The PGA Tour heads to the Midwest this week for the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. Originally known as the Quad Cities Open when it debuted in 1971, the tournament found its permanent home at TPC Deere Run in 2000 and has become one of the tour’s premier birdie-fests. It provides one of the final full-field opportunities of the summer before the schedule shifts overseas and into the heart of the FedEx Cup race. It has also developed a reputation as a launching pad for future stars, producing 25 first-time PGA Tour winners since its inception while remaining one of the longest-running title sponsorships on the PGA Tour.
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Designed by former PGA Tour winner D.A. Weibring on the site of a former Arabian horse farm overlooking the Rock River, TPC Deere Run blends rolling terrain, dramatic elevation changes, hardwood forests and scenic ravines into one of the most picturesque courses on the schedule. Despite measuring over 7,300 yards, the course is far from a bomber’s paradise. Wide fairways, receptive bentgrass greens and numerous wedge approaches create one of the lowest-scoring weeks of the season, with each of the past 16 champions finishing at 18-under par or better.
TPC Deere Run rewards players who manage their way around the course rather than simply overpower it. While all playing styles have found success here, accurate drivers, elite wedge players and strong putters have enjoyed the greatest long-term success. Past champions such as Brian Campbell, J.T. Poston, Steve Stricker, Jordan Spieth, Brian Harman and Zach Johnson all fit that mold. The course consistently creates birdie opportunities, but converting those chances is what separates contenders from the rest of the field.
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This year’s 144-player field includes two of the top 20 players in the Official World Golf Ranking along with eight players ranked inside the world’s top 50, making it one of the more wide-open tournaments of the season. While the field lacks the star power of recent weeks, it is deeper than many John Deere Classics of the past and includes several players carrying strong recent form.
Here are my favorite plays and fades in each price range for DraftKings contests for the 2026 John Deere Classic.
$9,000+ range Play: Ben Griffin, $10,500
Griffin continues to establish himself as one of the most reliable players on the PGA Tour. Although he is still searching for his first victory of 2026, his form has started to spike with five top-17 finishes since the beginning of May. He followed that up with a T-10 at last week’s Travelers Championship, firing four rounds of 67 or better while gaining 2.7 strokes on approach.
His game is an ideal fit for TPC Deere Run. Griffin has gained strokes on approach in four consecutive starts and continues to pair elite wedge play with one of the strongest short games on tour. Those are exactly the traits that have consistently produced success at this event.
He also owns a T-5 finish at the John Deere Classic and enters this week after competing well against significantly stronger fields over the past two months. With a weaker field, a course that accentuates his strengths, and his confidence continuing to build, Griffin has both one of the highest floors and highest ceilings in this field.
Read The Line’s Joe Idone and John Haslbauer break down the top of the odds board for the 2026 John Deere Classic:
Watch Read The Line’s full betting breakdown of the John Deere Classic here.
Play: Michael Thorbjornsen, $9,000 
Vaughn Ridley
While I’ll be playing plenty of Jackson Koivun, I’ll also pivot some to a potentially low-owned Thorbjornsen. Though he’s had his struggles of late, he doesn’t have a major weakness in his game. He has the firepower to make birdies in bunches and is one of the best players in the field in both easy scoring conditions and weaker fields. Though his career is just getting started, he has already thrived at TPC Deere Run posting finishes of T-21, T-2 and T-17 in three starts.
Michael Thorbjornsen over the last three years.
Fade: Jordan Spieth, $9,200
It’s difficult to justify paying this salary for Spieth given the direction of his game. He has lost a combined 12.2 strokes over his past three starts and enters the week searching for answers in virtually every part of his game. Even before this recent slump, the upside simply wasn’t there, as he has managed just two top-five finishes over the past 30 months.
TPC Deere Run has historically been one of Spieth’s best venues, but course history alone isn’t enough for me at this price. There are simply too many players in this range arriving with better form, stronger underlying metrics and significantly more win equity.
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$8,000+ range Play: Denny McCarthy, $8,200 
Icon Sportswire
After 229 career PGA Tour starts without a win, could this finally be the week that McCarthy breaks through? McCarthy has quietly built one of the best course histories in this field at TPC Deere Run. He has finished T-6, T-6, T-7 and T-11 over his past four appearances, posting six rounds of 65 or better during that span. His elite putting has always made him a threat in birdie-fests, and he enters this week with some encouraging signs from the rest of his game.
He is coming off a T-14 at the Travelers Championship, his seventh consecutive made cut, where he closed with a 5-under 65. More importantly, he gained strokes on approach for the second straight week and off the tee for the first time since April. The short game and putter have rarely been the issue for McCarthy, so if the ball-striking continues to trend in the right direction, he has the upside to contend again at one of his favorite stops on tour.
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Fade: Michael Brennan, $8,500
There is no questioning Brennan’s talent, but he simply hasn’t shown enough consistency to justify this salary. In 16 starts this season, he has just one top-20 finish and has struggled to string together four good rounds against PGA Tour competition.
TPC Deere Run also minimizes one of his biggest advantages. While his length off the tee is an asset on many courses, this layout places a greater emphasis on positioning, strategy and precise angles into the greens. With several tight doglegs and an abundance of wedge approaches, off-the-tee performance alone is unlikely to separate him from the field.
$7,000+ range Play: Andrew Novak, $7,400 
Andrew Redington
At one of his favorite courses on tour, Novak has played well at TPC Deere Run, finishing T-30, T-42 and T-7 in his three starts. After breaking through with the best season of his career last year, his ball-striking is beginning to trend back in the right direction, as he’s gained at least two strokes on approach and off the tee combined in six of his past eight starts. He also heads to Illinois with plenty of momentum after closing the Travelers Championship with a season best 7-under 63 on Sunday. Per the Rabbit Hole, Novak has also thrived in weaker fields, ranking sixth in this field over the last two years by gaining an average of 1.65 strokes per round in those events.
Lucas Glover, Ben Griffin, and Andrew Novak among the top six players in weaker fields over the last two years.
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$6,000+ range Play: Lucas Glover, $6,900 
Andrew Redington
Although 2026 has been a struggle for Glover, the underlying ball-striking numbers have remained solid, and he returns to a course where he has consistently found success. He won the John Deere Classic in 2021 and has added three additional top-10 finishes at TPC Deere Run since 2019, while also leading this field in total strokes gained at this venue. He also ranks second in the field in weak-field performance since 2024, gaining 1.81 strokes per round in those events. While contending will still likely require a spike putting week, his ability to consistently hit fairways and greens gives him a stable floor. That said, there is reason for optimism on the greens as well, as he has gained 0.34 strokes per round putting across 26 rounds here since 2016.
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Ron Klos (@PGASplits101 on X) is a PGA Tour data analyst for Betsperts Golf.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
