Dean Etheridge
This week sees the return of the John Deere Classic after a year off from Covid. Here we bring you all our latest picks, along with news about who is and isn’t, playing the tournament.
- John Deere Classic
- July 8th to July 11th, 2021
- Course – TPC Deere Run, 3100 Heather Knoll, Silvis, IL 61282, United States
Defending Champion
The defending champion of the John Deere Classic is Dylan Frittelli. He won the competition in 2019 and is classed as the defending champion as the Classic was wiped from the PGA tour calendar last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
To date, his win in the Classic is Frittelli’s only PGA tour success. The South African isn’t having his strongest season either and is currently 130 in the FedEx Cup rankings.
He has failed to make the cut in seven of his last ten outings, with a tied ninth finish at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play by far his best finish of late.
Not surprisingly, Frittelli is one of the outsiders for this event, he is currently +6600 to defend his title.
Recent Form
- 1-4 Jul, Rocket Mortgage Classic Winner – Cam Davis
- 24-27 Jun, Travelers Championship Winner – Harris English
- 17-20 Jun, US Open Winner – John Rahm
- 10-13 Jun, Palmetto Championship Winner – Garrick Higgo
- 3-6 Jun, the Memorial Tournament Winner – Patrick Cantlay
Can Cameron Davis go Back-to-back?
The most recent winner on the PGA tour is Cam Davis. The rookie winner landed his maiden PGA victory last weekend in a playoff at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Davis picked up the winners check after Troy Merritt missed a 6-foot par putt on the fifth playoff hole. Cam Davis is +2500 to win back-to-back competitions.
Prior to that, Harris English picked up the 500 FedEx point the previous week with another enthralling playoff. The 31-year-old from Georgia picked up his fourth career win on the PGA tour after defeating Kramer Hickok at the eighth hole of their playoff to decide the winner of the Travelers Championship.
Top Players opt for Scottish Open
Only three players out of the world’s top 40 are taking part in this competition. This is because the timing of the John Deere Classic sees it clashing with the Scottish Open, a competition that is regarded as a warm-up for the British Open Championship.
So basically, the majority of the world’s top players skip this one and head across to the UK.
One such player to do this is US Open winner John Rahm, who is an absentee from the US PGA tour this week. Unsurprisingly he has decided to play the Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, in preparation for the following week’s 2021 British Open Championship.
Rahm is the +750 favorite to win the Scottish Open. And if you think he can win back-to-back majors, Rahm is also the +800 favorite to win the Open at Royal St. George’s.
Winner of the Palmetto Championship, Garrick Higgo has also opted for the Scottish route. He can be backed at a respectable +4500 to win at The Renaissance. There is a strong-looking field assembled for the warm-up for the Open, and any player at odds in that range Higgo is in must be regarded as having a chance of winning.
Finally, Patrick Cantlay, the winner of the Memorial Tournament just a month ago. Cantlay isn’t scheduled to play this week.
But the No.1 ranked FedEx Cup player is one of the top 10 in the betting to win the Open Championship. Cantlay can be backed at +2800 to lift the Claret Jug.
Favorite for the John Deere Classic
In Golf Betting for the John Deere Classic, the favorite is world No. 16 Daniel Berger at +900. And while he obviously has a great chance to win (as the highest-ranked player), I’m not going to be backing him at those odds.
Jhonattan Vegas
Players in with a shout that looks reasonable value to me are the likes of Jhonattan Vegas. The Venezuelan came second at the Palmetto Championship last month and tied ninth at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
He did finish down in 57th place at the US Open, but after an opening round of 75, that wasn’t the worst outcome. All in all, he’s not in bad form, and at odds of +3500, he represents decent value.
Scott Stallings
Another decent-looking pick could be Scott Stallings. The 36-year-old hasn’t been setting the world on fire, but he does have a tied third at the AT&T Byron Nelson to his name.
Stallings did miss the cut twice in June, but he came back into some decent nick finishing 25th at Rocket Mortgage last week.
At +5000, Stallings does offer some promise and could be well worth a small punt.
Outside Value
A long shot offering a bit of value is Mito Pereira. The Chilean earned automatic promotion to the PGA tour after wins on the Korn Ferry Tour.
He wouldn’t normally be a golf betting pick of mine, but given the shortage in quality due to players opting to go to Scotland, he might be worth a small punt for a bit of outside value – or even for a decent each-way shot. Pereira is +9000.
Use the top sportsbooks to bet on the PGA Tour, this includes the upcoming 2021 John Deere Classic from Silvis, Illinois.
