Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2015 John Deere Classic

The Sleeper Report: Fantasy Golf Sleepers, Long Shots, and Undervalued Picks for the 2015 John Deere Classic from TPC Deere Run

The 2015 John Deere Classic Preview

We’re just a week ahead of the third major of the season and now the players head to the John Deere Classic for a typically high scoring affair at TPC Deere Run.  There has not been a victor at this event in the single digits since 1975 and ever since coming to this par-71, 7,268-yard course for the first time in 2000, the average winner’s score has been a blistering 19.3 strokes under par with Americans taking the trophy in each of the last eight installments.

Some solid golfers have etched their names onto the trophy recently as Jordan Spieth became to first teenager to win on the PGA TOUR when he won in 2013, following up a great showing by Zach Johnson (-20) in his 2012 victory.

The most dominant man here has been Steve Stricker who has three of his 12 career wins when playing at this course, winning each year from 2009-2011 with an average mark of 22.7 strokes under par.  He also holds the record at this event for lowest aggregate score (258) and best mark to par (-26) when he outlasted Paul Gyodos by two strokes.

In 2014, it was Brian Harman who obtained his first PGA victory, just beating out Zach Johnson by a stroke behind four rounds of 68 or better.  He was able to hold off a Sunday push from Johnson, who shot a score of seven-under on Sunday, and beat out the Deere Run phenom with better than 80% of both fairways and GIR hit during his four days on the course.

Pacing the field this week will be world No. 2, according to the Official World Golf Rankings, Jordan Spieth as he is the only golfer coming from within the top-25 as most rest before the upcoming major.  The next best players according to their rankings are No. 29 Zach Johnson, No. 36 Kevin Kisner and No. 38 Ryan Moore.

There will be plenty of fireworks on the course this week so let’s take a look at a sleepers and long shots who can make some waves while the big names prep across the pond.

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The 2015 John Deere Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

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The John Deere Classic Fantasy Sleeper Report

Mix and match these players with your usual rosters (or play them separately) to get the most out of your picks this week.

• Scott Brown – 66/1: The very shallow field this week allows for Brown to improve on his solid recent play as he has been able to make it to the weekend in 11 of the last 12 tournaments all while doing no better than 12th.  Overall on the year, the 32-year-old has five top-25 showings and earlier in the season he looked great when he finished in the top-10 at both the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and Puerto Rico Open.  As usual, he has been able to do well among the field at the John Deere Classic, getting three straight top-25 finishes while posting a seventh in 2012 and fifth last year when he putt 1.803 strokes better than the field and hit 76.8% of fairways.  He will look to do well on the greens by leveraging his putting average of 1.748 this year (40th on TOUR), and if he can do this again he should be near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.
• Bryce Molder – 80/1: Molder is one of the more unpredictable players here, but he can take off on any given week—evidenced by his two top-10s on the year; one being a third at the Frys.Com to open up the season as the other came just last week in West Virginia when he shot three rounds of 68 or better and ranked sixth at the Greenbrier Classic.  He has done well at this course in the past two seasons, putting together a 27th in 2013 and a 13th last year as he hit better than 76% of fairways and GIR.  Molder should be in position to get some nice scoring going as he ranks in the top-50 in both driving accuracy (66.33%, 47th on TOUR) and strokes gained putting (.522, 16th on TOUR).  Watch for Bryce to take a run at his second career victory in his 227th career event.
• Chesson Hadley – 100/1: Hadley has an advantage over most of the other players at this tourney as a former winner in both the PGA and Web.Com TOUR, coming away victorious three times between the two.  Last year, he earned a win at the Puerto Rico Open and has shown more consistency in 2015 with 15 cuts made in 22 attempts (68%)—a much better mark than he had last year (13-for-29, 45%).  He has already finished in the top-25 in eight of his 15 cuts made and recently has been tearing it up with four such finishes over his last six events.  The Georgia Tech graduate can put up some nice scores as evidenced by his 3.84 birdies per round (35th on TOUR) and has had no issues on the greens (1.729 putting average, 11th on TOUR), both marks which should allow him to tear up the course this week.
• Chad Campbell – 100/1: Campbell isn’t necessarily a threat to take down the trophy when all is said and done at TPC Deere Run, but he has proven in recent years that he can navigate the course well and should have no issues making the cut.  He has done so in each of his last five visits to the venue dating back to 2010 and has really improved his standing in the past two years, ranking in the top-15 each time.  Campbell has not been lighting up the TOUR, but has made more money this year than either of the past two and has each of his two top-10 finishes coming over his last seven times out.  Over that same time frame he is 5-for-7 in cuts made and with his recent solid stretch, ability to hit greens (68.11% GIR, 44th on TOUR), and history here, Campbell should once again be in a solid position.
• Jon Curran – 140/1: Curran has made just 12-of-22 (55%) cuts this year, but has made the most of those weekend visits with five top-10s and a runner-up finish.  He has two such finishes in the past month and a half as he shot a combined 22-under par between the AT&T Byron Nelson and Travelers Championship.  His short game has been on point as he is 34th in sand save percentage (57.94%) and 25th in scrambling (62.96%) while hitting better than 73% of fairways in three of his last four performances.  The rookie has already eclipsed a million dollars in earnings this year and should once again be in the money with a chance at a very high standing.

Need a few more options to fill up your roster?  Remember to check out our new fantasy predictions stats page for Golficity Predicted Fantasy Points, Price Per Fantasy Point, and more info on every player in this week’s field!

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions?  Check out our full fantasy preview for the John Deere Classic here.

Cover photo by @johndeereclassic on Instagram