It’s almost time for the 46th John Deere Classic. This will be the final chance for those who are aiming to qualify for The Open Championship next week, so turn that intensity meter up a notch.
Read on below and learn which guys you ought to take a shot on!
Favorites: Daniel Berger (+1,200) and Steve Stricker (+1,800)
It’s always good to stick with the hottest hand, and our odds here at TopBet agree. Daniel Berger, who’s on some roll as of late, has the best line in the tournament. He will come in performing superbly in two of his last three outings, as he finished second in the FedEx St. Jude Classic and first in the recently-concluded Travelers Championship.
Also, as someone who’s gearing up for the ultimate prime of his career, Berger is your classic shot maker with a top-notch form. Should he encounter trouble in the TPC Deere Run’s tricky field, you can expect that he’s well-prepared to find his way out. He’s bound to be one of the brightest spots in the golfing world.
Old man Stricker, meanwhile, is also to be trusted for this event – or in any event that he puts his name in. He’s now a very picky man (given the age), but you best believe that he shows up quite competitively whenever he enters the den. The 50-year-old, as you may know, is arguably one of the straightest drivers the sport has ever had, while also being efficient with the wedge. His putting is still elite too.
Stricker has made the cut in each of his last six tournaments, four of which were T16 or better. He’s also a three-time winner of the Deere Classic.
Sleepers: Ryan Moore (+2,500)and Chad Campbell (+6,000)
Ryan Moore keeps on hanging around the serviceable level, and his rhythm is just so on-and-off, so even though he’s the defending champ, he’s still a nice sleeper pick at best – for now. This is not a knock on him, though. He has made the cut in eight of his last 10 appearances, including a T18 at the Valspar Championship and Valero Texas Open, and a T9 at the Masters Tournament.
Our other dark horse, Chad Campell, is a flat-out sleeper. He, too, is up-and-down on the season, but for a standard nice hitter like him, this track may prove to be fitting. The trends are also in his favor, as he has three T13 or better finishes in his last five tournaments, and he is one of the few (Stricker being one of them) to make the cut in the Deere Classic in each of the last five seasons.
There’s a lot of nice, trendy players that can be listed here, like Trey Mullinax (+8,000) and Chris Stroud (+8,000). It’s just that no one is trendier and more noticeable that Kelly Kraft’s performances. The 28-year-old Kraft has spurts from out of nowhere – he finished second at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am, went quiet for months, finished third at the Zurich Classic, went quiet again, and then became hot in the past few weeks. He’s now made the cut in three of his last five, and will be fresh off a T5 at the Greenbier Classic.
