The final PGA Tour stop before The Open Championship is the John Deere Classic, which begins Thursday in Silvis, Ill.
The event is one of five included in The Open Championship qualifying series. The top three finishers within the top 10 who are not already in the field will score a spot at St. Andrews in two weeks.
Field Level Media’s golf experts break down the John Deere Classic and provide their best bets.
JOHN DEERE CLASSIC
Silvis, Ill., June 30-July 3
Course: TPC Deere Run (Par 71, 7,289 yards)
Purse: $7.2M (Winner: $1.278M)
Defending Champion: Lucas Glover
FedExCup Leader: Scottie Scheffler
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
PGA Tour Live: Daily feeds on ESPN+
Social Media: @JDClassic (Twitter)
NOTES
–Only 49 of the top 125 players in the FedEx Cup standings are in the field this week.
–Zach Johnson, the 2012 winner who also serves on the tournament’s board of directors, will make his 20th consecutive start in the event.
–Daniel Berger (injury) and three-time champion Steve Stricker withdrew this week. Stricker’s unrestricted sponsor exemption went to Morgan Hoffman, who lost his PGA Tour status after exhausting his major medical exemption.
–Five of the past 10 event champions were first-time winners on Tour.
BEST BETS
–Webb Simpson (+1400 at BetMGM) is among the top-ranked players in the field at No. 58. He has only one top-10 in 15 starts this season and returns to the event for the first time since 2010. Simpson is second at the sportsbook with 5.8 percent of the winning tickets and 8.7 percent of the handle backing him. He’s second at DraftKings with 9 and 8 percent of the action, respectively, at +1200.
–Adam Hadwin (+1800) was the 18-hole leader at the U.S. Open earlier this month and his T7 there was his fifth top-10 this season. He’s third at BetMGM with 5.1 percent of the bets and 6.0 percent of the handle backing him.
–Sahith Theegala (+2500) is coming off a T2 last week – his fifth top-10 of his rookie season. After opening at +3300, he is the biggest liability at BetMGM as he has drawn 9.9 percent of the winning bets and 12.0 percent of the handle. He also leads at DraftKings with 9 and 10 percent, respectively, at +2500.
–Denny McCarthy (+2800) has four top-10s this season. He is also fifth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting this season and fifth with 303 birdies made.
–Maverick McNealy (+3000) is No. 42 in the FedEx standings – second-highest in the field. He’s seeking his first victory on tour. He is the third-biggest liability for BetMGM after opening at +4000 and drawing 5.2 percent of the handle.
–Jason Day (+3300) has also seen his odds shorten dramatically after opening at +3300 at BetMGM. The former major champion has been supported by 3.9 percent of the bets and 4.5 percent of the handle.
–J.T. Poston is being offered at +4500 at DraftKings, where he is third in the field with 4 percent of the bets and 5 percent of the handle backing him. That is the same level of action that Nick Hardy has drawn at +4000.
–Field Level Media