Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, & Predictions – 2015 John Deere Classic

Fantasy Golf Picks, Odds, and Predictions for the 2015 John Deere Classic

The 2015 John Deere Classic Preview

Just one more week before the world’s best golfers take the big stage at the iconic Old Course at St. Andrews for The 2015 Open Championship.  But in the meantime the outstanding golf we’ve been seeing will continue to play out as some big names are set to clash in Illinois this week at the 2015 John Deere Classic.

While quite a few of the world’s top players have already traveled across the pond to tune-up for the Open—most of who will be playing in the Scottish Open this week—some have chosen to stay behind and headline the field at TPC Deere Run.  Just a few of these notable players include the likes of Jordan Spieth, Zach Johnson, and Steve Stricker.

In all, there are a total of 15 players in the field this week that have already qualified for next week’s Open Championship and chartered flights will await them Sunday night, provided by Deere Classic officials.

The Field

The headline player in the field this week is past John Deere champion and likely 2015 Player of the Year, Jordan Spieth.  Jordan hasn’t competed since his triumph at Chambers Bay where he notched his second major of his career (and of the season).

Another horse for the course that will be on every fantasy player’s radar this week is Zach Johnson who is a Cedar Rapids native (about an hour and half drive from TPC Deere Run) and and has had amazing success in this event (winner in 2012).  In his past six visits here ZJ has finished outside the Top 3 just once with an impressive record including a combined 105-under par and all 24 rounds carded in the 60s.

It’s also worth noting that Steve Stricker will try to win this event for the fourthtime in his career which will make him the first player to accomplish this.

Be on the lookout for players this week fighting for that one Open Championship slot available for the highest top-5 finisher who hasn’t already clinched a spot!

The Course

TPC Deere Run measures in at 7,268 yards and plays as a par 71.  The course was built on the site of a tribal village and was designed by D.A. Weibring in 1999.

The track has plenty of challenges and its design features some amazing views alongside the Rock River.  The terrain here allows for are plenty of elevation changes from hole to hole including a drivable downhill 358 yard par-4.

The course has notoriously produced some low scores and in fact, Paul Goydos carded the fourth 59 recorded on the PGA TOUR at TPC Deere Run, but Stricker fired a 60 that day and that was enough to earn him the trophy.

Here’s local pro Andy Stoterau to tell us more about how important reading the greens will be to a player’s success here at TPC River Run this week:

PGA Professional tips on playing TPC Deere Run

Andy Stoterau, Head Golf Professional at TPC Deere Run, gives pointers on how to putt around the 16th, 17th and 18th greens in this instructional from “Inside the PGA TOUR” Check out more ‘Inside’ videos http://www.youtube.com/pgatour Subscribe to the PGA TOUR channel The four-time Emmy Award nominated “Inside the PGA TOUR” airs on Golf Channel at 6:30 p.m.

Weather Forecast for Silvis, IL

The temperature in Silvis will be in the 80s all week with a chance of rain during rounds 1 and 2.  The weekend however is expected to shape up nicely with dry high 80 degree days and plenty of sunshine.

Look for TPC Deere Run to should play soft during the first couple of rounds and certainly firm up heading into the weekend.

Last Year’s John Deere Classic Results

It was certainly a memorable day for 2014 JDC Champion Brian Harman as he notched his first win on the PGA TOUR.  Harmon pulled away from Zach Johnson’s surge by firing a 5-under 66 on the final day.

The two players were tied on the 14th until Harman birdied 14 through 16 which gave him a comfortable 2-shot cushion.  Johnson shot the best round of the day (64) and it was good enough to earn him his second runner-up finish in the last few years.

Jordan Spieth (66) finished seventh in his first title defense after winning his first PGA TOUR win here in 2013.

Here’s a quick recap of what happened last year:

Brian Harman claims first PGA TOUR win at John Deere | Highlights

In the final round of the 2014 John Deere Classic, Brian Harman won his first PGA TOUR title, using three straight birdie putts in the final five holes to pull away from veteran Zach Johnson. . SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh Welcome to the official YouTube channel of the PGA TOUR.

This Week’s Broadcast Schedule

• Television Broadcasts 
  • Thursday – Friday: 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm EST (Golf Channel)
  • Saturday – Sunday: 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EST (Golf Channel)
  • Saturday – Sunday: 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST (CBS)
• Radio Broadcasts (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.COM)
  • Thursday – Friday: 12:00 pm – 7:00 pm EST
  • Saturday – Sunday: 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST
• Mobile Broadcasts
  • Simultaneous coverage on the Golf Live Extra App for iPhone and Android.

Where to Play Fantasy Golf this Week

As always there are plenty of places to play fantasy golf this week but here are our three favorite daily leagues for a quick and inexpensive shot at a nice payout:

• PGA $275K DRIVE THE GREEN [$100K TO 1st!]: This $3 entry is always a favorite.  For 3 bucks you get a chance to win $100,000 and it doesn’t get much cooler than that.  For about the cost of sleeve of Pro V1s, you can enter this event four times with different variations of teams to increase your odds.
• LAST SHOT: PGA $3M MILLIONAIRE MAKER SUPERSATELLITE [150X]: This one dollar entry qualifier will give the top 150 finishers a free pass to the big event for The Open Championship next week.  It’s worth throwing a few bucks at this event for a chance to win some free entries in the big game.
• PGA $3M MILLIONAIRE MAKER: This huge event will pay the winner $1 million and at least $25 all the way down to 37,676th place.  You have no reason (other then you don’t have the $20 entry fee) to play in this possibly life-changing event.

This Week’s John Deere Classic Fantasy Notes

The obvious choice this week is Jordan Spieth and almost every fantasy roster will have him as their horse pick.  But what if you have to use names sparingly in a pick’em league?  Do you use him here and sit him for St. Andrews?

To help you out this week we’re going to do something special and offer you our usual picks plus one extra bonus for those of you who can’t put Spieth on your roster this week.

Other then that, TPC Deere Run is a relatively “easy” course and anyone who is dialed in should put up consistant low 60s without a problem.  Don’t be surprised if you see some 63s or lower this week.

That said, let’s dive into the guys who we think have the ability to go real low at TPC Deere Run this week.

Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Fantasy Picks and Odds to Win the 2015 John Deere Classic

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Fantasy Golf Predictions YTD Stats

[skill_bar heading=”Total Top 3s” percent=”12.90%” bar_text=”28 out of 217 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Top 10s” percent=”23.96%” bar_text=”52 out of 217 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Winners Picked” percent=”29.03%” bar_text=”9 out of 31 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Runners-Up Picked” percent=”38.70%” bar_text=”12 out of 31 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Made Cuts (Includes Sleepers)” percent=”79.26%” bar_text=”172 out of 217 picks” style=”background-color: #5fb341″][skill_bar heading=”Total Major Winners Picked” percent=”100%” bar_text=”2 out of 2 events” style=”background-color: #5fb341″]

Remember to visit the The Clubhouse and our private Facebook group to discuss this week’s picks for the 2015 John Deere Classic with other Premium Members.

Want even more fantasy golf picks for this week’s John Deere Classic?  If so, be sure to check out our Tuesday Sleeper Report for a few hidden gems to round out your salary cap roster!

Cover Photo by @johndeereclassic on Instagram