John Deere Classic: PGA Tour Golf Odds and Predictions
John Deere Classic History, Location and Dates
The two worst spots to be on the PGA Tour schedule are probably before and after the British Open – the Canadian Open had been after it but shifted this year to the week before the U.S. Open. The reason no tournament wants to be in one of those two spots is because the British Open is a different animal than the other majors. Obviously, there’s a lot more travel involved to get to the United Kingdom, and British Open golf is links-style, which is unlike other tournaments on the PGA Tour slate.
So, many big-name Tour pros will not play in the USA the week before the British Open because they are already overseas practicing or perhaps playing in this week’s Scottish Open on the European Tour. Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar, Henrik Stenson and Justin Thomas are some guys playing in Scotland this week.
The PGA Tour’s stop is the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, which is right near the Illinois/Iowa border. This became an official Tour event in 1972 and was known as the Quad Cities Open for a while. This will be the 20th straight year it’s held at TPC Deere Run, a par 71 measuring 7,268 yards. It’s an easy course – one of the PGA Tour’s 59s (although the new record is 58) was scored here in 2010 by Paul Goydos. The tournament takes place from July 11–14, 2019.
Last year, Michael Kim set the tournament 72-hole record of 27-under 257, winning by a tournament-record eight shots over a few guys. Kim is a +40000 long shot this week as he’s having a terrible year.
There is a British Open spot available to the highest Top 5 finisher at the John Deere if not already qualified. In addition, tournament organizers offer a free charter flight to the UK on Sunday evening for any players in the field who also are playing the British Open.
John Deere Classic Odds Favourites
How weak is the field? A rookie with just four events as a professional under his belt is the +1600 Sports Interaction favourite. That’s Collin Morikawa, who was runner-up last week to another rookie, Matthew Wolff, who is +2000 this week. Wolff drained a 26-foot eagle putt on the 72nd hole Sunday to win the inaugural 3M Open by a shot over Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau.
That earned Wolff a spot in the British Open. Morikawa doesn’t have a spot yet but did earn conferred special temporary status for the rest of the PGA Tour season. Morikawa is a former world amateur No. 1, while Wolff was named the NCAA Player of the Year in 2019 in winning the individual national title at Oklahoma State and setting the NCAA single-season scoring record.
Another former amateur/NCAA star, Viktor Hovland, is +2000 along with Lucas Glover. The 2012 champion, Zach Johnson, is +4000. He’s from the area (in Iowa) and sits on the tournament’s board of directors.
Canadian Golfer Betting Odds
One Canadian has won this tournament: Dave Barr in 1981 in a five-man playoff that included countryman Dan Halldorson. In 2013, David Hearn lost in a playoff to Jordan Spieth (Johnson also was in it) in what was Spieth’s first Tour win.
The top-ranked Canadian, Adam Hadwin, isn’t playing this week after a fourth-place finish at the 3M Open. Mackenzie Hughes is +8000 as is Nick Taylor, with Roger Sloan +12500, Hearn also +12500, Adam Svensson +20000 and Ben Silverman +25000. Hearn’s best finish here since that runner-up was 16th last year. Corey Conners was originally in the field but withdrew.
John Deere Classic Predictions
Take Johnson for a Top 10 as he always contends here, but we like Scott Brown at +5000 to win. Since 2012, he has been Top 25 at the John Deere every year but one and was a solid T15 last week.