2010 John Deere Classic Preview
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Fantasy Golf Picks
While Erik Planer works on the new Rotoff Fantasy Sports site, I’ll be the guest expert for the next five PGA Tour events. In addition to leading the Beat the Expert Leaderboard, I’ve been covering various fantasy sports for the last two years. I’m currently in the 94th percentile in the Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Golf game and finished in the 92nd percentile last year. As I hold down the fort, the BTE game will continue to roll on. Here’s the point scale:
Winner = 10 points
2nd Place = 5 points
3rd Place = 3 points
Top 10 = 1 point
Think you can pick better? Leave a comment with your 3 picks for the 2010 John Deere Classic. If you Beat The Expert in any week you will win a FREE 2010 Rotoff Golf Draft Kit (a $9.99 value) with one possible Grand Prize winner at the end of the FedEx Cup season. See here for official BTE rules.
Last week’s AT&T National, Cal picked the red-hot Justin Rose and scored 10 points for the win. The rest of field came up empty and returns to clubhouse to regroup. Let’s see how things stand right now:
| Rank | Name | Weeks | Weekly Win | Win (x10) | 2nd (x5) | 3rd (x3) | T10 (x1) | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E. McClung | 31 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 101 |
| 2 | Brad | 29 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 94 |
| 3 | C. Giles | 24 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 80 |
| 4 | C. Cameron | 26 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 70 |
| 5 | E. Planer | 34 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 60 |
| 6 | E. Hamilton | 22 | 2 | 4 | - | 2 | 13 | 59 |
| 7 | J. Book | 30 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 53 |
| 8 | J. Littlefield | 13 | 1 | 1 | - | 8 | 23 | |
| 9 | Shane | 10 | 1 | 1 | - | 5 | 20 | |
| 10 | Dr Peerless | 6 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 14 | |
| 11 | Bryan | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 10 | |
| 11 | T. Whitehead | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 10 | |
| 13 | R. Slaughter | 3 | - | - | - | 3 | 3 | |
| 14 | C. Garner | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | Dutch | 1 | - | - | - | - | 0 |
Last Week:
Justin Rose shot an even 70 on Sunday, which turned out to be just enough to hold off a surging Ryan Moore, who’s 5-under 65 left him as the runner-up. If not for blowing the Travelers Championship, Rose would own three straight wins. Still, he’s clearly the hottest golfer in the game right now, even considering the missed opportunity.
Jeff Overton finished two strokes behind Rose to finish third. Overton now has four Top Three finishes in his last eight starts. His performance earned him an invitation to the British Open, which is likely why he withdrew from the John Deere Classic early Tuesday.
Vijay Singh got into the Top 10 to give him three finishes of 13th or better in his last four outings.
I thought I’d squeeze at least a few points out of Sean O’Hair, a member of the Aronimink Golf Club where the AT&T National was hosted. He finished T11th and has finished 12th or 11th in four of his last five starts.
Another assumed points-paying-pick of mine was the hometown favorite, Jim Furyk. He was looking OK until he choked up a 4-over 74 on Sunday and finished T33.
With three Top Fives in four starts and coming off a runner-up performance at the Travelers Championship, Scott Verplank looked like a safe pick. He finished T62 at 8-over and failed to shoot a single round for par or better.
This week:
In last year’s John Deere Classic, Steve Stricker tied a course record with a 10-under 61 during the second round on his way to a three-stroke victory. If not for a clavicle injury that sidelined Stricker eariler this year, he would be my top pick this week. However, Stricker’s best finish in his three starts since returning is T17th at The Memorial Tournament, which he followed up with a 15-over T58 performance in the U.S. Open.
1. Zach Johnson
As a Midwest guy from nearby Iowa, Johnson always has the crowd behind him in his event. It had never really paid off for him until last year when Johnson tied a tournament-high with 25 birdies and finished as the runner-up. His last four events this year have been uneven, but do contain a win at the Crowne Plaza Invitational and a T12 in the St. Jude Classic. Johnson came undone during the U.S. Open, but comes to a much easier course that is perfectly suited for him to rebound.
2. K.J. Choi
Although Choi has never played in this event, he is a very fine choice. With nine sub-70 opening rounds in 14 events, Choi often gets off to a quick start. A 69.85 scoring average puts Choi fourth in that statistic. Choi is very capable of putting together a run strong enough to put him on the private flight to the British Open. Over the last few years, the event organizers have been giving the non-stop charter to the event winner in order to lure in a stronger field. The travel from the Midwest to the U.K. spans six time zones and keeps many golfers away from the event.
3. Chad Campbell
Over the last two years, only one golfer has shot all eight combined rounds at the John Deere Classic in the 60s. That man is Campbell. After finishing T29 in the Quail Hollow Championship, Campbell missed three cuts in four tries. However, he’s starting to come around. In the St. Jude Classic, Campbell was only 1-over through three rounds before an ugly 12-over 82 meltdown on Sunday. He recovered with a strong showing in the Travelers Championship, finishing a season-high fifth. Campbell appears to be back in control at just the right time.
