2022 John Deere Classic Odds & Sleeper Picks: Zach Johnson Among 4 Longshot Targets

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The rift in the golf world may look particularly jarring this week, with the world’s best players scattered across the globe in one of the odder weeks for the PGA Tour.

The Open Championship looms large, with the Scottish Open preceding it next week. The early migration across the pond has already started for some, with the Irish Open attracting some big names this week.

LIV Golf continues its jab into the golf world with its second event. The Saudi-backed upstart makes its first trip stateside with a 54-hole event at Pumpkin Ridge outside of Portland, Oregon.

That mix of scheduling queries leaves many of the world’s best skipping the PGA Tour’s stop in Illinois, the John Deere Classic. The list of favorites this week reads like a crop of longshots at any other event.

That moves our search for longshots into a different universe, picking from an eclectic miss of young hopefuls, older veterans and players struggling of late.

Without the elite players sure to fill the top of the leaderboard, though, there’s no reason not to think there could be some real dark-horse contenders at TPC Deere Run this weekend.

These five names stand out as players with a chance to make an underdog run.

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Zach Johnson +10000 (BetMGM)

Among the players in this week’s field with at least 10 rounds played at TPC Deere Run, only Stricker has gained more strokes per round than Johnson. That’s no knock on Johnson — lest we forget Stricker has won the event three times.

Johnson has played the John Deere Classic 18 times. He missed the cut just once (in 2007) and finished in the top five seven times. He was in the top five here five years in a row from 2011-15, including his win in 2012.

While it would be quite the surprise for the future Ryder Cup captain to win a Tour event on most courses or against most fields, Johnson’s history of firing darts around TPC Deere Run can’t be ignored.

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Chris Gotterup +13000 (DraftKings)

Jumping from a by-gone name on the PGA Tour, to one of its possible future stars, Chris Gotterup is kickstarting his rookie year on the PGA Tour and has shown the ability to compete.

In four starts on Tour this year — three of which came after he turned pro after the NCAA Championships — Gotterup has made three cuts and nabbed a top-10 at the Puerto Rico Open.

Following a streak of strong play to end his college career, Gotterup made the cut at the US Open at the Country Club, despite finishing in the bottom five of Strokes Gained: Putting among those who made the cut. His swing is clearly in a good place — a great asset at TPC Deere Run, which promises to develop into a birdie-fest.

His foray into the top five of a PGA Tour event is coming. We might as well jump on while he’s still being offered at odds this high.

Hayden Buckley +15000 (DraftKings)

I was on Buckley last week after he showed some real flashes during his top-15 finish at the US Open. He continued that strong play early at the Travelers Championship, starting the tournament with three rounds in the 60s.

Eventually, his short game proved too faulty for him to contend, thanks to the second-worst Strokes Gained: Around the Green number among those to make the cut. He lost more than 1.5 strokes to the field with his chipping on both Friday and Saturday in Hartford.

With TPC Deere Run asking a much different question for those slated to play, Buckley will have a better chance to showcase his skills and rack up birdies.

Vaughn Taylor +15000 (BetRivers)

We're really digging deep into the barrel here. Taylor, now 46 years old, is ranked 433rd in the world and has earned just one top-three finish since 2016.

It requires some squinting to see Taylor in the mix on Sunday this week, yet the evidence is there if you squint hard enough. Of the 11 individual events he’s completed this season, Taylor has made nine cuts, including his last two starts.

Here at TPC Deere Run, he’s been excellent over the years. He’s made the cut 11 times in 14 tries, with five top-20 finishes. Those successful weeks aren’t ancient history, either. He was T6 here in 2019, and he’s gained strokes on the field in each of the last four John Deere Classics.

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