Matt Jones to win the John Deere Classic

Deere Run is not as it sounds the latest Disney Pixar animation and is in fact the location for the PGA Tour this week. The event is an Open warm-up with a chance to qualify for the British Open in Murifield as well as a charter flight on the sunday night for any player wanting to get to Scotland.

The TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, has been the host for the John Deere Classic since 2000 and is considered one of the easier venues on the Tour. It is a 7,268 yard course with a par of 71 where birdies are the order of the day. No winner of this event has done so with a score worse than 16 under and the course has also seen one of the five 59s in PGA history. Just who will emerge on top this week?

Bookmakers make Steve Stricker the strong favourite as he excels in this event. Stricker finished fifth here in 2012 which put an end to an incredible run of three straight victories in this tournament. The American has shot rounds under par in each of his last 15 and has a last 16 round average of 65.75 and is a 15/2 chance (888 SPORT/unibet/188 SPORT).

Zach Johnson is next in the betting at 18/1 (GENERAL) and he is another who has an excellent record here. Johnson won this event last year and has finished inside the top three in three of his four appearances. His last 16 rounds here have all been under par and an average of 66.94 is impressive. Johnson though is badly out of form with just one top ten finish from 16 events this season including four missed cuts. Louis Oosthizen is third in the market and will hope to do much better than on his only previous appearance when he failed to make the cut in 2011. The South African finished tied 17th at the Greenbrier which was encouraging. In ten events this year though he has finished no higher than tied 10th on the Tour (Houston Open) and is a 25/1 (GENERAL) chance.

Keegan Bradley is another who can be backed at 25/1 (GENERAL) and makes his return after taking two weeks off following his tied 18th in the Travelers. Bradley has form with six top tens and another three top 25s this year though has never played the course.

Ryan Moore is a 33/1 (GENERAL) chance and it is hard to know what you will get with Moore who in his last six events has made the top 15 three times and in the other three occasions has missed the cut. He has a decent record here making the cut on all four appearances and came tied for eighth in 2012.

Of the big names mentioned Stricker and Johnson are the most logical with a proven love for the venue. Stricker is just too short for me to side with while the form of Johnson puts me off..

The headline selection is Australian Matt Jones at 66/1 (GENERAL) who is fresh off a career best tied for second at The Old White TPC and he has two top five appearances at this course. He looks great value to win his first Tour event in a wide open field.

Another bet I really like is the 6/4 (SKYBET) are offering on Charley Hoffman to finish in the top 20. Hoffman is an ultra consistent sort who has made the last seven cuts and has seven top twenty finishes this season and many of those coming in much tougher events than this one. Hoffman also has a decent record here coming tied 15th in 2009 and improving on that when tied 7th in 2010. Also take the 7/2 (BETVICTOR) on him to finish in the top ten.

BEST OF THE BETS

GOLD: Matt Jones, EW, 66/1 (GENERAL)
SILVER: Charley Hoffman to finish in the top 20, 6/4 (SKYBET)
BRONZE: Charley Hoffman to finish in the top ten, 7/2 (BETVICTOR)

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12/07/2013     © Frixo 2026