DraftKings preview: John Deere Classic

The PGA TOUR heads to Silvis, Illinois, this week for the John Deere Classic. TPC Deere Run will be the host and measures as a 7,268-yard par 71 with Bentgrass greens.

The field will be highlighted by Jordan Spieth, Sungjae Im and last year’s winner, Sepp Straka.

Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $700K Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]

Denny McCarthy ($9,500)

This is the perfect spot for McCarthy to capture that elusive first PGA TOUR victory. He’s posted finishes of T6 and T10 in each of his past two trips to TPC Deere Run and was tied for second last season after the third round before a lackluster Sunday took him out of contention.

McCarthy has been playing really steady golf this season, having missed just two cuts all year. He’s also flashed a ceiling as well, with top-six finishes at the Wells Fargo Championship and Valero Texas Open.

The John Deere is one of the biggest birdie fests we will see all season, and to win you’re going to need a hot putter. McCarthy is arguably the best putter in the world, and especially in this field, making his floor in an event like this extremely high. He’s an elite play in all formats this week.

Kevin Yu ($8,800)

Yu is quietly one of the best ball-strikers in the world that no one knows about. The only golfers on the PGA TOUR who rank higher than Yu in SG: Ball-Striking during the 2024 season are Scottie Scheffler, Keith Mitchell, Xander Schauffele, Corey Conners and Rory McIlroy. Obviously, these numbers are not adjusted for field strength, but you get the point.

If you then filter for only this field, you’d find that Yu ranks No. 1 in SG: Ball-Striking and third in SG: Tee-to-Green over the past 24 rounds, with only Davis Thompson and Aaron Rai edging him in the latter category.

Yu finished T6 in his John Deere Classic debut last year and already has four top-10 finishes this season, including a T4 at the Myrtle Beach Classic, which was also a birdie fest. Having gained 3.4 strokes on approach in a T31 finish in Detroit last week, Yu could absolutely win here, resulting in DraftKings raising his price to $8,800.

Lucas Glover ($8,700)

Glover absolutely loves TPC Deere Run, having won at this course back in 2021, while posting a T6 last year and T10 in 2019. This will be Glover’s 15th time teeing it up at the John Deere Classic, and only four players in this field who have played this course more than once have averaged more SG: Tee-to-Green per round than Glover.

Glover has been on a bit of a cold streak of late, having missed two of his past three cuts, but before that had finished T25 or better in five of his previous seven starts. If you take a wider view, you’ll see that Glover ranks 13th in this field from tee-to-green and 18th in SG: Ball-Striking over his past 48 rounds.

This is a prime bounce-back spot for one of the best pure ball-strikers in this field, and this $8,700 price tag is very reasonable for the ceiling Glover has shown at this course.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $700K Summer Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is Lan1228) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.