John Deere Classic Power Rankings

The PGA Tour heads to Illinois for the John Deere Classic held at TPC Deere Run.

Formerly held the week before The Open, many of the PGA Tour's best players will take the week off before crossing the Atlantic for next week’s Scottish Open as they get some links practice under their belts in preparation for the final major of the year.

Like last week’s Rocket Classic, expect to see a birdie fest with a winning score in the 20s.

Only three of the last 15 editions have finished with a winning score worse than 20-under-par, with Davis Thompson breaking the tournament record with 28-under-par last year.

There’s not a significant penalty for players who miss fairways, though the widened fairways make them tougher to miss. That said, it’s not a course that can simply be overpowered, and many recent winners have been able to keep the ball in the fairway and take advantage of the many wedges into greens.

For these low-scoring tournaments, a hot putter is a must, and while around three-quarters of greens will be found in regulation, excellent scrambling is required to keep bogeys off the card for the occasional missed green.

Find out which five players feature in our Power Rankings for the John Deere Classic.

5 – Denny McCarthy

At what is essentially a glorified putting competition it should be no surprise to see Denny McCarthy’s recent form at TPC Deere Run.

McCarthy’s last three finishes in Illinois read T6, T6, T7, with a couple of disappointing Sundays scuppering his chances of success.

McCarthy’s form this year has been somewhat patchy; After a run of five top-20s in six events in the spring, he’s posted just two more in his last seven outings, though his last appearance saw an improved T12 at the Travelers Championship where his iron play was excellent.

A similar performance with the irons this week and McCarthy should find himself in the mix.

4 – Michael Thorbjornsen

Like Luke Clanton, it feels like a matter of when rather than if Michael Thorbjornsen wins on the PGA Tour.

After a stellar amateur career, Thorbjornsen earned a PGA Tour card via the PGA Tour University in 2024, finishing runner-up in just his third start at last year’s John Deere Classic.

As is to be expected, there’s been an inconsistency to Thorbjornsen, but also flashes of brilliance.

The 23-year-old hits the ball a mile and is finding himself very much at home on the easier PGA Tour tracks, with top-10s at Deere Run, the Country Club of Jackson, Puntacana and Detroit.

Coming off the back of a T4 at the Rocket Classic last week, if Thorbjornsen can have a similar week with the flat stick, he’ll be there or thereabouts.

3 – JT Poston

Courses such as TPC Deere Run are made for players like JT Poston, which is why it’s no big surprise to see that it’s a venue he won at in 2022.

Poston has struggled in recent weeks, not recording a top-30 finish in his last four outings, but two of those were at Signature Events and one was at Oakmont; respectfully, these aren’t Poston’s tournaments.

The 32-year-old thrives on the bentgrass greens we’ll see at Deere Run, and does his best work in weaker fields on less demanding courses.

Poston has a habit of going through purple patches with his irons. Find one of them this week and he’ll have every chance.

2 – Jason Day

We’ll never see the Jason Day of 2015/2016, but the Australian is playing some of the best golf we’ve seen from him in years.

Plagued with injury issues, Day seems more selective in his events now, and is featuring on some of the elite leaderboards in the game, recording top-10s at the Travelers Championship last time out, the Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier in the season and the US Masters in April.

Day has a superb wedge game and is impeccable on and around the greens – two assets that will be crucial to success at Deere Run.

1 – Ben Griffin

The fact Ben Griffin could finish T13 at the Rocket Classic and it be seen as somewhat disappointing shows how much the Charles Schwab Challenge winner has come.

Griffin is closing in on a Ryder Cup place and has now gained strokes on the field in each of his last seven tournaments and hasn’t finished worse than T14, and that came at a Signature Event.

The world number 17 was T5 at Deere Run last year after closing with a sparkling 62 in what was the round of the day.

Griffin is solid through the bag, has an excellent short game and is putting superbly. Leading players don’t have a great record at the John Deere Classic, but Griffin is the well justified favourite this week.