John Deere Classic Picks and Predictions: Look for Adam Svensson, David Lipsky To Make Runs

John Deere Classic Picks and Predictions: Look for Adam Svensson, David Lipsky To Make Runs

The PGA Tour heads west to Silvis, Illinois for the John Deere Classic, a staple on the PGA Tour since 1971. Formerly known as the "Quad Cities Open," it was first a satellite event, before becoming an official Tour event in 1972. John Deere took over as the title sponsor in 1999, and the tournament has been hosted at TPC Deere Run ever since.

While generally played the week before the Open Championship, this tournament is moving up a week in the schedule to account for next week's Scottish Open. Still, the tournament failed to attract many of the sport's biggest names. Daniel Berger is the highest-ranked player in the official world golf rankings in attendance this week, and there's a pretty steep drop-off after that. Webb Simpson, Adam Hadwin, Davis Riley, and Sahith Theegala headline a crop of challengers in fine form. Let's dig into the John Deere Classic course preview and John Deere Classic odds.

John Deere Classic Course Preview

TPC Deere Run

TPC Deere Run is our pretty standard, run of the mill, birdie-fest. The D.A. Weibring design plays as a Par 71, tipping out to 7,268 yards on the scorecard, and features generous fairways and receptive Bent-grass greens. We've seen bombers such as Jhonattan Vegas, Patrick Rodgers, and Dylan Frittelli experience equal amounts of success as plotters such as Zach Johnson, Wesley Bryan, and Ryan Moore. Ultimately, all styles of play can succeed at TPC Deere Run.

In a tournament that does not provide many challenges from tee to green, and is generally won by the player that sinks the most putts, I will primarily be looking for players that significantly raise their baseline in easy scoring conditions and are great with a wedge in their hands. Last year, TPC Deere Run ranked as the seventh easiest course on the PGA Tour, and it has ranked inside the top eight easiest courses on Tour each of the last five years. Identifying players that are capable of going low and catching fire with the flatstick will absolutely crucial this week.

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John Deere Classic Picks

John Deere Classic Key Stats

• Strokes Gained Total: Easy Scoring Conditions
• Birdies or Better Gained
• Long-term Proximity: 100-150 yards

Without further ado, let's dig into my outright picks for the John Deere Classic.

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John Deere Classic Picks and Predictions - Outright Winner

Adam Svensson (+6500) (Bet $100 to win $6,500)

*Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.

For the second week in a row, Adam Svensson is a feature in this column. Despite stumbling on Sunday at the Travelers to a 25th-place finish, it was extremely encouraging by what I saw last week from the young Canadian. For the second week in a row, he gained over two strokes off the tee and on approach. Svensson ranks top 30 in this field in strokes gained off the tee, strokes gained approach, opportunities gained, strokes gained total in easy scoring conditions, and birdies or better gained. The one black mark on his resume is the putter, which often fails to cooperate. Still, both of his Korn Ferry Tour wins last year came on Bent-grass, so I'm fairly confident Svensson will feel right at home this week at TPC Deere Run.

David Lipsky (+10000) (Bet $100 to win $10,000)

*Odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publishing.

Similar to Svensson, David Lipsky is a player who has been on my radar for months now, and I fully believe he is capable of winning at the PGA Tour level. I simply believe that Lipsky is an under-valued commodity right now, as while he has missed his last two cuts, he has gained strokes ball-striking in both starts. Last week at the Travelers, Lipsky gained 1.1 strokes off the tee and 1.9 strokes on approach but lost a combined four strokes short game and putting. To me, that feels like a perfect buy candidate. A 14th at the American Express, 24th at Pebble Beach, seventh at Corales, sixth at Mexico, and 25th at Byron Nelson show me that he is fully comfortable in easier scoring conditions. Even his Korn Ferry Tour win last year came at 25-under par! I expect Lipsky to be firmly in the mix in the Quad Cities.

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