't find his ball in fescue at No. 4 after about a dozen people helped him try — with three bogeys through six holes.
He rallied with three birdies in a seven-hole stretch before giving back a stroke with a bogey at No. 17, taking away his chance to possibly force the tournament into a playoff.
The eighth and final Rocket Classic drew its strongest field and biggest crowds.
The PGA Tour is moving to a new model for 2028, effectively creating two tours and Rocket Mortgage decided not to exercise its option to host another tournament next year. The Detroit-based company isn’t interested in continuing to spend $15 million a year to be part of the second tier in the new era and didn’t want to double the costs to be part of the elite tier.
“There have been some conversations about having a tournament here again," tournament director Mark Hollis said. “Michigan deserves to have professional golf.”
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Michael Thorbjornsen poses with the trophy after winning the Rocket Classic golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Michael Thorbjornsen hoists the trophy after winning the Rocket Classic golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Michael Brennan hits from the fifth tee during the final round of the Rocket Classic golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Rasmus Hojgaard, front right, of Denmark, is congratulated by fans after he hit an eagle on the fourth hole during the final round of the Rocket Classic golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Xander Schauffele hits from the fifth tee during the final round of the Rocket Classic golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Davis Riley putts on the fourth green during the final round of the Rocket Classic golf tournament Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
Michael Thorbjornsen hits from the fifth tee during the final round of the Rocket Classic golf tournament, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Jose Juarez)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he decided to hold off on ordering American forces to carry out new strikes against Iran at the urging of Gulf allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
The U.S. president added that a plan was in place for U.S. forces to carry out “the biggest attack since World War II” on Sunday. But he decided to scrap the plan and give diplomacy more time to play out after hearing from key Gulf leaders — including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — as well as at the request of unnamed Iranian officials.
“I said to the crown prince, ‘What would you rather do? Would you rather us do this or not?’” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew back to Washington after spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. “They said we would much prefer a deal as opposed to an attack, because you don’t know where these attacks lead.”
Trump and the crown prince spoke on Saturday before the U.S. president announced in a social media post that Mideast allies had reached the "perimeters" of a deal to end the 5-month-old war.
It was another turnabout for Trump, who a day earlier said he’s “losing faith” in negotiations with Iran and offered the ominous warning that the U.S. military “will be hitting them very hard.”
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the emerging deal would include a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway where about a fifth of the world's energy flowed before the start of the war, and would resolve U.S. concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran has repeatedly attacked vessels attempting to transit through the Strait of Hormuz without its authorization as part of its conflict with the U.S.
And Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz “will in no way return to the status it was before February 28th,” the day the war started.
On a call with Iranian state TV, he added that Iran is discussing shipping through the strait with Oman, on the other side of Hormuz, but that there’s no current talk about reopening the crucial waterway.
Trump has announced halts to strikes on Iran on several occasions since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, only for things to unravel and fighting to resume again.
Iran’s defense minister said on X that the country was “neither surprised nor passive” following Trump’s announcement and said Iran remains alert in the face of concrete threats from the U.S.
While Iran’s leaders appear united in a war strategy signaling strength and endurance, a struggle for control seems to be brewing within the theocracy’s leadership between those who oppose all negotiations with the U.S. and others who count on military pressure to win at the negotiating table.
Trump on Sunday said he expected negotiations to resume “tomorrow afternoon” but did not detail who would be involved in such talks.
A regional official said the proposal announced by Trump over the weekend calls for the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations and continue working out many of the issues that have stymied prior progress on the deal.
The official, who is involved in the mediation efforts, said the proposal calls for reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and halting attacks across the region, including by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on the Arab Gulf countries and Jordan.
The U.S., in exchange, will end its naval blockade on Iran and allow Tehran to export its oil as stated in the tentative ceasefire deal, he said.
No deal has been reached yet, but mediation efforts are underway, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media.
Trump said that Israel is joining his commitment to end the war by implementing the ceasefire deal reached in June. Israel did not publicly comment on the announcement.
Prince Mohammed, the kingdom’s de facto leader, raised concerns about the U.S. potentially escalating the conflict when he spoke with Trump by phone on Saturday.
The call was “candid and constructive,” according to a person briefed on the call who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity.
The crown prince conveyed that an escalation in fighting could have a severe impact on the global economy if Tehran responded to a new U.S. bombardment by targeting some of the United States' Gulf allies.
The call happened before Trump’s social media announcement, the person said. The crown prince sought clarity from Trump on what potential new action he was weighing to take against Iran.
Saudi officials, the person added, have underscored in their engagements with the Trump administration that the kingdom — as well as fellow Persian Gulf energy titans the United Arab Emirates and Qatar — are in a good position to defend against further potential Iranian attacks, but that Kuwait could be more vulnerable to attacks by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.
Trump suggested that his conversation with the Saudi crown prince weighed heavily in his decision to halt his plans to carry out strikes on Iran.
“It would have been disastrous for them. And they didn’t want us to do it," Trump said. "And frankly, Saudi Arabia didn’t want it either. They thought that a deal is imminent.”
Madhani reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo, Giovanna Dell'Orto in Jerusalem, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters onboard Air Force One while returning to the White House, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters onboard Air Force One while returning to the White House, Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
A woman walks under a banner shows newly elected Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya, center, alongside the late leaders Ismail Haniyeh, right, and Yahya Sinwar, with writing in Hebrew reads: "From Sinwar's generation, the new leader on the ground" and in Arabic: "Khalil al-Hayya, the occupiers' nightmare" at the Palestine square in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
FILE - President Donald Trump stands with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on his visit to the White House, Nov. 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
President Donald Trump exits Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., Friday, July 31, 2026, after a trip to Camp David, the presidential retreat. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
