2026 John Deere Classic Preview: DFS Picks and Course Analysis

Former Winners

2025: Brian Campbell (-18) over Emiliano Grillo 

• Winner: Campbell (350/1)

• Scoring Average: -1.66

2024: Davis Thompson (-28) over Michael Thorbjornsen, Luke Clanton, C.T. Pan (24)

• Winner: Thompson (25/1)

• Scoring Average: -2.33

2023: Sepp Straka (-21) over Brendon Todd, Alex Smalley (-19)

• Winner: Straka (50/1)

• Scoring Average: -1.71

2022: J.T. Poston (-21) over Emiliano Grillo, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (-18)

• Winner: Poston (45/1)

• Scoring Average: -1.33

2021: Lucas Glover (-19) over Kevin Na, Ryan More (-17)

• Winner Odds: Glover (50/1)

• Scoring Average: -1.45

The Basics

• Golf Course: TPC Deere Run 

• Location: Silvis, Illinois 

• Par/Length: Par 71 (7,289 yards)

• Architect: D.A. Weibring (2000)

• Fairways: Southshore Bent-grass 

• Greens: L-93 Bent-grass measuring 5,500 square feet

• Rough: Kentucky Blue-grass/Fescue 4 inches 

• Hazards: Water comes into play on three holes

• Notes: There have really been no major changes to the golf course since last year

The Golf Course

The PGA Tour returns to the Midwest for the John Deere Classic, a staple on the schedule since 1971. Formerly known as “Quad Cities Open,” John Deere took over as the title sponsor in 1999, and TPC Deere Run has been the host venue ever since. While the event rarely ever boasts a strong field, the John Deere has some solid history, generally attracts a great deal of local support, and feels at least more identity-driven than what we saw last week at the Rocket Mortgage. There’s no way to sugarcoat it, the field is incredibly weak, but this week produced my best DraftKings week of the season last year, so there is still certainly some opportunity. I will be in Chicago over the weekend and have very limited ability to watch, and it’s a great weekend to get outside and play some golf.

As far as the golf course goes, TPC Deere Run has played as one of the 10 easiest golf courses on Tour each of the last 10 years. It is absolutely a Bent-grass birdie-fest, and its par 3s, par 4s, and par 5s all rank among the 10 easiest on Tour year in and year out. Very similar to TPC River Highlands, the most difficult aspect of TPC Deere Run is the ARG play. The D.A. Weibring design typically plays as one of the easiest golf courses OTT (5th easiest on Tour last year), very easy on APP (26th out of 40 courses), 9th out of 40 courses in ARG (the hardest aspect of TPC Deere Run by far), and 37th out of 40 courses in putting. It is an extremely easy putting golf course.