RADIO
Hello PGA DFS family and welcome back to Horse For The Course! Xander Schauffele put together four days of excellent golf to win the Travelers Championship. It feels like the first "regular" win for the X-Man in quite a while, as he's won in various different formats over the last few years. This win - coupled with his consistent performances in majors - should remind golf fans that Schauffele is one of the most elite players in the game.
While the Travelers Championship offered us an excellent field on the heels of the U.S. Open, we, unfortunately, have no such luxury this week for the John Deere Classic.
Horse For The Course is an article that highlights players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For my favorite DFS plays of the week check out my Core Four article here at RotoBaller every Wednesday. It's part of our amazing PGA Premium package that includes an all-new PGA Research Station, Lineup Builder & Optimizer, and some of the best articles in the PGA DFS industry! You can sign up now using Promo Code: NICE for an extra discount at checkout!
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2022 John Deere Classic Overview
I'm a big proponent of holding PGA Tour events in different parts of the country and I think it's great that the John Deere Classic gets to bring the world's best golfers to the Midwestern U.S. on an annual basis. Unfortunately, the PGA Tour schedule makers haven't done the Deere any favors with some tweaks for 2022, as the Scottish Open is now a co-sanctioned PGA Tour event and many will elect to head across the pond early to prepare for the upcoming Open Championship at St. Andrews.
As a result, this Deere field is...not good. Despite being a fixture on the schedule for 50 years, the field for this event now falls somewhere between the 3M and Puerto Rico Opens if we're being kind. What does that mean from a DFS perspective? We can expect inflated price tags on mediocre players and a slate that will be filled with volatility.
Who do we have headlining this event, you ask? As of this writing Daniel Berger (It now appears that Berger is a WD), Webb Simpson, and Adam Hadwin currently sit atop the betting market odds. Yep...I'm serious.
You can also find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report every week. And be sure to read all of our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS articles to help you win big!
The Course: TPC Deere Run
Par 71 - 7,268 Yards, Greens: Bent, Designed By: D.A. Weibring & Chris Gray
This D.A. Weibring design ain't exactly Bethpage Black. The extra-wide fairways are super easy to hit. The greens are super easy to hit. Paul Goydos shot a 59 here in 2010. You get the idea...there will be birdies.
TPC Deere Run features some dramatic elevation changes throughout the layout with the course being designed to present players with risk/reward options that, more often than not, result in more reward than risk. Though birdies are plentiful, the bombers don't necessarily have a distinct advantage in this tournament, as guys like Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker are some of the biggest all-time money earners at the John Deere Classic.
As we're forced to do in these types of tournaments, I'll once again be looking for players that can go low by focusing on Birdie or Better Percentage and DK Points Scored. I'll also give weight to Strokes Gained: Approach & Tee to Green while giving a small bump to guys that have success putting on Bentgrass, as these types of events usually devolve into "putting contests".
I always recommend checking out RotoBaller's PGA Premium Course Breakdown by Josh Bennett for an in-depth breakdown of this week's golf course!
Recent John Deere Winners
- 2021: Lucas Glover (-19)
- 2020: Canceled due to COVID
- 2019: Dylan Frittelli (-21)
- 2018: Michael Kim (-27)
- 2017: Bryson DeChambeau (-18)
The Horse
Adam Hadwin
- Event Scoring Average: 67.75
- Notable Event Finishes: T8 (2016), T18 ('15)
- DraftKings Price: $10,400 FanDuel Price: TBD
The Canadian is set to return to the Deere for the first time since 2016 when he posted a T8. Hadwin is, unbelievably, kinda the class of this week's field due to his combination of (admittedly distant) course history and 2022 form. He's put together a sneaky-good year to this point, posting four top-10 results, highlighted by a T7 two weeks ago at the U.S. Open. Jessica's husband has now made the cut in eight of his last 10 starts and grades out second in this Deere field in SG: Total over his last 12 rounds. His game isn't flashy but has always had an underrated explosive quality, and he currently ranks sixth in Birdies or Better Gained among JDC entrants. While Hadwin does undoubtedly stand out on this watered-down slate, it will be interesting to see where his ownership goes as the week progresses. His popularity might reach the point where we're forced to pivot in GPPs while locking him into cash and single-entry builds.
The Ponies
Patrick Rodgers
- Event Scoring Average: 68.46
- Notable Event Finishes: T23 ('21), 2nd ('17), T27 ('16), T15 ('13)
- DraftKings Price: $8,800 FanDuel Price: TBD
A superstar at Stanford, Rodgers' pro career has never really materialized into what many thought it would be. That said, he's transformed himself into a serviceable PGA Tour regular and has shown some flashes this year. Rodgers has made the cut in five of his last six starts, including a top-10 in Mexico and an impressive T31 in the U.S. Open at Brookline. He brings that form to a TPC Deere Run layout that's been kind to him in recent years. After missing the cut in three of his first four career John Deere appearances (though there was a T15 sandwiched in there), Rodgers has settled into the Illinois course nicely by running off four straight made cuts in the Deere, highlighted by a runner-up finish in 2017. In an event such as this, his success can largely be attributed to his proficiency with the flatstick on Bent. Rodgers grades out first in this field in SG: Putting on Bentgrass over his last 24 rounds on the surface.
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Nick Hardy
- Event Scoring Average: 68.88
- Notable Event Finishes: T43 ('18), T55 ('17)
- DraftKings Price: $8,700 FanDuel Price: TBD
Nick Hardy's John Deere track record isn't all that impressive on the surface, but there are certainly some ties to the event for the Illinois native that have me intrigued this week. The 2018 Big-Ten player of the year while at the University of Illinois, Hardy logged a T55 at the Deere while still an amateur in 2017 and followed with a T43 in 2018. A college star, Hardy possesses all the tools needed to be a very good pro and it appears that he's turned a corner over the past month. He comes in off three very impressive June outings that includes a T14 at Brookline and a T8 last week at the Travelers. We'll need birdie makers in our DFS lineups this week and Hardy grades out first in this field in Birdies or Better Gained over his last 12 rounds. I'm willing to ride the hot hand with the talented rookie on this slate that's short on players to get excited about.
Chez Reavie
- Event Scoring Average: 68.97
- Notable Event Finishes: T18 ('21), T15 ('13), T5 ('11)
- DraftKings Price: $7,700 FanDuel Price: TBD
We have to be selective when deploying the light-hitting veteran, but TPC Deere Run is a course where I'm comfortable firing up Chez Reavie. His JDC history doesn't blow us away, but there's enough in there - seven made cuts across nine career starts - to vault Reavie into consideration on this slate. He's been playing his best golf of the year as of late and comes in on the heels of a T8 in last week's Travelers. That result marked his third top-15 finish in his last five starts. Deadly accurate off the tee, Reavie grades out first in this field in both Fairways Gained and Good Drives Gained over the last 12 rounds, so we can be confident that he'll put himself into position to score on this gettable track.
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