Fantasy Golf Insider: 9 players to target at the John Deere Classic
Typically played the week prior to The Open, the John Deere Classic has been realigned to coincide with the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in a rescheduled 2016 PGA Tour season. This year's tournament features a typically small prize purse and lacks the incentive of being the final tuneup before a major.
Matt Jones, Brandon de Jonge and Tim Wilkinson are the only three players to withdraw from the tournament in Rio de Janeiro who will be present this week. This means 2013 and 2015 champion Jordan Spieth is noticeably absent from the field. The strengths of field have taken a deep dive in a condensed season this year, but this week's tournament sees a new low.
There is a chance of thunderstorms for Thursday and Friday with the risk peaking at 80 percent for the second round of the tournament. The weekend forecast calls for ideal conditions, posing little threat to traditionally low scores at TPC Deere Run.
Here's a look at the past three John Deere Classic leaderboards (* denotes a playoff):
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jordan Spieth (-19)* | 1. Brian Harman (-22) | 1. Jordan Spieth (-20)* |
| T2. David Hearn | 2. Zach Johnson | 2. Tom Gillis |
| T2. Zach Johnson | T3. Jerry Kelly | T3. Zach Johnson |
| T3. Jhonattan Vegas | T3. Danny Lee |
Per FantasyInsiders, the key stats for TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois are Driving Accuracy (DA), Par 3 Scoring Average (P3S), Proximity to Hole (PROX), and Birdie or Better Percentage (BoB). These stats have been strengths of past winners and need to be used in combination with recent form and course history when assembling lineups.
Top Tier, Top Dollar, Top Results
Zach Johnson
Johnson is astronomically priced this week, sitting more than a thousand dollars clear of the rest of the field. He needs to be in lineups.
There is plenty of value below him so DFS owners don't need to stress over incorporating his salary. Johnson will make a 15th consecutive start at the John Deere Classic, where he has posted a score in the 60s in each of his past 28 rounds. He has finished no worse than T3 each year since 2011, winning the event in 2012.
He ranks 50th in DA, 24th in P3S and 32 in PROX with a 62nd in BoB. He ranks 18th in scoring average, and he has a clear affinity for scoring on a course where the past two winners have finished at 20-under par or below.
Jon Rahm
The former No. 1 amateur, Rahm will make his eighth start of the season, with seven made cuts already on his resume. While he ranks inside the top 125 in the standings, he'll need a victory in order to qualify for the FedExCup and the $10 million prize, due to his turning pro partway through the season.
Should he fail to collect the necessary victory, he needs to remain inside the equivalent of the top 125 in order to gain his PGA Tour card for next season. His best four-round total was a minus-13 at the Quicken Loans National.
Wesley Bryan
The Web.com Tour star collected his third win of the season on the "minor-league" tour this past weekend, and he'll make his third start of the season on the PGA Tour this week. Having played in the FedEx St. Jude Classic and the Quicken Loans National thus far, he has routinely been priced among the top players in the field, due to his phenomenal pedigree on the Web.com Tour.
He made the cut in each event with a top finish of T29 at his second tournament. While he's making the jump back to the PGA this week, the poor field quality isn't a drastic change from those he has dominated all season.
Best Value With a Chance
Keegan Bradley
Bradley has made four consecutive cuts, highlighted by a top finish of 18th at The Open. He has played here just once before, finishing 61st in 2013. He ranks highly in the week's key stats, sitting 38th in DA, 39th in P3S and 23rd in PROX. He shot three rounds of 67 at the Travelers Championship last week for his lowest total score since the OHL Classic in November.
Spencer Levin
Levin will make his sixth career appearance at the JDC, as he tries to extend his consecutive cut streak at the event to five. He has made four consecutive cuts on tour coming into this week, including a 14th at the RBC Canadian Open and an 11th at the Travelers.
He ranks 19th in DA, 24th in P3S and 43rd in PROX. He is very reasonably priced considering the rest of the field and his relatively impressive track record. He can be used in both cash games and GPPs.
Kyle Stanley
Only 20 players in the field have made more cuts than Stanley's 14 this season. He has missed each of his past two cuts, but he has made 14 of 24 on the season. He has made six previous appearances at the JDC, including five made cuts and a top finish of second in 2011.
His recent form makes him a contrarian selection, but he has the course history and an extremely appealing salary at the very bottom of the middle tier.
If Everything Goes Right
Johnson Wagner
Wagner sits 125th in the FedExCup standings, a position he needs to maintain or improve upon in order to qualify for the playoffs. He ended a three-year hiatus from the JDC in 2014, finishing seventh. He followed up that impressive performance with a fifth-place finish in 2015.
He has missed three of his past five cuts this season, but he's at an affordable salary which allows for multiple players from the top tier, and he has a little extra incentive this week with his window beginning to close.
Jason Bohn
Bohn has three top-10 finishes this season but none of them have come in 2016. He finished second in the OHL Classic, after losing in a playoff.
He'll make an eighth consecutive and 10th career appearance at TPC Deere Run. He made five of his past seven cuts, highlighted by a career-best finish of 12th in 2015. He ranks 10th in DA, 18th in PROX and 49th in BoB.
Dicky Pride
Pride returns from a one-year break from the JDC for his eighth career appearance. He has made five of seven cuts thus far, with three placings inside the top 30. He hasn't finished higher than 60th this season, but he doesn't need to do much more than that at this week's salary.
Top Fades
Steve Stricker
The 49-year-old Stricker has carefully selected his schedule this season, playing only course he likes and has had previous success on. There's no wonder why he is set to tee off at Deere Run, as he won here in three consecutive years from 2009 to 2011. He collected top-10 finishes in each of the next two years, but he finished just 35th in 2015.
He has three top 10s and four missed cuts in 12 events this season. He still ranks 18th in P3S but just 65th in DA, 82nd in PROX and 96th in BoB. He has the second highest salary of the week, a billing he's unlikely to live up to.
Jerry Kelly
Kelly shocked with a solo second-place finish at the Travelers, shooting opening and closing rounds of 64. He'll make a sixth consecutive appearance at the JDC, and he recently collected fourth- and third-place finishes in 2013 and 2014, respectively. He placed 26th at the Canadian Open, prior to the Travelers, but he missed his four previous cuts.
Chris Stroud
Stroud is priced in the top tier, despite making just 15 of 24 cuts this season and failing to place higher than 38th since late May. He placed 38th in both the Canadian Open and the Travelers, something he'll need to drastically improve upon at his salary this week. He finished fifth last year, but he hadn't finished inside the top 50 in any of his previous three attempts.