John Deere Classic: Five sleepers who could break the trend

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WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV – JULY 07: Ben Martin lines up his putt on the 15th green during round two of The Greenbrier Classic held at the Old White TPC on July 7, 2017 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

This week could be a big one for Ben Martin. We’re approaching the point in the season where guys are beginning to take their FedEx Cup positioning a little more seriously.

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As it stands with seven weeks to go before The Northern Trust (formerly The Barclays), Martin is your bubble boy at No. 125.

That wouldn’t be the case had the 29-year-old Clemson product parlayed his Saturday final group position at the Greenbrier better than a T37.

I’m choosing to forgive his 75-70 on the weekend in favor of micro and macro upward trends for Martin.

We’ll start with the recent. The Greenbrier was Martin’s seventh made cut in a row after a rocky start to the season.

Highlighting that span was a T5 two weeks ago at the Quicken Loans National where Martin surged with a Sunday 65.

On the macro scale, Martin is returning to a place of success.

Scorecards of 66-68-62-68 (-20) netted him a solo second place finish by three shots. Granted, he missed the cut in 2014 in his only other start.

His game fits the bill of recent winners: not overly long off the tee, solid ball striking and putting (re: Spieth, Johnson, Stricker, etc.).

Martin’s stats are rather pedestrian this year, but he’s proven he can get hot with the flat stick. He rolled in over 300 feet of putts in his only Tour win at the 2014 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Like the other four sleepers, Martin will seek to hop on the JDC-sponsored charter to Royal Birkdale by qualifying for the final spot into the Open Championship via a high finish this week.

Next: John Deere Classic: Top DraftKings values

First round PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of the Deere begins at 7am ET with featured groups coverage continuing until 4pm ET. From 4-7pm PGA TOUR LIVE will cover featured holes.

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