The John Deere Classic
Preview for the John Deere Classic: This week’s John Deere Classic dates back to 1971 when its inaugural edition, the Quad Cities Open Invitational, was won by Deane Beman by two strokes with a score of -7. The record at this tournament is held by Michael Kim who had a -27 in 2018 to win by an incredible 8 strokes over four other players. Winners of the John Deere Classic over the last five editions include J.T. Poston in 2022, Lucas Glover in 2021, 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic, Dylan Frittelli in 2019, Michael Kim in 2018, and Bryson DeChambeau in 2017.
Tournament purse: The prize money for this week’s event is $7.4M, the winner collects $1.332M and also earns himself 500 FedEx Cup points.
Course and key stats: TPC Deere Run is 7,289 yards in length, is a par 71, and the greens are bentgrass. The winning score at this event over the last five editions ranges from -18 to -27, and we should have another birdie fest on our hands this week coming off one last week in Detroit. Some key stats to focus on this week, in order, are driving accuracy percentage, strokes gained: off the tee, strokes gained: tee to green, strokes gained: total, and driving distance.
The 2023 John Deere Classic field: We again have a max field size of 156 golfers this week, and the top 65 players plus ties after round 2 on Friday will move on to play round 3 on Saturday and round 4 on Sunday. We will see Denny McCarthy, Cameron Young, Russell Henley, Adam Hadwin, and others. On a scale ranging from A to D, I rank the field strength to be a D.
DFS PGA Tour Golf Picks
Make the most of this article’s data, predictions, and insights to help with your fantasy golf picks for the John Deere Classic. And check out our PGA Projections and Optimizer tools to make more informed player selections for your DFS DraftKings lineups. Best of luck this week!
Three questions that are relevant to the John Deere Classic this week:
- Which 10 players have gained the most strokes total over their last 24 rounds? Denny McCarthy, Russell Henley, Eric Cole, Chez Reavie, Emiliano Grillo, Sepp Straka, Adam Schenk, Alex Smalley, Adam Hadwin, and Stephan Jaeger.
- Which 10 players does my custom model like the most? Russell Henley, Emiliano Grillo, Chez Reavie, Adam Hadwin, Denny McCarthy, Alex Smalley, Sepp Straka, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Eric Cole, and Adam Schenk.
- Which 10 players gained the most strokes total (minimum 8 rounds) at this event since 2018? Russell Henley, Lucas Glover, Dylan Frittelli, Patton Kizzire, Adam Svensson, Ryan Moore, Chris Stroud, Mark Hubbard, Seamus Power, and Adam Long.
All the best in your journey to win or at least be in the money in some contests this week – here are (in no particular order) 15 DFS golf picks on DraftKings (DK), plus I also include player salaries for DK. I consistently provide recent and seasonal finishes for each of my picks, their performances at the event over the last five years, and add in some valuable data.
15 Players Who Are Either High-Potential or Solid-Value Plays This Week – Get Them Into Your DFS Lineups
Russell Henley (Salary: DraftKings – $10.4K) – He has gained strokes in the ball-striking stat category in nine straight starts and has eight top 19’s over his last nine starts including a T4 at The Masters and a T14 at the U.S. Open. He finishes solo 2nd here four years ago, has finished no lower than T27 in three starts at this venue, and has gained 18+ strokes ball-striking between those trio of starts. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2021 – T11 and 2019 – 2nd
Adam Schenk (Salary: DraftKings – $9.5K) – Schenk has two top 6’s over his last two full starts here thanks to a solid short game and approach play. He has three top 7’s in his last five starts including a 2nd at the Charles Schwab Challenge in late May. He has been ball-striking and putting well for a while now, so I feel quite confident in Adam this week. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2022 – WD, 2021 – T4, 2019 – T6, and 2018 – cut.
Denny McCarthy (Salary: DraftKings – $10.6K) – He has been playing excellent golf for most of the year with four top 8’s including a 2nd at the Memorial Tournament, and of course, it’s his putter leading the charge but his ball-striking is nothing to sneeze at either. He was quite solid here last year gaining strokes across the board and narrowly missed out on a top 5 finish. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T6, 2021 – cut, 2019 – cut, and 2018 – T34.
Eric Cole (Salary: DraftKings – $9.7K) – Cole is starting to make a name for himself with six top 24’s over his last nine starts including a T5 at the Mexico Open and a T6 at the Canadian Open. Every part of his game is in fine form, and although his price tag is high, he may still be worth it provided his ownership isn’t projected to be high. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2021 – cut.
Adam Hadwin (Salary: DraftKings – $9.8K) – He lost in a playoff last week to Rickie Fowler, but looked great given his strong approach play and putting where he gained 9.84 strokes on the greens and 13.10 strokes with his short game. He consistently places inside the top 40, and can be dangerous when his irons and putter are hot. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2022 – cut.
Doug Ghim (Salary: DraftKings – $8.0K) – Ghim has finished anywhere from T12 to T33 over his last five starts, and is getting it done through solid ball-striking and around the green play. He gained 9.02 strokes ball-striking here two years ago, so he has shown us that he can play well here. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2022 – cut, 2021 – T18, and 2018 – WD.
Chez Reavie (Salary: DraftKings – $7.7K) – He has played fairly well here since 2008 going 7/10 with a T5, two other top 18’s, and five top 41’s. He has played well since early April going 9/10 with three consecutive top 29’s including a T4 at the Travelers Championship. Reavie’s ball-striking and putting are in great shape, so there’s no reason to fade Chez this week. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2022 – cut, 2021 – T18, and 2018 – cut.
Stephan Jaeger (Salary: DraftKings – $8.8K) – Jaeger has made eight straight cut lines, and has only missed a single weekend in his last thirteen starts, and is coming off a T9 last week. His stats look good and last year’s T30 was done by losing 6.09 strokes putting, so there’s lots of hope that Stephan finishes inside the top 10 again this week. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T30, 2019 – WD, and 2018 – cut.
Peter Kuest (Salary: DraftKings – $7.4K) – The young stud has been gaining lots of strokes ball-striking and putting over his last three starts, and it has led him to two top 14’s including a T4 last week in Detroit where he gained strokes across the board. He appears to be a fairly solid value play in my books, so feel confident in Kuest at a mid $7K price tag. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: none.
Mark Hubbard (Salary: DraftKings – $7.7K) – Hubbard played well here last year to just miss finishing inside the top 10, and while he has missed his last two cut lines, he had five top 30’s in six starts prior including a T6 at the Canadian Open and a T9 at the Charles Schwab Challenge. This is likely a good place to buy back in on Mark. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T13 and 2021 – T41.
Callum Tarren (Salary: DraftKings – $7.3K) – Got to like what we’re seeing with Tarren right now since he has four top 43’s in his last five starts including a T29 at the PGA Championship, and he gained 10.58 strokes ball-striking last week to finish T29 in Detroit no thanks to losing an insane 8.13 strokes putting. He gained strokes across the board here last year, and had a solid top 10 finish in his first look at TPC Deere Run. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T6.
Greyson Sigg (Salary: DraftKings – $6.9K) – Sigg has made three straight cut lines including finish T19 at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago where he gained 5.98 strokes ball-striking and 3.93 strokes putting. He did well here last year as a rookie, and could finishing in the teens again this week if his strong approach and around the green play remain stout. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T16.
Ryan Moore (Salary: DraftKings – $6.9K) – He regularly cashed paychecks at this venue going 11/12 since 2008 with a win in 2016, a T2 in 2021, a T7 in 2014, and a T8 in 2012. Moore hasn’t been playing very well for a while now, but did have a T25 three starts ago at the Canadian Open, so there’s reason to think he can do something similar this week, as well. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2022 – T24, 2021 – T2, 2019 – T18, and 2018 – T55.
Carson Young (Salary: DraftKings – $7.2K) – I really like players who are strong in approach and putting, and that’s the DNA of Young. He has five top 21’s in his last nine stroke-play events, and I like his odds to add another this week. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: none.
Lucas Glover (Salary: DraftKings – $7.2K) – Glover won here two years ago, and has three top 25’s here in his last four starts with such strong-looking stats in both off the tee and approach play. He’s coming off a T4 last week in the Motor City, so now seems like a perfect time to reinvest in a proven warrior on this track. John Deere Classic finishes over the last five years: 2022 – cut, 2021 – Won, and 2019 – T10.
