THIS is the 20th edition of the John Deere Classic and the 18th time played at Deere Run.
The course in Illinois was only built in the 1990s by former Tour Pro DA Weibring.It is a lush parkland with easy-to-hit fairways and receptive greens.
With The Open next week I’m surprised the likes of Francisco Molinari is here and not at the Scottish Open or practising on a links course but overall it’s not a bad field.
Bryson DeChambeau
DeChambeau is in great form this year with seven top 10s among 10 finishes in the top 25. His win at the Memorial in June was his second on the Tour, the other was here last year.
He’s finished, first, second, third, fourth and fifth this year in his seven top 10s, which is good steady play. In his last tournament, the Travellers two weeks ago, he hit four sub-70 rounds to finish T9.
That is the kind of consistency I have come to expect from Bryson. With the field being somewhat depleted of the big names I fancy DeChambeau to be fighting it out on the Sunday. The 24-year-old is going to be a star without a doubt and will be challenging in Majors for a quite a few years to come.
Joaquin Niemann
As a 19-year-old Chilean Niemann played in the Masters at Augusta this year and although he missed the cut you could see the talent there. The former No.1 ranked amateur in the world made his professional debut on the PGA Tour at the Valero Open in Texas and finished sixth.
That’s what you call a debut! Since then he has finished in the top 10 three more times from seven tourneys. He also held shares of the 18 and 36-holes leads at the Memorial but eventually finished T6.
Last month he also accepted Special Temporary Membership for the remainder of the 2017-18 PGA Tour, the youngest since Sergio Garcia in 1999, and we know how good Sergio turned out. Definitely one to keep an eye on for the future.
Recommended Bets
- 1.5pts ew Bryson DeChambeau (Coral, 12-1) Pays 7
- 1.5pts ew Joaquin Niemann (Paddy Power, 16-1) Pays 8
