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.

[membership level=”0″]

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

You must be a Premium Member to view our exclusive fantasy golf picks.

Already a member?  Sign in Here.

[/membership]

[membership level=”1,2,3″]

Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win the John Deere Classic

• Jordan Spieth (Golficity Odds 3/2 FPPG: 90.2 GPFP: 115.43 Salary $13,700): Without question Jordan is easily the hottest player in the game at the moment.  The good news is that there is a way to get him on your roster and still have some room for 5 other players—we’ll share that with you below.  Spieth is playing in his fourth consecutive JDC this week coming off of his monumental victory at Chambers Bay.  He won here in a playoff in 2013 and followed it up with a T7 last year.  Overall he has eight top fives in his last 13 starts and still dominates the TOUR in stats including first in Scoring Average and Putts Per Round.  All signs are pointing towards him so we have to make the obvious choice and put him our horse pick this week.  Don’t worry, we’re also going to offer a bonus pick this week if you need to “save” Spieth for the Open.
• Zach Johnson (Golficity Odds 8/1 FPPG: 67.6 GPFP: 54.7 Salary $11,400): Johnson is another huge favorite this week.  ZJ can also play as your Horse Pick in the event that you can’t play Spieth this week.  As we mentioned in our preview, Zach has a victory here and on top of that, he’s only finished outside the top three here once in his last six visits.  He’s been playing some solid golf lately—although nothing that would make any major headlines—but we’ve learned from years of doing this that that doesn’t matter when it comes to golf.  Players like ZJ can always return to dominance on a track they are comfortable on.  Try to have ZJ on your roster this week if you can’t pick up Spieth, but you wont be able to fit them both on a salary cap team, so go with Spieth instead if you have to chose between the two.
• Kevin Kisner (Golficity Odds 14/1 FPPG: 64 GPFP: 69.73 Salary $10,700): There’s no question that Kisner is underrated, or perhaps, not hyped up enough.  He has six Top 10s on the season including three P2 finishes…imagine that, making it to the playoff times and losing them all.  Something tells us he’s got the perfect game for an easy Deere Run track.  He ranks 18th on TOUR for Driving Accuracy and knows how to find greens.  Kisner is a solid pick this week for sure.
• Robert Streb (Golficity Odds 22/1 FPPG: 66.6 GPFP: 53.31 Salary $9,000): Like Kisner, Streb is another name flying under the radar with some quality finishes and a decent FPPG percentage.  We love how this guy putted with his wedge at Greenbrier but we love his season stats even more.  Streb has four top 20 in last five starts and a total of seven Top 10s this season including his P2 finish last week along side Kisner.  He ranks 15th in GIR and 7th in Total Birdies, plus he’s already a winner this season at the McGladery Classic.
• Shawn Stefani (Golficity Odds 32/1 FPPG: 68.4 GPFP: 84.75 Salary $8,600): Stefani has quietly become a fantasy stud but still has no wins to show for it just yet.  He has the ability to go low and finish high enough to earn you some quality fantasy points.  Stefani is coming off of a T13 at Greenbrier last week and finished T13 at TPC Deere Run last year.  He also has ten top 25s already this season and comes in to Deere Run ranked 22nd in GIR and 24th in adjusted scoring.  Our fantasy predictor stats have him ranked second in GPFP behind only Spieth this week.

Bonus Pick to Win if You Can’t Use Spieth

If you need to bank Spieth until the Open, you can go with ZJ instead as your horse pick and add in Bohn to the mix.

• Jason Bohn (Golficity Odds 35/1 FPPG: 64.9 GPFP: 51.94 Salary $8,500): Bohn didn’t make our original top-5-to-win list but like we said, you can Jason make a great addition if Spieth is too rich for you.  Like Stefani, Bohn is coming off of a T13 at Greenbrier which included a career-low 61 in the third round.  Bohn has been a big help for fantasy players this year with eight top 20s on the season.  He ranks T4 in par-4 scoring and can certainly match or perhaps beat that 61 on this course.

Sleeper Pick/Odds to Win the John Deere Classic

• Tony Finau (Golficity Odds 40/1 FPPG: 63.1 GPFP: 73.83 Salary $8,500): We’re pretty sure you wont see this name much on competitor’s rosters this week.  We’re always looking for guys on the verge of a breakthrough career victory and Finau is on the right path.  Since recording a T16 at Quail Hollow, Finau has been able to notch seven top 25s including a T13 last week at Greenbrier.  He also has four Top 10s on the season as well.

Salary Cap League Sleeper Pick/Odds to Win the John Deere Classic

• Danny Lee (Golficity Odds 66/1 FPPG: 59.2 GPFP: 47.33 Salary $7,700): D-Lee isn’t hitting our radar solely based on his victory last week.  Of course that helps us in our decision-making, but we’ve been watching this kid for quite a while.  Although he misses a lot of cuts, he also has four Top 10s including a win and a 3rd place finish already this season.  He’s played in 27 events and you have to think he’s gearing up for the Open which he qualified for.  He also has five top 25 in last nine starts and ranks 25th in birdies or better.

Sample Roster with Spieth

Sample Roster with Johnson

Sample Roster Without Zach or Jordan

[/membership]

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