John Deere Classic:
Akshay Bhatia had zero three-putts and just one bogey through 71 holes of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Then the final hole came and he missed a four-footer for par to miss out on a playoff by one stroke.

Australian Cam Davis, a pre-tournament choice of 66-1, posted 18-under par and held on for his second PGA Tour victory, both in Detroit at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. That 18-under-par winning score matched the number Davis won with in 2021 because of unexpected wind blowing directly at the players and making scoring more difficult at an event that averages a winning score south of 23 under par.

Davis now moves into the OWGR Top 40 and earns a two-year PGA Tour exemption, plus spots in all of the 2025 major championships and puts himself into further consideration to make the International squad in the President’s Cup this fall.

Bhatia’s misfortune on 18 dropped him into a four-way tie for second with Davis Thompson, Min Woo Lee and Aaron Rai.

This week, the PGA Tour continues in the Midwest, more specifically, the Quad Cities for the John Deere Classic, a PGA Tour staple since 1972. OWGR No. 8 Patrick Cantlay was scheduled to be the field’s headliner at 8-1 or 9-1, but he withdrew Monday morning as did Davis.

Two-time John Deere Classic winner Jordan Spieth (2013, 2015) now takes the favorite’s role at 16-1 in his first appearance at the John Deere since his 2015 victory. Spieth also won the John Deere in 2013 for his first PGA Tour victory.

Defending John Deere champion Sepp Straka (18-1) and Sungjae Im (18-1), who was third two weeks ago at the Travelers, follow as co-second choices.

Rai (20-1) and Thompson (28-1) were both part of the four-way tie for second in Detroit.

A trio of players reside at 25-1 — Maverick McNealy, Keith Mitchell and Denny McCarthy, who has finished sixth here each of the last two years.

J.T. Poston cashed here for us two years ago at around 50-1 and the 2022 John Deere champion is 30-1 this week along with Jason Day, who returns to the Quad Cities for the first time since 2011.

Nick Dunlap and Sam Stevens (both 35-1) were both in the top 10 last week in Detroit.

The John Deere Classic will have 156 players this week competing for an $8 million purse. With Cantlay’s Monday morning withdrawal, defending John Deere champion Sepp Straka (OWGR No. 24) is the highest-ranked player in the field. Just seven of the OWGR Top 50 are in the Quad Cities this week.

TPC Deere Run opened in 2000 on land donated by the descendants of John Deere’s family. Located in Silvis, Ill., within the Quad Cities (Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa; Rock Island and Moline, Ill.) region, TPC Deere Run was designed by five-time PGA Tour winner D.A. Weibring, who won the John Deere Classic three times.

The layout is a tree-lined parklands that plays as a par-71 of 7,289 yards.

The course presents some elevation changes, has 76 bunkers and three water danger holes. There are some tight doglegs and sloping fairways and players will, more often than not, have to use every club in the bag, but TPC Deere Run typically plays as one of the easier courses on the PGA Tour schedule.

The Bentgrass fairways are gettable (36.5-yard average width), but the main defense here is four inches of Kentucky Bluegrass/Fescue rough.

Players will be hitting into Bentgrass greens (5,500 square feet average) that will roll at an average of 12 feet on the stimpmeter.

John Deere Classic Trends & Angles

5 of the last 10 champs were first-time PGA Tour winners.

13 of the last 14 champs played at least one previous John Deere Classic.

8 of the last 14 champs finished in the top 20 or better in a previous John Deere Classic.

12 of the last 14 champs had at least one top-5 finish earlier in the season.

Denny McCarthy, 22-1

McCarthy has finished sixth here each of the last two years.

He still seeks that elusive first PGA Tour victory having lost in a playoff last year at the Memorial to Viktor Hovland and in April at the Valero Texas Open to Akshay Bhatia.

There might not be a better putter on the PGA Tour as you can see in the putting rankings, especially on Bentgrass.

In his last start, McCarthy gained a little less than three strokes on approach at the Travelers. If he can come close to that, plus maintain his usual standard with the flat stick, he will contend here again.

Davis Thompson, 25-1

Thompson has two runner-up finishes in his last six starts — Myrtle Beach and last week in Detroit.

In between those starts, he finished top 10 in the U.S. Open, plus 17th at Colonial and 27th at Memorial.

The former No. 1 world amateur is starting to show up on leaderboards more consistently, and this looks like a good spot to earn his first PGA Tour victory.

Maverick McNealy, 28-1

McNealy disappointed last week with a T-44 in Detroit, but that could be attributed to shaking off rust after three weeks off.

He ranks fourth in this field for Birdie Or Better, fifth for Strokes Gained: Around The Green and fifth for Strokes Gained: Putting (Bentgrass).

He was eighth at the John Deere two years ago.

Nick Dunlap, 40-1

At just 20 years old, Dunlap is already a PGA Tour winner having won The American Express earlier this year while still an amateur and a collegiate player at Alabama.

Since then, he has turned professional and there have been some growing pains, but he has made 10 of 15 cuts, including three top-12 finishes in Houston, at the Memorial and a T-10 last week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic while leading the field for Greens In Regulation and ranking second for Strokes Gained: Ball Striking.

Notable big bets on golfers to NOT win the John Deere Classic


• $34.8K to win $310 on Joel Dahmen
• $24.8K to win $196 on Patton Kizzire
• $24.6K to win $367 on Doug Ghim
• $24.5K to win $466 on Seamus Power
• $24.4K to win $588 on Jason Day

John Deere Classic betting at BetMGM

Favorites
▪️ Sungjae Im +1200
▪️ Sepp Straka +1600
▪️ Aaron Rai +1800

Highest Ticket%
▪️ Jordan Spieth (+2200) 8.4%
▪️ Aaron Rai 7.3%
▪️ Sungjae Im 7.0%

Highest Handle%
▪️ Sungjae Im 14.1%
▪️ Jordan Spieth 7.5%
▪️ Sepp Straka 6.6%