The spotlight will be shining brightly on Jordan Spieth in the 2015 John Deere Classic. The two-time major winner and World No. 2 will make his first Tour start since his dramatic US Open win in mid-June. The John Deere Classic is where it all began for Spieth, who came out of nowhere as a 19-year old to win his very first tournament in 2013.
Who are the Spieth-like sleepers in this year’s tournament that could spring a surprise and claim an improbable win in Illinois? Let’s highlight three of the best sleeper candidates and examine why they can come away with victory. Meanwhile, click here for our complete preview of the 2015 John Deere Classic.
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2015 John Deere Classic Sleeper Picks and Predictions
[sc:Golf240banner ]Scott Brown has had a pretty nondescript career to date. The 32-year old has just one Tour win to his name – the Puerto Rico Open in 2013 – in his almost decade-long pro career. He’s also cracked the top 10 just 10 times in 99 career events, including just two such finishes in 25 total events this season.
But for some reason his game translates very well in TPC Deere Run, where he has earned two of those 10 career top-10 finishes. He was seventh in 2012 and improved to T5 last year. Brown (+6,500) has shot par or better in all 12 rounds he’s played on the course, so don’t sleep on him to once again climb a few notches higher up the leaderboard this year.
Another 32-year old to keep an eye on is Steven Bowditch (+4,500). The Aussie has cracked the top 25 in each of his last three tournaments, and is just over a month removed from winning his second career Tour event, the AT&T Byron Nelson, by four strokes. The win was only Bowditch’s second top-10 finish in 23 events this year, but he’s currently 17th in this year’s FedEx Cup standings.
Bowditch has just been brilliant on the greens this year. He’s ninth in overall putting average and third in one-put percentage (43.72%). Such assured putting should once again help Bowditch remain in contention in the John Deere Classic. He was T12 in the tournament in 2013 and T11 in 2014, finishing with the same -16 269 final score in both years.
Ryan Moore
Completing the trifecta of 32-year olds to watch out for is Ryan Moore (+2,000). Moore has three top 10 finishes in 16 events this year, and successfully defended his CIMB Classic title last November for his fourth career Tour win. Moore also finished a respectable 12th in this year’s Masters.
Moore most recently missed the cut in the US Open, the second cut he’s missed in his last four tournaments. But look for him to have a bounce back performance at TPC Deere Run, where he has been remarkably consistent.
Moore has shot one under par or better in all 12 rounds he’s played on the course, which is quite an impressive feat. He finished T8 in his very first start in the tournament in 2012, and was T7 – alongside Jordan Spieth – last year.
