2026 John Deere Classic Odds, Picks, Predictions: Best Bets, Props, OAD
Next stop, the Quad Cities! The PGA Tour has officially closed the chapter on Signature Events this season, as we make the sharp pivot to Silvis, Illinois, for a less lustrous field at the 2026 John Deere Classic. For the second week in a row, we’ll watch the field take on a short and positional TPC layout that rewards aggressive play off the tee and demands a set of hot wedges and putting to keep pace with the birdie barrage in store. Brian Campbell emerged in a playoff over Emiliano Grillo here last year, proving you do not need distance to contend, so long as your irons and putting are in form. Ahead, we’ll run through all the bets I’ve placed for the 2026 John Deere Classic.
Click the odds anywhere in this article to place wagers on John Deere Classic odds. For a full breakdown of the tournament and course, visit my John Deere Classic preview.
Top Options For Golf Trading
Sign up for FanDuel Predicts & Get a $25 Trading Bonus
Make Predictions on Real World Events Right in Your Phone
Trade on Sports to Culture, Financials, Crypto and More
Deposit $20, Get a $50 Trading Bonus
Live Trade with the Biggest Payouts at the Largest Prediction Market in the World
Use Bonus Code: LINEUPS
America's #1 Sports Prediction Market
Same Sports Moments, Bigger Payouts
Choose from Straights, Player Props, Parlays & More
Use Exclusive Code: LINEUPS
Complete a Task in the Crypto.com App to Unlock up to 1 Bitcoin Worth of CRO Rewards
America’s All-In-One Trading Platform
Manage Your Crypto, Stocks, Predictions & Card Spend Seamlessly
John Deere Classic Betting Odds
Find the comparison table at the bottom of this post for John Deere Classic odds and the best available prices across sportsbooks in your state. Navigate to my longshots post for more golf DFS picks and considerations.
How I Built My John Deere Classic Betting Card
Scottie Scheffler is understandably absent this week, and his absence is felt on the betting board. Instead, it’s an unlikely duo of Ben Griffin and Chris Gotterup who stand as the co-favorites on the betting board.
While they are the understandable favorites and have combined for plenty of wins over the last two years, I’ve found myself content to take them on in volume with a longer betting card that leans more towards longshots who are in great ball striking form and have a proven track record in easy scoring conditions. From a unit allocation standpoint, it’s back to business as usual for my weekly stake at the 2026 John Deere Classic.
- Outrights — 3.5U in to pay 25U each
- FRL — 0.5U in to pay out 10U+ each
- Full tournament matchups — 1U in to pay out 2U
- Props — 1.5U in to pay out 3U+ each
John Deere Classic Odds: Outright Bets (3.5 units)
Jackson Koivun
My Bet: +2700
The golf world will be watching as Jackson Koivun makes his highly anticipated first official PGA Tour start as a member this Thursday at the John Deere Classic. Koivun joins the PGA Tour after one of the most decorated collegiate careers of all time, and has immediately earned the praise of his contemporaries on the PGA Tour. For all intents and purposes, he is the real deal and is the next superstar in the making.
This isn’t your typical debut for Koivun, though. In limited PGA Tour reps since 2025, he’s enjoyed nothing but success. Koivun finished T11 at the John Deere Classic last year at the age of 20, and followed that up with finishes of T6, T5, and T4 in his next four starts to finish his season. We most recently saw him finish T23 at the US Open, continuing to prove he belongs on this stage. It remains to be seen how high Koivun’s ceiling truly is, but there’s no question he is already one of the most talented all-around players in this field.
Tom Kim
My Bet: +3500
It has been a resurgent second half to the 2o26 season for Tom Kim, who once again looks like the prodigal young talent who collected three PGA Tour wins before the age of 22. Kim was last seen finishing 3rd at the US Open, his third top-15 finish over his last five starts. At his best, Tom Kim is an accurate marksman who lives in the fairways and points and shoots at pins from inside 150 yards. That’s an ideal profile to attack TPC Deere Run, which has continued to crown accurate plodders of a similar archetype like Brian Harman, JT Poston, and Brian Campbell. Each of Kim’s first three PGA Tour wins has come on sub-7,300-yard courses, and with him ranking 2nd in SG: APP over the last 36 rounds, he faces a great opportunity this week to add to that total.
Doug Ghim
My Bet: +5100
Not many PGA Tour pros call the Quad Cities home, but Illinois native Doug Ghim is one of them. Ghim has enjoyed solid success in front of the supportive local crowds over his career, with top-35 finishes here in four of his last five John Deere Classic appearances. This may be the best preceding form we’ve ever seen from Ghim now, as he’ll carry a streak of six consecutive top-30 finishes into this week. Ghim has routinely played his best on short positional venues like TPC Sawgrass, TPC Summerlin, and PGA West, each catering well to his strengths as an accurate driver with consistent wedge play. Ranking 7th overall in my model, this tournament sets up well for a breakthrough performance from Ghim.
Blades Brown
My Bet: +6000
Having just turned 19 years old last month, Brown is younger than all of the top talents who have successfully come through the Quad Cities before him, but he has given us more evidence that he’s ready for the big stage than any of those other young guns. Brown has already made seven starts on the PGA Tour this season, missing the cut only once with four top-20 finishes. The through line for Brown has been a simple one: the easier the course, the better he plays.
Brown went toe-to-toe with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler at The American Express, where he narrowly missed a putt for 59 on his final hole. His best finish of the season came at the Puerto Rico Open, where he finished 3rd. Between the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour, he’s finished no worse than T26 over his last seven starts, with three top-3 finishes over the last three months. Simply put, TPC Deere Run does not play or feel demonstrably different from a Korn Ferry Tour venue, so it would only be natural to see Brown add to his tremendous 2026 resumé at the John Deere Classic.
Denny McCarthy
My Bet:+6300
At the Travelers Championship, Brian Harman was the flavor of the week on the merit of his great course history. Denny McCarthy fits that mold this week, as his previous four John Deere Classic finishes of T11, T7, T6, and T6 are hard to ignore. The current form is encouraging too, as McCarthy enters hot off a T14 finish at TPC River Highlands, one of the top overall comp courses to TPC River Highlands.
That continued a stretch of seven consecutive made cuts, in which he’s shown his usual game of average ball striking and elite putting. That combination should continue to translate well at the John Deere Classic, whose easy scoring conditions often reward the player who is capable of getting the hottest on the greens.
Ben Kohles
My Bet:+9000
You won’t find many players who are hotter than Ben Kohles at the moment, as one of the most accurate players on Tour has finally started to piece the other elements of his game together too. Kohles broke through for a win at the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am, and has not looked back since, with finishes of T29, T23, and T19 over his next three starts.
TPC Deere Run has a long history of rewarding short-yet-accurate approach marksmen who can generate ample mid-iron approaches from the middle of the fairway. A venue that has crowned similar plodders like Brian Campbell, JT Poston, Ryan Moore, Brian Harman, and Zach Johnson should cater just as well to Kohles’ skill sets. He ranks 19th overall in my model, and as the No. 1 overall player in the field in terms of both SG: APP and Driving Accuracy over the last 36 rounds, he has a legitimate path to go low on this short, positional layout.
Austin Eckroat
My Bet:+15000
Placing one spot better than Kohles in my model this week, Austin Eckroat may prove to be the most overlooked talent in this field. A two-time PGA Tour winner in just his fourth full season at the highest level, we know by now to respect the ceiling of this talented ball striker. While 2026 has not been his best year, he’s started to turn a corner in the second half, with an active streak of seven consecutive made cuts and two top-10 finishes over that span.
Eckroat’s game is best suited for easier scoring conditions where around-the-green skill is less emphasized, and the scales are instead tipped in favor of precise wedge play. That is TPC Deere Run in a nutshell, so it’s not surprising to see Eckroat thrive in his 2025 John Deere Classic debut, finishing T11. Eckroat ranks top-15 in SG: APP, Prox: <150 yards, and Birdies or Better Gained, making him an ideal profile fit to go low in the Quad Cities.
Carson Young
My Bet:+17500
Brian Campbell proved last year that no longshot is too far-fetched to back at the John Deere Classic. If another volatile, short-hitting sleeper who can separate himself with his driving accuracy and wedge play emerges to win again in 2026, I believe it’s Young who stands the best chance to follow suit. Young has finished T5 in each of the last two years at the John Deere Classic, and he’s followed a very simple formula to do so: Hit fairways, hit greens, and make putts.
Golf is never that simple, but a course like TPC Deere Run, which offers generous fairways and short overall yardage, can make it easier for accuracy specialists like Young to find repeated success. Though splitting time between the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour this season, Young has made the most of his opportunities on the big stage. He’s made five out of seven cuts in PGA Tour events this year and has finished in the top 20 in each of his last three Korn Ferry Tour starts. Not bad for a player priced this far down the board with such strong course history at TPC Deere. Run.
John Deere Classic Bets: First-Round Leader (0.5 units)
Blades Brown
My Bet: +5500
Blades was inches away from joining the elusive 59 Club at PGA West earlier this season, so we know he’s fully capable of getting off to a hot start. He’s continued to string along birdies in bunches of late, entering this week amidst a stretch of five top-20 finishes over his last six starts.
Denny McCarthy
My Bet:+6000
TPC Deere Run is a comfort course for McCarthy, who’s finished no worse than T11 over his last four visits. He’ll enter this week with some positive momentum, coming off of a T14 at last week’s Travelers Championship, which happens to be one of the top overall comp courses to TPC Deere Run. We know he’s capable of leaning on his world-class putter to stack birdies, and the ball-striking form has looked promising lately.
Jackson Suber
My Bet: +6000
Last week, Eric Cole was the last man off my outright card, spilling over onto my FRL card a consolation to chase his upside in round one. That worked out well at the Travelers Championship, so we’ll attempt a repeat using the same strategy here with Suber. The Ole Miss alum has a pair of top-4 finishes over his last five starts and has proven he is fully capable of feasting on easy scoring conditions.
Ben Kohles
My Bet: +7500
I’m confident in Kohles’ ability to generate a high volume of birdie looks at TPC Deere Run, considering his hot current form and prowess as a hyper-accurate driver and approach player. Whether he can pace the field on Thursday seems to be simply a matter of holing enough putts, but I’ve seen enough promise from his flat stick over the last couple of months to feel optimistic.
Kevin Yu
My Bet: +8000
One of the most underrated ball strikers on the PGA Tour, Yu has a great track record feasting on driver-heavy, easy-scoring venues. He picked up his lone PGA Tour victory in similar conditions at the Sanderson Farms Championship and has looked great at the John Deere Classic over the course of his career with finishes of T6, T20, and T21 over his first three appearances.
John Deere Classic Picks: Props (2.5 units)
Full Tournament Matchup: Doug Ghim over Michael Brennan
My Bet: -118
There is no doubt Michael Brennan is heading towards a long career on the PGA Tour, as he has already established himself as one of the premier drivers in the game. The rest of his game, however, has been too inconsistent for me to trust on a venue that requires elite approach play and putting to separate.
While Ghim is not much more reliable on the greens than Brennan, his irons have been his greatest weapon in 2026. That’s the skill set of choice I’m siding with at TPC Deere Run, as this shorter, positional venue limits the advantage Brennan would typically gain with his driving distance.
Top-20 Finish: Denny McCarthy
My Bet: +285
McCarthy has done nothing but live inside the top-20 at the John Deere Classic, finishing T11, T7, T6, and T6 over his last four visits. His form remains perfectly intact this year, as he’ll come to the Quad Cities riding the momentum of a T14 finish at the Travelers Championship.
This is primarily a course history play, but in this relatively weak field, I expect McCarthy to separate as one of the top talents teeing it up at TPC Deere Run.
Top-20 Finish: Blades Brown
My Bet: +340
It’s not every week you find yourself feeling this level of conviction on a 19-year-old, but the John Deere Classic is the site of Jordan Spieth’s first victory, where he happened to be the same age as Brown at the time. That’s a great omen as he sets out to make his John Deere Classic debut in an event so many talented young players have found immediate success.
He’s already finished inside the top-20 in four of his first seven PGA Tour starts this year, and TPC Deere Run looks to play into his strengths of stacking birdies in easy scoring conditions.
One & Done
My Pick: Blades Brown
We find ourselves behind the eight ball this One And Done season with all of the Signature Events now behind us. Playing from behind in this home stretch now, it’s going to take a stretch of multiple contrarian winners to get back into position. Be that as it may, Blades Brown is my official pick to win the 2026 John Deere Classic, so I’m doubling down on him in One And Done as well.
While still a young and raw talent, he’s given us every reason to believe he can hang with the players in this field, finishing top-20 in four of his seven starts this season. I believe he will only continue to get better as he gains more tournament experience. It would not surprise me to see Brown follow a similar career trajectory to that of Akshay Bhatia, who did not have to wait long before picking up his first PGA Tour win.
If not Brown, I would also consider playing Jackson Koivun, Tom Kim, or Ben Griffin in OAD.
John Deere Classic Odds & Best Bets: The Full Card
That’ll do it for this week’s PGA Tour golf bets. Best of luck this week with your own John Deere Classic bets, and see you on Sunday for the Genesis Scottish Open preview!
Photo Credit: AP/George Walker IV
