The PGA Tour continues this week with the 50th edition of the John Deere Classic, an event we did not get to see last year due to the pandemic stoppage. There are a handful of golfers competing in the Scottish Open this weekend, but we will keep our picks here to the golfers playing on the Tour. Most notably about the JDC, the event is known for producing first time champions. We have seen 23 first time winners here at the JDC, the most of any event on the Tour. Five of the last seven winners were first time champions.
The course itself will also be relatively easier this week, with relatively easy greens to hit. Expect plenty of birdies to around. We have adjusted our model accordingly and will focus more on strokes gained on approach and birder or better scoring. The weather is expected to be warm, with temperatures ranging from the mid-70s to mid-80s. We also expect little wind and rain on each day of the event. Weather will be a factor this week, so checking DFS lineups closer to lock will be crucial. In this post, we use our full set of metrics and highlight some of our favorite golfers in the competition:
Daniel Berger ($11,100-DK; +1100 to win)
Berger is easily the best golfer competing this week, and he will be highly owned in DFS for just that reason. He is the only golfer currently ranked inside the top 25 who has entered this event.
Russell Henley ($9,900-DK; +2000 to win)
Henley is coming off a pair of impressive events, finishing in the top 20 at the both the U.S. Open and the Travelers Championship. He ranks very high in our model thanks to his shots gained on approach.
Seamus Power ($9,000-DK; +3300 to win)
Power is not the biggest name on the Tour, but we expect him to be one of the chalkier plays this week in DFS, especially for cash lineups. Power enters the week in excellent form and is elite in strokes gained off the tee, our top statistic in this week’s model.
Zach Johnson ($8,500-DK; +3500 to win)
Major props to Johnson, who elected to skip a Major on the Senior Tour to play in his 19th JDC. Through his first 18 entries, he has only missed the cut three times and has finished in the top 10 seven separate times. Johnson has struggled a bit in 2021, but we will be all over him with expected lower ownership.
Jhonattan Vegas ($8,000-DK; +4500 to win)
Vegas is a golfer that we have written up a few times throughout the season. He brings much more than cool name to the JDC. Vegas has made his last six cuts and has made four of five cuts at the JDC. Vegas is also elite off the tee and we cannot emphasize how important that will be this week.
Adam Schenk ($6,900-DK; +10000 to win)
Digging for value, we like Schenk, who has made six of his last eight cuts. Schenk paid off for value last week and will certainly take our exposure here while he’s riding top form.
*This preview does not represent our final picks for this event. For our full set of picks, check out our Game Picks section!
**Odds accurate at time of posting.