Dark Horses for John Deere Classic: Three who could contend

Before I jump into this week’s tournament, I wanted to do a quick recap for the Rocket Mortgage Classic. My three dark horses were Seamus Power, Hank Lebioda, and Mark Hubbard. Hubbard missed the cut on the number. Played fine Thursday, but shot even par on Friday. Lebioda finished inside the top five with a tie for fourth at 17-under. Had a shot at the playoff, but three putted for par on 18, when he got there in two. A birdie there would have put him into that playoff. Seamus finished inside the top 10 with a tie for eighth at 15-under. Overall an incredible week for the dark horses, with two of the three inside the top 10.

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This week, the PGA Tour is heading to TPC Deere Run in Silvis, IL for the John Deere Classic. This tournament is one of the weakest fields being headlined by Daniel Berger, Sungjae Im, Brian Harman, and last week’s winner, Cam Davis. This is a week to go lighter with The Open being next week. Not knowing the prices from last year, some of the dark horses that we saw climb the board were Dylan Frittelli (won), Andrew Landry, and Chris Stroud who all came inside the top five. This is a scorable course with a bunch of mid to lower tier players, which like last week means anyone can win. I am planning on using the stars and scrubs approach by grabbing a couple guys up top like a Berger, Im, and/or Harman, and than grabbing some cheap guys in hopes that they can find birdies in bunches.

This week I will be providing three dark horses, meaning players that are longshots, but could play really well for their low salary. These dark horses are golfers that are $7,500 and below. Also I use DraftKings, so these prices will be for their website, but the players can be used on FanDuel as well.

Dark Horse Number 1

Chez Reavie ($7,500): Reavie is one of my dark horses because he is playing pretty well lately despite a few missed cuts. The missed cuts don’t make him one of the safest plays, but when he is playing well we can see a lot of upside. He has a 25th, 40th, and 14th and if he can at least get a top 30 at his price, he would be a great play. Also a guy who can keep it in the fairway and score pretty well when the sticks are working well.

Last Five Finishes on Tour: MC, 25th, 40th, 14th, MC

Last Three Finishes Here: DNP, MC, 39th

Key Stats:

SG Approach: 22nd

SG Putting: 193rd

Birdie or Better %: 201st

Approaches from 100-125: 27th

Dark Horse Number 2

Roger Sloan ($6,900): Sloan is another one of my dark horses because his stats actually look pretty good in two of the four key stats. Also he has been making cuts and at $6,900 that’s really what you are looking for at minimum. He is another guy who can go low with a bunch of rounds in the mid-60’s, this season.

Last Five Finishes on Tour: 21st, MC, 52nd, 34th, 58th

Last Three Finishes Here: 10th, DNP, DNP

Key Stats:

SG Approach: 60th

SG Putting: 131st

Birdie or Better %: 138th

Approaches from 100-125: 7th

Next. 2021 Rocket Mortgage: Winners and Losers from Detroit. dark

Dark Horse Number 3

Scott Stallings ($7,400): Stallings is my final dark horses not only because of some decent stats, but course history. He has an 18th (2019) and a 5th (2017) in two of his last three starts here. He is someone that I am seeing some people on, so he might be a little popular, but with another great finish here, it won’t matter.

Last Five Finishes on Tour: 25th, MC, MC, 67th, 3rd

Last Three Finishes Here: 18th, MC, 5th

Key Stats:

SG Approach: 31st

SG Putting: 111th

Birdie or Better %: 45th

Approaches from 100-125: 131st

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2021 John Deere Classic: Dark Horses

By Richard McCusker | Jul 7, 2021

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