While it’s not the strongest field in a PGA Tour event, fans of the John Deere Classic are just happy the tournament has returned to the rotation. A casualty of the COVID pandemic last year, the JDC plays opposite a Rolex Series event on the European Tour and is just a week ahead of the season’s final major, so the field is scrawny. There may be a lack of big names but there’s no mistaking the talent level. A number of the Tour’s rising stars will get the chance to show off and several former champions look for a return to the glory days. As odds suggest, the field is wide open with Daniel Berger positioned as the favorite on the opening line. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of betting odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
Odds to Win John Deere Classic
Daniel Berger +900
Brian Harman +1600
Sungjae Im +1600
Kevin Streelman +1800
Russell Henley +1800
Cameron Davis +2800
Si Woo Kim +2800
Seamus Power +3000
Maverick McNealy +3300
Alex Noren +3500
Kevin Na +3500
Aaron Wise +4000
Troy Merritt +4000
Kyle Stanley +4500
Patton Kizzire +4500
Doc Redman +5000
Doug Ghim +5000
Harold Varner III +5000
Lucas Glover +5000
Ryan Moore +5000
Steve Stricker +5000
Zach Johnson +5000
Charles Howell III +5500
Jhonattan Vegas +5500
Beau Hossler +6000
CT. Pan +6000
Hank Lebioda +6000
Patrick Rodgers +6000
Scott Stallings +6000
Sebastian Munoz +6000
JT. Poston +6600
Mark Hubbard +6600
Mito Pereira +6600
Sepp Straka +6600
Tom Lewis +6600
Chez Reavie +7000
Keith Mitchell +7000
Kramer Hickok +7000
Richy Werenski +7000
Odds Analysis
Sungjae Im +1600
Given the recent history of this event it’s probably safer and definitely more profitable to venture down the odds board. With so many big names absent this week I wondered why Im joined the lineup. But since he’s here I’m betting he’ll do his best to try and win. For as much golf as Im has played over the last two years it’s easy to forget he’s only 23. And he would certainly love to add another win to his total. This is the type of field that will yield that as long as Im doesn’t take it too lightly. He is coming off his best showing in some time with a T8 in the Rocket Mortgage Classic with four sub-70 rounds, so I’m counting on his game returning to form.
Zach Johnson +5000
It’s a risk/reward course that’s yielded plenty of rewards over the years, so why not take a risky gamble on Johnson. He’s certainly a player to look at given his form at Deere Run. He finished among the top 20 in seven of his last nine starts here with six of those doubling as top-5s. He won the title in 2012 in the middle of five straight podium finishes. Amazingly he scored below 70 in 41 of his last 46 rounds at this joint so there’s definitely something he enjoys about the layout. And at this price I can’t pass on him.
Henrik Norlander +9000
Since this a joint where first time winner’s reign why not take a flyer on Norlander. There’s nothing that screams victory for the Swede, but when Kim won in 2018 he hadn’t even registered a top-10. At least Norlander has done that, twice in fact this season. He is coming off a T38 in the Rocket Mortgage Classic and has played the weekend in three straight starts. And the course fits his game with a lot of room to make up for errant shots.
Steve Stricker +5000
Stricker is forgoing the U.S. Senior Open and why not considering the success he’s enjoyed at Deere Run. He had the three-peat here from 2009-2011 and has played the weekend in each of his last seven starts with four finishes of T11 or better. Stricker still competes on the PGA Tour occasionally with three top-20s in nine starts this season, most recently a T13 in the Honda Classic in March.
Jhonattan Vegas +5500
Put Vegas in a field like this and attach price like what he has, I’ll certainly back him for the outright. He’s probably one of the bigger names teeing it up and he has a pair of top-10s in two of his last four starts with comparable fields in both. Most recently Vegas earned a T2 in the Palmetto Championship and before that was T9 in the Byron Nelson. I was pleasantly surprised to see him offered with these odds and have no problem dropping a few bucks on him.
Course: TPC Deere Run – 7,268 yards, Par 71
TPC Deere Run has hosted the JDC since 2000 with the winning score averaging right around 20-under. Michael Kim torched the layout in 2018 to a record 27-under topping the field by eight swings. Defending champ Dylan Frittelli finished at 21-under in 2019, two shots better than Russell Henley. In all, nine of the previous 11 winners were -20 or better. Deere Run offers some of the widest fairways on Tour but it’s actually the short and accurate hitters that thrive on this track. As long as you are in the fairways, which the field hits over 70 percent of the time, you can attack the greens. Typically a layout that offers up plenty of birdies, the design of the course hasn’t been altered to change that thinking this week.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel, CBS
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