Horse For The Course: PGA DFS Course History - 2025 John Deere Classic

Todd McGill's DraftKings, FanDuel PGA DFS picks for the 2025 John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run. Picks for daily fantasy golf based on course history

Detroit was a shootout of vast proportions, as the winner at the Detroit Golf Club came down to who made putts down the stretch. When the leaders made the turn on Sunday, at least 10 players had legitimate chances to leave Mo-Town victorious; many attempting to do it for the first time. Aldrich Potgieter outlasted an equally deserving Max Greyserman and Chris Kirk through five playoff holes to finally bring home the title.

Next is an event that's seen its fair share of up-and-coming stars lift trophies for the first time: The John Deere Classic. Ben Griffin headlines the weakest field we've seen in months, but it's a great opportunity to learn about different names that could come in handy down the line at more important events. TPC Deere Run is celebrating its 25th year hosting this championship, though its diminished importance means that few players make starts here on a year-over-year basis. However, the ones that do generally have repeat success.

Horse For The Course is an article highlighting players in this week's field with elite course history and is part of our free PGA DFS content here at RotoBaller. For some of the favorite DFS plays of the week, check out the Core Four article written by my buddy, Joe Nicely, 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 the Promo Code TDG for an extra discount at checkout!

2025 John Deere Classic

As previously mentioned, this year's event is pretty weak in terms of players inside the top 15 in the world. Ben Griffin is a betting favorite at 17, followed by Sungjae Im (25) and Jason Day (28). Even at that, it will take a score south of -20 under par to even hope to have a chance.

There have been plenty of fireworks here through the years. From Steve Stricker winning three consecutive times from 2009-2011, Jordan Spieth holing out from the greenside bunker in 2013 during his own five-hole playoff. So while this event may be absent of most of the already established names, some of the winners of this event have been great assets to the professional game.

Jackson Koivum, Michael La Sasso, Ben James, and Preston Summerhayes are among the names to keep an eye on this week, as they step onto the professional golf landscape and step up against the world's best competition. Rickie Fowler is

You can find out who the smart money is on by checking out Spencer Aguiar's PGA DFS: Vegas Report weekly. And be sure to read our other top-notch weekly PGA DFS articles and Player News/Matchup Outlook Posts to help you win big!

TPC Deere Run

Par 71 - 7,289 | Greens: L-93 Bentgrass | Designed By: D.A. Weibring & Chris Gray

The absurd scores needed to win here have elevated most of the strokes gained metrics, but a general rule of thumb is to be accurate from tee to green and sink as many birdie putts as possible before running out of holes. Most people think of a 72-hole golf tournament as a marathon, but this week, it's more like a four-day sprint.

TPC Deere Run was established in 1999, and its former life as a horse farm owned by the John Deere family keeps it close to this tournament and their continued partnership with the PGA Tour. The architecture and design are a little mundane compared to more world-renowned venues; however, it will provide plenty of action for fans, and the course conditions are usually top-notch.

The fairways are wide and forgiving, which makes ripping driver everywhere a simple choice, although missing them can come with a fairly steep penalty that makes scoring much more difficult. 42.7% of approach shots last year came from inside 150 yards; 43.6% the year before. That is a recipe for another wedgefest, similar to last week in Detroit. The only difference is that the penalty for missing fairways and greens here is more severe. And as always, for low-scoring events like this, strokes gained putting will be a heavily weighted metric.

Recent John Deere Classic Winners

• 2024:Davis Thompson (-28)
• 2023: Sepp Straka (-21)
• 2022: J.T. Poston (-21)
• 2021: Lucas Glover (-19)
• 2020: Dylan Frittelli (-21)

The Horse

Denny McCarthy

• Notable Finishes: T6 ('22 & '23), T7 ('24)

As I stated earlier, the fluctuation in participation for many players has placed some at the top of the total strokes gained metric with only one or two tournament appearances. Denny McCarthy is a few names down the board with an average of +1.445, but he's the only player in the field who's finished inside the top 10 each of the last three seasons.

McCarthy is one of the deadliest men on the PGA Tour with a putter, and coming off a T12 at the Travelers—another wedge-heavy venue—he is the perfect mold for what it takes to win here if he can keep the foot on the gas for 72 holes.

The Ponies

Michael Thorbjornsen

• Notable Finishes: T2 ('24)

Michael Thorbjornsen with five birdies in a row to move solo second. 📈

📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/9jprUV43tk

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 7, 2024

In 2024, Michael Thorbjornsen fired a final-round 63 to jump into a tie for second in just his third career professional start. The big-hitting 23-year-old can bomb it off the tee, but has recently been much more accurate, which has translated to six straight made cuts with a most recent finish of T4 last week in Detroit.

The driver is the obvious weapon, but his ability with wedges and short irons also makes him a formidable opponent here, especially if he putts as well as he did a week ago. He ranks sixth this season in birdie average (4.40) and 29th in birdie or better conversion (33.98%). If the good vibes are still there, he's a scary one to see lurking around.

Kevin Yu

• Notable Finishes: T6 ('23)

RIDICULOUS par save by Kevin Yu 💪

He chases his second PGA TOUR title @RBCCanadianOpen, live now on CBS. pic.twitter.com/DUjMJ2kjEh

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 8, 2025

Things have improved in recent weeks for Kevin Yu, who returns to TPC Deere Run hoping to keep things going at a course that statistically makes him one of the best DFS plays of the week. The former ASU SunDevil has been one of the best this season at combining distance with accuracy, which is why he ranks sixth on the year in strokes gained off the tee (+0.587).

What's more intriguing is the top 25 position in proximity from nearly all distances under 200 yards, but most notably ranking 11th from 50-125 yards (16' 6"). The 26-year-old also ranks 14th in birdie or better percentage (24.11%) and 13th in actual scoring average (69.68).

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Davis Thompson

• Notable Finishes: 1st ('24)

His first career PGA TOUR win 👏

Davis Thompson secures the @JDCLASSIC! pic.twitter.com/UqVPHiJ7o2

— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) July 7, 2024

Davis Thompson returns to defend his title and hopefully find some level of form. Putting earned him the trophy a year ago, averaging +1.74 strokes on the greens; however, this season is going dramatically worse for the 26-year-old, who currently ranks 154th (-0.403).

His ball striking is still performing well enough to make him a flyer pick most weeks, but for an article like this, it feels more like buyer beware, given what's been on display with the flat stick and his ability to shoot the low scores needed despite it.

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