With the Scottish Open across the pond and The Open Championship on the horizon, we have our weakest field of the year at the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. We’re getting the preview out a couple days later this week because of some prior engagements, but that isn’t a bad thing because we’ve been able to see the betting market move around in advance of the event.

While there aren’t many big names in the field, there are still a lot of things to handicap with this tournament, including the last chance for those not qualified for The Open Championship to get to Royal St. George’s.

We’ll use the odds from MyBookie Sportsbook to try and find a few picks and a few angles for the 2021 John Deere Classic. Odds are listed below the body of the article.

Betting Odds & The Field

As mentioned, this is far and away the weakest field of the year. Daniel Berger is on hand to try and iron out some kinks before The Open Championship and he is the +900 favorite. Sungjae Im is the second favorite at +1400 and Brian Harman is the third choice at +1600.

No other players are under 22/1 at time of publish per MyBookie Sportsbook. We’re used to seeing much better players than Russell Henley, Kevin Streelman, and Cameron Davis in the 20s.

Guys like Seamus Power, Si Woo Kim, Alex Noren, and Kevin Na are in the 30s, followed by Troy Merritt, Maverick McNealy, and Patton Kizzire in the 40s.

Steve Stricker is down into the 40/1 range, as he’s skipping the U.S. Senior Open to play here because he thinks his chances are that good.

This is a course that hasn’t had much of a distance bias in the past, so it brings a lot of guys into play and this is about as wide open as a tournament can be with so few elite players.

TPC Deere Run Preview

This is a par 71 that comes in just under 7,300 yards. While that sounds long, this course really isn’t. This is an event that usually comes down to the best putters. Historically speaking, Data Golf puts the importance of Strokes Gained Putting at 36.3% for the event average. The PGA Tour average is 35.7% overall.

Dylan Frittelli was third in SG: Putting when he won this event last year, but also hit a lot of fairways and played well with the wedges. A well-rounded game is important, but putting is especially important here this week. This is an event that very few big-name players participate in year after year, as the tournament falls at a bad time on the calendar.

It has bentgrass greens and short par 5s that are going to be birdie holes for everybody in the field, regardless of their length off the tee.

Yay or Neigh?

Our horse for course section examines how guys have done here before. As far as past winners in the field, Frittelli is the reigning champ from 2019, as this event was not played last year. He is 90/1. Michael Kim owns the course record at 27-under from his 2018 win and is 500/1. Ryan Moore won in 2016 and is priced at 50/1. Brian Harman won in 2014 and is the third favorite at 16/1.

Steve Stricker has won three times here, with the most recent win in 2011. Zach Johnson won here in 2012. Johnson is actually the second-most accomplished player here with a runner-up finishes in 2014, 2013, and 2009. He has 10 top-25 finishes here and seven in the top 10. Johnson had six top-five finishes from 2011-17.

Stricker is the most accomplished with eight top-10 finishes and the three wins, but he’s also a Champions Tour player now and this is a big step up to play with the PGA Tour guys.

As far as other guys that have some good numbers here, Lucas Glover has a couple top-15 finishes, including a 10th two years ago. Charles Howell III has four top-25 finishes since 2011. Kyle Stanley has five since 2011. Scott Stallings has four. Vaughn Taylor has finished sixth here twice in the last 10 tournaments.

Recent Form Standouts

Recent form is doing some heavy lifting with this field. Berger has a couple top-10 finishes in his last four starts. Harman has four top-20 finishes in his last five events. Cameron Davis won last week, with Troy Merritt second, and Alexander Noren fourth. That was Noren’s fourth top-25 in six events and the fourth top-10 finish for Merritt in his last eight events.

Mito Pereira missed the cut last week, but had won back-to-back events on the Korn Ferry Tour prior to struggling at TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Chmpionship last week.

Hank Lebioda has back-to-back top-five finishes and has made six straight cuts. Seamus Power has four straight top-20 finishes and Beau Hossler has three straight top-25 finishes.

2021 John Deere Classic Picks

In looking up and down the board for this one, you’ll want to take some chances. Jhonattan Vegas is swinging it well right now. If he can get the putter going, he’s a good look at +6600. The ball-striking numbers have been there lately. He was third here several years ago and has made four of five cuts at TPC Deere Run.

Another player to look at this week is Beau Hossler at 60/1. Quite a few people like Hossler this week and have driven his price down, but he’s in good recent form with three straight top-25 finishes and his putter is usually his best attribute. This is a putting course, so he makes a lot of sense.

Kyle Stanley is the other pick at +5500. Stanley has made six straight cuts, has one top-10 finish in that stretch, and has played really well here in his career, including a runner-up back in 2011.

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BETTING ODDS FOR THE 2021 JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

DANIEL BERGER+900
SUNGJAE IM+1400
BRIAN HARMAN+1600
RUSSELL HENLEY+2200
KEVIN STREELMAN+2500
CAMERON DAVIS+2800
SEAMUS POWER+3000
SI WOO KIM+3300
ALEX NOREN+3500
KEVIN NA+3500
TROY MERRITT+4000
STEVE STRICKER+4000
AARON WISE+4000
MAVERICK MCNEALY+4500
PATTON KIZZIRE+4500
DOUG GHIM+5000
ZACH JOHNSON+5000
DOC REDMAN+5000
RYAN MOORE+5000
KYLE STANLEY+5500
LUCAS GLOVER+5500
HANK LEBIODA+5000
SEBASTIAN MUNOZ+6000
BEAU HOSSLER+6000
PATRICK RODGERS+6000
CHARLES HOWELL III+6600
JHONATTAN VEGAS+6600
J.T. POSTON+6600
TOM LEWIS+6600
SEPP STRAKA+6600
MITO PEREIRA+6600
RICHY WERENSKI+7000
HAROLD VARNER III+7000
SCOTT STALLINGS+7000
KRAMER HICKOK+7000
C.T. PAN+7000
KEITH MITCHELL+7000
CHEZ REAVIE+7500
MARK HUBBARD+8000
PAT PEREZ+8000
DYLAN FRITTELLI+9000
LUKE LIST+9000
ERIK VAN ROOYEN+9000
HENRIK NORLANDER+9000
MATTHEW NESMITH+9000
HUDSON SWAFFORD+9000
JOHN HUH+9000
MARTIN LAIRD+11000
BRANDON HAGY+12500
MICHAEL THOMPSON+12500
BYEONG-HUN AN+12500
NICK TAYLOR+12500
JIM HERMAN+12500
CHESSON HADLEY+12500
BO HOAG+12500
ANDREW PUTNAM+12500
SCOTT PIERCY+12500
RYAN ARMOUR+12500
BRICE GARNETT+12500
BRIAN STUARD+12500
VINCENT WHALEY+12500
RAFAEL CABRERA BELLO+12500
SATOSHI KODAIRA+12500
DANNY LEE+12500
CAMERON CHAMP+12500
WILL GORDON+12500
ADAM LONG+12500
J.B. HOLMES+12500
ROGER SLOAN+14000
VAUGHN TAYLOR+14000
TYLER DUNCAN+14000
RORY SABBATINI+14000
SAM RYDER+14000
JOSEPH BRAMLETT+14000
ADAM SCHENK+14000
ANDREW LANDRY+14000
CHASE SEIFFERT+14000
HARRY HIGGS+15000
BEN MARTIN+15000
DENNY MCCARTHY+15000
ROBERT STREB+16000
MARK ANDERSON+16000
J.J. SPAUN+16000
ANIRBAN LAHIRI+16000
FABIAN GOMEZ+17500
CAMILO VILLEGAS+17500
AARON BADDELEY+17500
SUNG KANG+17500
ROB OPPENHEIM+17500
CAMERON PERCY+20000
BRONSON BURGOON+20000
JASON DUFNER+20000
WES ROACH+20000
SEAN OHAIR+20000
KEVIN TWAY+20000
PETER MALNATI+20000
JOHNSON WAGNER+20000
RHEIN GIBSON+20000
RICHARD JOHNSON+22500
CHRIS BAKER+22500
AUSTIN COOK+22500
MICHAEL GELLERMAN+22500
ANDRES ROMERO+22500
TED POTTER JR+22500
BO VAN PELT+22500
DAVID LINGMERTH+22500
ZACK SUCHER+22500
MICHAEL GLIGIC+22500
ROBBY SHELTON+22500
BILL HAAS+25000
SCOTT BROWN+25000
KRIS VENTURA+25000
SCOTT HARRINGTON+25000
DAVID HEARN+25000
ALEX SCHAAKE+25000
GRAYSON MURRAY+25000
SHAWN STEFANI+25000
MICHAEL FEAGLES+25000
NELSON LEDESMA+25000
JOSH TEATER+27500
JONAS BLIXT+27500
GEORGE MCNEILL+30000
JOHN SENDEN+30000
BRIAN GAY+30000
DOMINIC BOZZELLI+30000
BEN TAYLOR+30000
RYAN BLAUM+30000
RAFAEL CAMPOS+30000
D.J. TRAHAN+30000
SEBASTIAN CAPPELEN+35000
SANGMOON BAE+35000
NICK WATNEY+35000
K.J. CHOI+35000
WILLIE MACK+35000
RYAN BREHM+35000
DAVID PERKINS+35000
JONATHAN BYRD+40000
KEVIN STADLER+40000
MARTIN TRAINER+40000
GREG CHALMERS+40000
RICKY BARNES+40000
LUKE KLUVER+40000
HUNTER MAHAN+40000
TRIPP KINNEY+40000
JASON BOHN+40000
MARK WILSON+40000
CHAD PROEHL+50000
MICHAEL KIM+50000
MATT EVERY+50000
CHARLIE BELJAN+50000
D.A. POINTS+50000
HARRISON FRAZAR+60000