John Deere Classic DFS Picks 2026: PGA DraftKings Strategy

In Summary

• Spend-Up Stud: Chris Gotterup, riding five straight starts gaining with the irons, on a course that won't punish his short game.
• Value Core: Denny McCarthy ($8,200) headlines a red-hot mid-range of pure birdie-makers on golf's most notorious scoring week.
• Course-History Angle: Michael Kim won here going away in 2018, and Beau Hossler has gained putting in all five of his John Deere starts.
• Every lineup is built in the Stokastic Single Lineup Sim and the PGA DataHub, using leverage, projected ownership, and the Sims behind every play. For the full projected board, see our weekly PGA DFS picks hub.

The John Deere Classic isn't a major and it isn't a signature event, and for DFS that's a good thing. It's a full 144-golfer field at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, which means we get to dig into the depths of the board and roster names who normally wouldn't sniff a lineup. Stokastic's Ben Rasa (jazzraz) walked through his full DraftKings 🎁 build on the PGA Strategy Show, and below is the read: the studs, the mid-range core, and the low-owned flyers that win large-field GPPs.

The Course: Score, Score, Score

TPC Deere Run is a par 71 birdie-fest, one of the more notorious ones on tour. Winners have flirted with 20-under and beyond, so this is a scoring week, plain and simple. The fairways are forgiving, there are three very reachable par 5s, and you don't need a rare skill set to contend. You need to be aggressive and you need to make birdies.

That shapes the whole DFS approach. Instead of the survival-mode ball-striking a U.S. Open demands, the stats that matter here are birdie-or-better percentage, strokes gained tee-to-green, and a hot putter. Get aggressive on the par 5s, target golfers who thrive in easy conditions, and don't overthink the profile. (New to the format? Start with our weekly PGA DFS picks and projections.)

The John Deere DraftKings Board At A Glance

Salaries via the DraftKings John Deere Classic slate. Projections, ownership, and leverage live in the PGA DataHub.

Top Of The Board: Where To Spend Up

The names at the top (Chris Gotterup, Ben Griffin, Keith Mitchell, Keegan Bradley, and Jacob Bridgeman) are mostly a notch above their usual price range simply because of the weak field. That's the nature of a week like this: you'll have money to spend.

Chris Gotterup is the class of the field. His around-the-green game has wobbled recently, but that barely matters here, because you're not scrambling for your life at Deere Run the way you would be at a U.S. Open. What matters is that he's gained strokes with his irons in five straight starts. If you're going to pay all the way up, that's where the money goes.

The rest of that top tier is a shrug. Jacob Bridgeman, J.T. Poston, and Eric Cole are indifferent at their tags, and Keith Mitchell is a flat-out fade at this price. On a board this deep, there are better ways to spend.

The $9K Range: Talent And Vintage

The next name in isn't a proven star. It's Jackson Koivun ($9,400). The Auburn product is a problem right away: he was 23rd at the U.S. Open and 11th here last year (riding a scorching putter). He isn't going to sneak up on anyone, but he also won't be comically chalky, because plenty of casual players still don't know the name. At $9,400, that's a price worth buying on talent.

A couple hundred dollars cheaper sits a two-time John Deere champion: Jordan Spieth ($9,200). The putter has let him down at stretches this year, but the game is in decent shape, he's been playing signature events and majors, and this has always been a course that fits his eye. You need some vintage Spieth to show up, but there's enough there to believe at $9,200.

The Mid-Range Core

This is where the slate is won.

Pierceson Coody ($8,800) is a "sign me up" play. He's been peppering the top 25 (four of his last six) without quite breaking through, riding a hot putter (six straight positive weeks on the greens) and eight straight positive starts off the tee. He gets it out there with distance, he can be aggressive on the par 5s, and the ownership shouldn't be there yet.

Tom Kim ($8,700) is building: 15th in Canada, third at the U.S. Open, five straight positive with the irons, and a putter that's finally come around. Plan for around 20% exposure — a solid play if not the outright priority.

If you want a third from this tier, it's Doug Ghim, who was 15th in Canada, is solid off the tee, and pairs nicely with Coody. The rank order through the group: Coody, then Tom Kim, then Ghim.

The Value Plays: Pure Birdie-Makers

Denny McCarthy ($8,200) is one of the best plays on the board. He rode the hot putter to a 14th last week (one of his best starts of the season), and now he heads to a venue where he's absolutely raked: 11th last year, 7th in 2024, top 10 in 2023. Some of the field will fade him expecting regression — this is a hold at $8,200.

Michael Kim brings consistency plus a wild course-history angle. He's making cuts at the U.S. Open, the PGA, and Travelers, he's a strong putter and short-game player, and he won this event going away in 2018. (He's missed five straight cuts here since, which is just how crazy golf can be, but the profile is worth buying.) If you're stacking correlated skill sets in DFS, Michael Kim is a short-game profile that pairs with the putters.

Right below at $7,700, Taylor Pendrith is the opposite build, a distance-off-the-tee bomber who fits a "send it" pairing even in a down season.

Daniel Berger ($7,500) is coming off a nice showing where the putter was the only thing missing (25th at Travelers with nothing on the greens). If that flips, he's a value. At minimum, keep a mental note.

Jackson Suber ($7,400) is a name worth real exposure. The results look hit-or-miss until you take them apart: 4th at the Byron Nelson and 4th in Canada, with the lone ugly result (a U.S. Open missed cut) coming at a course that asks nothing like this one. His game is in a good spot.

The Flyers: Where Ownership Falls Off A Cliff

Ownership craters in the low-$7Ks, where we're talking golfers in the 5% range, and that's exactly where large-field leverage lives.

Beau Hossler ($7,300) is the kind of flyer this week rewards. There's no real recent form to speak of, but he's a spike putter who has gained strokes putting in all five of his John Deere starts (11th here last year) and can really score in a weak field. At a couple percent owned, that's a swing worth taking.

Beyond him, it's dealer's choice. Carson Young ($7,200) has back-to-back top fives here and is playing good golf, though his sample of PGA-level starts is thin. Chan Kim ($6,900) is a proven scorer getting his shots on the Korn Ferry Tour and making the most of them. Mackenzie Hughes, Patrick Rodgers, and Kevin Yu are names that can pop off the tee if you're starved in a range. Down here, you only need about 8% ownership to get meaningful leverage on 1-2% dart throws, so target birdie-makers who thrive in easy conditions and let the leverage scores guide you.

How To Build It: The Single Lineup Sim

Every lineup this week is built in the Stokastic Single Lineup Sim. The goal is three lineups, all projecting positive. The process: drop in a few value plays, let the tool spend the rest of the salary, and see what shares of guys you might not normally get. On a birdie-fest like this, the tool surfaces the low-owned leverage plays the field is under-rostering, which is exactly where a 144-man GPP is won.

Example: A Winning John Deere Lineup Core

The favorite build of the day started from the three players to love up top: Jackson Koivun ($9,400), Pierceson Coody ($8,800), and Denny McCarthy ($8,200). From there the Sim filled the back end with talented, low-owned youngsters like Michael Brennan and Blades Brown, and the full 6-golfer lineup came back projecting positive. Lock the two or three you're set on, spin the rest, and you've got serious lineups in seconds.

That's the edge here. On a 144-man field where the value is buried down the board, the leverage scores, projected ownership, and Sims projections do the heavy lifting. See every plan and price on our weekly PGA DFS board.

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Watch The Video

Ben Rasa walks through the entire John Deere Classic board and builds his three lineups live: Watch on YouTube.

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