The PGA Tour heads to Illinois for the John Deere Classic.
Formerly held the week before The Open, many of the world’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.
Despite only playing as a par-71, TPC Deere Run facilitates scoring and is one of the PGA Tour's easiest tests.
The winner will typically find themselves in the 20s; only four of the last 16 editions finishing with a winning score worse than 20-under-par, with Davis Thompson breaking the tournament record with 28-under-par last year.
Like most TPC courses, Deere Run poses a straightforward test, particularly off the tee; players are invited to pull driver and take advantage of wide fairways with no significant penalty for inaccuracy. But with driving routine and the course being short, it’s hard for the best drivers to really separate themselves, and the shorter players off the tee can still compete.
Although longer hitters can flex their muscles, around one in three approach shots will be from inside 150 yards. Lucas Glover, JT Poston, Sepp Straka and Brian Campbell represent four of the last five winners, and the shorter, plotting types filled the top of last year’s leaderboard.
While fairways are wide, players missing them can very much find themselves behind the eight ball on approach to small greens.
While the putting surfaces aren't the biggest, they’re not particularly challenging targets, and those not ranking highly for greens in regulation will struggle to contend with around six birdies needed per round.
As is often the case with easier venues, the tournament will largely be won and lost on the greens, which are bentgrass and run at a modest 11 on the Stimpmeter.
Ben Griffin, Chris Gotterup, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth feature this week, but how many feature in our Power Rankings? Find out below.
5 - Jackson Koivun
In years gone by, talented amateurs could be anticipated with an equal degree of excitement and scepticism; okay, they can dominate the college scene, but how good are they against PGA Tour players?
Now, with the advancements in technology and data, we already have a pretty good idea.
Jackson Koivun has played just 10 PGA Tour events – and two of them were the US Open – and yet he’s already ranked 45th in the Data Golf rankings. Remarkably, he finds himself above Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Nicolai Hojgaard, Sepp Straka, Rickie Fowler, Brian Harman, Brooks Koepka and many more.
Koivun won six of his final collegiate events and is now joining the professional ranks on the back of a superb T23 at the US Open, where his worst round was a 74 on the Saturday.
While not all leading amateurs make it as leading professionals, Koivun looks destined for the top, and turns professional as one of the best amateurs in a generation.
In his fleeting PGA Tour appearances over the last 12 months, Koivun has finished T11 at the John Deere, T6 at the ISCO, T5 at the Wyndham and T4 at the Procore.
It’s also worth remembering that at last year’s Procore, which the US Ryder Cup team used as their tune-up, Koivun found himself in the final group on Sunday.
Koivun’s impressive work on the PGA Tour has come at venues that are largely easier and shorter than average.
A strong driver, iron player and putter, a win isn’t out of Koivun’s reach this week.
4 - JT Poston
JT Poston had won his first three PGA Tour events at shorter courses that relied on accurate wedge play, making his recent win at the Memorial all the more impressive.
Poston’s form this season had been nothing to write home about, with no top-20s in his prior 13 starts, but his approach play had been good enough, gaining strokes on approach in six of his previous seven outings prior to his Memorial win.
Proving it was no fluke, Poston took his good form to Shinnecock Hills, finishing fourth at the US Open.
On the back of two good weeks, his performance at the Travelers Championship was underwhelming, but as a former winner at Deere Run, and someone who loves the shorter, easier setups, Poston will head to Illinois with plenty of confidence.
3 - Eric Cole
Eric Cole has what should be a fatal combination of being neither long nor accurate off the tee, yet the rest of his game makes up for it and keeps him competitive on the PGA Tour.
Deere Run isn’t a driving examination, which allows Cole to showcase his other talents which have really come to the fore in recent weeks.
In all six events from the Valero Texas Open to the Memorial Tournament, Cole gained strokes on approach, around the greens and putting, and he even gained strokes off the tee in three of those.
He unexpectedly missed the cut at the Canadian Open and wasn’t qualified for the US Open, but was excellent for three rounds at the Travelers Championship, leading after round one and sitting T5 after round three before a poor final round.
TPC River Highlands is another short course that relies on accurate iron play, and his strong performance there bodes well for a visit to Deere Run, where he was T7 in 2024.
Cole ought to have won at the Charles Schwab Challenge a few weeks ago when ultimately losing in a play-off to Russell Henley, but he can break his PGA Tour duck here.
2 - Chris Gotterup
In theory, a course with wide fairways where driver is used just about everywhere should suit Chris Gotterup, but over the years we’ve seen so many shorter hitters compete and win that perhaps his biggest strength is negated.
Nevertheless, Gotterup will leave himself more wedges than the rest of the field and his approach play – crucial at Deere Run – has been excellent this season, gaining on approach in every appearance bar one.
The Golf Betting System has Gotterup fifth in terms of SG: Total amongst this field over the last eight-tournaments, propped up by his impressive SG: Approach numbers that will be crucial if he is to trouble the top of the leaderboard this week.
Gotterup’s fine work on the greens continued at River Highlands too, ranking 22nd for SG:P.
It’s interesting that Gotterup is opting to play in Illinois ahead of defending his Scottish Open title next week, and after a T4 on debut in 2022, he must feel confident of a third PGA Tour win of the season.
1 - Ben Griffin
It was interesting to see how Ben Griffin would perform this season on the back of a breakthrough 2025. Improving further felt impossible and even maintaining that level was a tough ask.
Failing to finish better than T19 in his first 13 events, Griffin's approach play fell off a cliff after a stellar 2025, but things are starting to turn around.
Since the Zurich Classic where he finished T10, Griffin has finished third at the Cadillac Championship, T14 at the PGA Championship, T3 at the Charles Schwab Challenge and T17 at the US Open.
Griffin added another top-10 at the Travelers Championship with rounds of 64, 66, 67 and 67.
Griffin missed the cut at Deere Run last year, but was T5 on debut, and can continue his good form this week.
