JOHN DEERE CLASSIC
Purse: $8.4M
Winner's Share: 1.512M
FedEx Cup Points: 500 to the Winner
Location: Silvis, Ill.
Course: TPC Deere Run
Yardage: 7,289
Par: 71
2024 champion: Davis Thompson
Tournament Preview
When signature events came along a few years ago -- back then they were called designated events and then elevated events -- it split the PGA Tour into a land of haves and have-nots. The big tournaments with the biggest purses got the best golfers and, well, everybody else was left to fend for themselves.
But an interesting development materialized with the single worst tournament on the entire schedule? That would be the John Deere Classic, the butt of so many golf jokes through the years.
Somehow, surely an unintended consequence of the suits at Ponte Vedra Beach appeasing the top players' demands for more money, the Deere was the one have-not tournament -- the have-least? -- that got better. Sure, it had nowhere to go but up. But still.
The pride of Quad Cities has seen improving fields for a few years running, and this year boasts its best field ever. There is only one top-20 player (Ben Griffin), but the sizzle lies in the all big names on hand: Max Homa, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, Denny McCarthy, Luke Clanton and Si Woo Kim, joined by defending champion Davis Thompson and 2022 winner J.T. Poston.
The Deere used to be positioned the week before the Open Championship, a black hole on the golf calendar. Not only do many top players like to take the week before a major off, but the cross-Atlantic time change meant it was prudent to arrive overseas days earlier than usual. But when the Scottish Open became a joint DP World Tour/PGA Tour event, the Deere was bumped back one week, to two weeks before the Open.
Voila! Instant improvement.
(Note that the Scottish Open does get a good field, despite being a week before a major, because it gives golfers the opportunity to adjust to the time change while also offering at least a little flavor of links golf before the Open.)
Good morning from TPC Deere Run - it's officially John Deere Classic week! pic.twitter.com/bhPpEhY5ml
— John Deere Classic (@JDCLASSIC) June 30, 2025
On top of all those quality names, the Deere has always been good about showcasing some of the best young talent in the game, guys who very often were right out of college or still in it. Clanton (Florida State), Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt) and David Ford (North Carolina) have already left school and turned pro. Also in the 156-man field are Ben James (Virginia), Jackson Koivun (Auburn), Michael La Sasso (Ole Miss) and Preston Summerhays (Arizona State).
Former Illini star and Illinois native Nick Hardy is a local favorite.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a community more devoted to its golf tournament than the people of the Quad Cities are to the Deere. There aren't many sporting events in this area of Illinois/Iowa, certainly not before college football season starts up.
TPC Deere Run has been the host course ever since the D.A. Weibring design was completed in 2000. The tournament dates to 1971, when future PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman won the first two editions of what was then known as the Quad Cities Open. Weibring himself went on to win it three times, but never at Deere Run.
The course has played host to a 59. Paul Goydos turned the trick in the first round in 2010. Unfortunately for Goydos, Steve Stricker was right behind that day with a 60 en route to winning with a tourney-record 26-under-par. That perfectly illustrates the annual track meet that is the John Deere Classic. Last year, Thompson won at a whopping 28-under, four clear of Clanton, another recent college alum in Michael Thorbjornsen and C.T. Pan.
The most exciting hole is the drivable 361-yard 14th, playing downhill to a tiny green. The hardest hole most years is the par-4, 476-yard 18th, but last year it was overtaken by the 503-yard 9th and the 484-yard 15th. So as you can see, there could be some swings on the leaderboard over the final five holes.
Those are the only three par-4s that exceed 450 yards. None of the three par-5s reaches 600 yards. The fairways are very generous. The bentgrass greens are small/medium, averaging 5,500 square feet with the Stimpmeter running at around 12. There is water on three holes and 76 bunkers on the course.
As for the weather, it will be HOT. It will be around 90 or more all four days. There could be some thunderstorms on the weekend -- nothing major -- and it appears it will be on the windy side all week.
Fun John Deere factoid No. 1: Organizers tried to attract attention when Michelle Wie was given a sponsor's exemption two years in a row. She was inside the cut line in 2005 until a late double bogey/bogey did her in. The following year, far outside the cut line, Wie withdrew, citing the excessive heat.
Fun John Deere factoid No. 2: Roger Maltbie won the tournament in 1975, when it was known as, of all things, the Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities Open. Fellow golf announcer Curt Byrum won it in 1989. Some other winners were Payne Stewart, Scott Hoch, Vijay Singh and, more recently, Jordan Spieth (twice) and Bryson DeChambeau.
Key Stats to Winning at TPC Deere Run
The most important indicators every week are current form and course history. "Key Stats" follow in importance.
• Strokes Gained: Approach/Approach from 125-150 years/SG: Tee-to-Green
• Strokes Gained: Putting
• Par-4 Scoring 400-450 yards
• Birdie or Better Percentage
Past Champions
2024 - Davis Thompson
2023 - Sepp Straka
2022 - J.T. Poston
2021 - Lucas Glover
2020 - No tournament played
2019 - Dylan Frittelli
2018 - Michael Kim
2017 - Bryson DeChambeau
2016 - Ryan Moore
2015 - Jordan Spieth
Champion's Profile
Looking back over the last 12 editions, the winner here has been in the top 10 in putting nine times, with only Poston (31st), Glover (19th) and Brian Harman (31st in 2014) missing out. Thompson ranked fifth year, along with 11th in SG: Off-the-Tee (23rd in distance, T25 in accuracy), 29th in Approach and fourth in Around-the-Green. He also ranked T7 in greens in regulation and fifth in scrambling. Almost all of those are great numbers, which of course is what you need to get to 28-under.
Thorbjornsen ranked 23rd in SG: Putting while Clanton was 32nd and Pan 18th. That could explain the wide gap of four shots to Thompson.
Some very good putters have won this tournament, and even Poston and Harman are two of them.
Driving distance matters little, as does hitting these very wide fairways. As with most birdie-fests, TPC Deere Run is a second-shot golf course.
The over/under on the winning score on golfodds.com is 262.5, which is 21.5 under par.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS
Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap
$10,000 and up
Jason Day - $10,500 (Winning odds at the DraftKings Sportsbook: +2500)
There's a lot to unpack here so bear with us. First, Day is the top DFS price while a surging Ben Griffin is $100 behind him. But at the DK Sportsbook, Griffin is the far bigger favorite than No. 2 choice Day, +1600 vs. +2500. We feel the perception out there is that Day is not having a great season because he has not contended for a title. But in reality, after his T4 at the Travelers, he has moved up to No. 28 OWGR and is 27th in the FedEx Cup point standings, meaning he would be in the Tour Championship if it started today. And he's done all that in only 12 starts all season -- a whopping 10 fewer than Griffin. Yet, he has four top-10s and six top-25s, which include T8 at the Masters and T23 at the U.S. Open. Day is outside the top-75 in SG: Approach and Putting, so it's curious how he is scoring so well. But all that matters is that he is. Day tied for 23rd here last year in his Deere debut.
Ben Griffin - $10,400 (+1600)
Griffin has to take a rest one of these weeks, right? This will be his 10th start in 11 weeks and 23rd in the 27 weeks of 2025. And presumably he's playing the next two weeks at the Scottish and British Opens. You'd think he's fighting for his card. A best guess on why he's play THIS much when he's now a Tour winner and top-20 player is the Ryder Cup. Griffin is eighth in points and wants to get into the top-6 for an automatic selection. But he's almost certainly on the team regardless. Griffin tied for 13th last week, giving him six straight top-15s. He made his first Deere start last year and tied for fifth.
$9,000-$9,900
Denny McCarthy - $9,900 (+2500)
It's possible to look at McCarthy's 2025 results and say he's having a good season or a disappointing season. Stats can do that. He hasn't missed a cut in 16 starts and has top-25s in half of them, including T14 at THE PLAYERS and T8 at the PGA Championship. But that top-10 is one of only two for him all season, and he hasn't really contended for a title, which would be his first on Tour. McCarthy is ranked ninth in SG: Putting, which actually is a bit off for him, plus outside the top-100 in SG: Approach. Ultimately, we see McCarthy's glass as half full, with his record at the Deere filling it up a little more -- he's finished in the top-10 three years running.
Michael Thorbjornsen - $9,100 (+3000)
Thorbjornsen has played well in his two starts at the Deere and is coming off a great week at the Rocket Classic (T4). His first full season on Tour has not gone great, but at this course, like last week's, he'll be able to let fly off the tee with few worries. Thorbjornsen is ranked an impressive 16th on Tour in greens in regulation but has been held back by his putting. He's also ranked ninth in birdie or better. He shared runner-up here last year and tied for 17th as an amateur in 2023.
$8,000-$8,900
Chris Kirk - $8,900 (+3500)
On one hand, Kirk has only two top-12s all season. On the other hand, they've come in his past two starts -- T12 at the U.S. Open and co-runner-up last week at Detroit. Kirk's game has been statistically sound all season -- except for putting, where he's ranked a brutal 156th on Tour. But last week at the Rocket Classic, he ranked 22nd in the field. Kirk last played here two years ago and tied for 21st.
Kevin Yu - $8,800 (+3500)
Yu is really starting to make a name for himself on Tour. He's a huge hitter with little to worry about here with the wide-open fairways. He's ranked 14th on Tour in birdie or better. He's coming off a T25 at the Travelers, his second top-25 in a signature event this season. Yu also finished third recently at the Canadian Open. He's ranked sixth in SG: Off-the-Tee and 28th in Approach. He's ranked only 123rd in SG: Putting, but he's been far better of late -- a couple of months ago he ranked 165th. Yu tied for 20th here last year and for sixth in his Deere debut in 2023.
$7,000-$7,900
Nico Echavarria - $7,800 (+5000)
Echavarria has missed only one cut since March, and that came at the U.S. Open. He tied for sixth last week at Detroit. He is another one of those shorter hitters (148th in driving distance) who finds that shorter courses help level the playing field for him. Echavarria is ranked 70th in SG: Approach -- great in this field -- and fifth in SG: Putting -- great in any field.
Stephan Jaeger - $7,600 (+6500)
While TPC Deere run assists golfers whose big problem is driving distance (see: Echavarria), it also greatly helps drivers who can't hit it straight. Which brings us to Jaeger. His numbers other than driving accuracy are quite good, ranked in the top-50 on Tour in Approach, Around and Putting. Jaeger didn't play the Deere last year but tied for 13th in 2023.
Emiliano Grillo - $7,500 (+7000)
Grillo had a pretty bad week at Detroit, ending up T73. But he had four top-25s in a row before that, including at the U.S. Open. He's ranked top-60 on Tour in both Approach and Putting. In his first time at the Deere in 2022, Grillo shared runner-up.
Lee Hodges - $7,300 (+6000)
Hodges began the season with six straight made cuts, then missed five in a row, now has made three in a row. His stats look better than his results, though he does have three top-10s, including recently at the Canadian Open. Hodges is top-30 in Approach, top-40 in Tee-to-Green, top-60 in Putting and, get this, 25th in SG: Total. That is excellent.
Seamus Power - $7,200 (+10000)
This Irishman sure does love himself some U.S. Heartland. Even though Power has had a miserable season on Tour, continuing a recent trend, he comes alive when he gets to the Deere. He finished 17th last year, T13 the year before and T8 in 2021. He has two other top-25s there and has never missed a cut in six tries. Can we say anything good about Power from this year? Well, he's third on Tour on approach from 125 to 150 yards.
$6,000-$6,900
Zach Johnson - $6,900 (+15000)
The Iowa native comes here every year and makes the cut every year. Well, 19 out of 22 times and he hasn't missed since 2007. He's won the tournament, finished second twice and also third -- albeit years ago. Last year, he tied for 26th. Johnson has played only 11 times this season. He made the cut last week at Detroit. He also tied for eighth at the Masters.
Brian Campbell - $6,400 (+30000)
There's a lot that can go wrong here. For one, we don't know whether Campbell is fully healthy. He withdrew from the Memorial with a shoulder injury. He played the U.S. Open two weeks later but missed the cut and he hasn't played since. But if healthy, the absolute shortest driver on Tour (averaging 276.1 yards) should be able to compete on this short track. Campbell's other stats are good -- 38th in Approach, 18th in Around, 70th in Putting. This could be a considered a bit of a homecoming for the former University of Illinois golfer. He hasn't played the Deere since a T12 back in 2017.
Want to lock in these selections? See how they stack up alongside other golfers in RotoWire's PGA DFS Lineup Optimizer.
