DFS Golf: 10 Contenders and 5 Value Picks for the John Deere Classic

Another week of PGA Tour golf is on the horizon, and while it’s not a star-studded event by any means, it’s still a professional golf tournament to watch and bet on. The last two weeks have been new events on the schedule, but now we move onto a tournament that has been around for many years now – almost 20 years in fact. The John Deere Classic takes place in Ilinois and the field this year is particularly weak with many of the best players over in Scotland to play the Scottish Open to warm up for next week’s Open Championship in Northern Ireland, however, some notable names this week are Charles Howell III, Zach Johnson, Brian Harman, and Lucas Glover. We will take what we can get.

Matthew Wolff did lots of howling at the holes last week to win the 3M Open and is back in the field again this week as a top-priced DFS player. The John Deere Classic is played at TPC Deere Run – the course is 7,268 yards in length, is a par 71, and the greens are bentgrass which is common on the PGA Tour. The tournament is a full 156-player field with the top 70 plus ties getting into the weekend. The key stats to focus on this week include Strokes Gained: Approach, Par 5s Gained, Opportunities Gained, and Proximity Gained 125-175 Yards.

Onto my picks for the John Deere Classic, below you can find 10 contenders to get into your DFS lineups and 5 value picks (in no specific order), and you can also find their salaries on DraftKings and FanDuel too.

10 High-Priced Players To Get In Your Lineups

Joaquin Niemann (Salaries: DraftKings – $10,200, FanDuel – $10,900) – Is playing some solid golf right now with two 5th’s in his last three starts, six straight made cuts and finishing no worse than 31st during that time. Is coming off a 23rd last week but had a 63 and a 65 on Friday and Saturday respectively, so the potential was there to finish top 5 again. Was 23rd at this tournament last year.

Collin Morikawa (Salaries: DraftKings – $10,700, FanDuel – $11,700) – Has been impressive in his young career this season even though he’s only played in 4 PGA Tour events, but last week he secured a runner up finish with four solid rounds of 68-66-64-66. Was 35th at the U.S. Open last month and this could be the week that he breaks through with a win and an opportunity to play the Open Championship next week. Has a complete game going right now and it should continue again this week.

Wyndham Clark (Salaries: DraftKings – $9,000, FanDuel – $9,800) – Is on a good run with three strong tournaments in a row going 15th, 17th, and 5th over the last three weeks. His specialty is putting and if the flat stick remains hot this week then another top 10 is a real possibility.

Brian Harman (Salaries: DraftKings – $9,400, FanDuel – $11,000) – Won this tournament in 2014 and has 4 top 25th’s at this event in his career. Has a 7th and an 8th in his last three starts, and has only missed the cut once in his last six tournaments played.

Viktor Hovland (Salaries: DraftKings – $10,900, FanDuel – $11,600) – You know the field is extremely weak when the highest-priced player on DraftKings is Norway’s own, Viktor Hovland. Has two 12th places finishes and a 13th in his last four starts, the 12th was especially impressive as it came at the U.S. Open. His greens in regulation and proximity stats are impressive and if those hold true again this week then another top 15 should become a reality on Sunday.

Zach Johnson (Salaries: DraftKings – $9,600, FanDuel – $10,300) – Zach attack didn’t make this list because of his results this season as he only has one top 10 finish and that came back in November at the RSM Classic. He’s here because of his ridiculous track record at this tournament – in the last 10 years, he hasn’t missed the cut and even better are his extraordinary finishes since 2009: 2nd, 21st, 3rd, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 34th, 5th, and 16th! His form isn’t as good as usual coming in this year, but he’s still worth paying up for based on his insane course history.

Scott Brown (Salaries: DraftKings – $8,200, FanDuel – $9,900) – This spot was initially filled by Kevin Streelman but he just recently withdrew to focus on next week’s Open Championship so I have replaced him with Brown. Scott has made 3 out of 4 of his last cut lines which includes a 15th last week. He is very experienced on this course and has 6 top 25 finishes since 2012 and I expect him to make it 7 this week.

Charles Howell III (Salaries: DraftKings – $9,500, FanDuel – $10,300) – Was shaky from April and through May but is getting back on track and trending in the right direction with a 52nd, 35th, and a 23rd in his previous three starts. Is very strong in the greens in regulation category, has four top 25th finishes here since 2009 and has only missed one cut in 8 appearances since that year.

Lucas Glover (Salaries: DraftKings – $9,800, FanDuel – $11,500) – Has 5 top 10’s this season including one last week where he earned a 7th at the 3M Open thanks to a sparkling 62 on Sunday and he led the field in putting: birdies-or-better.

Sungjae Im (Salaries: DraftKings – $9,700, FanDuel – $10,800) – I’m guessing that you have taken note of Im this season as he has 6 top 10’s and has had a solid run over his last four starts with a 7th, 21st, 21st, and a 15th last week. This week he’s playing in his 29th event of the season and unless he runs out of energy, another quality finish should be secured for him.

5 Value Pick Players To Pair Up With High-End Players

Peter Malnati (Salaries: DraftKings – $7,900, FanDuel – $9,100) – Has only missed one cut in his last 13 starts so he’s a good cash gameplay this week, and decent for GPP’s as well but it should be mentioned that he doesn’t have a top 10 yet this season so he is better suited for the former versus the latter.

Vaughn Taylor (Salaries: DraftKings – $7,700, FanDuel – $8,900) – Six straight made cuts, he was 4th at the Travelers Championship late last month and had a 13th and 17th during this stretch. Is 8 for 12 at this tournament and has 4 top 20’s at this venue.

Troy Merritt (Salaries: DraftKings – $7,500, FanDuel – $9,200) – Coming off a 7th last week and has 3 top 10’s this season in 15 starts. Scores well on par 3’s, 4’s, and 5’s as well. If his putter stays in fine form again this week then he can go off for another top 10.

Mackenzie Hughes (Salaries: DraftKings – $7,900, FanDuel – $9,000) – Five straight cuts made and had an 8th, 14th, and a 21st in those starts. Was 16th here last year in his tourney debut.

Cameron Tringale (Salaries: DraftKings – $7,700, FanDuel – $9,100) – Only two missed cuts over his last 8 starts and had four top 23rd’s in that timeframe including a 5th two weeks ago at the Rocket Morgage Classic.

If you hate the look of your lineups then be sure to enter a lineup or two into the Scottish Open on DraftKings, and know that next week you will be building some loaded lineups for the Open Championship! Good luck and may the force be with you this week.