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Preview & Picks: John Deere Classic

Preview & Picks: John Deere Classic

Plus: Golf Hats, Crazy Eagle To Get Into The Open, and More.

Josey Orr
July 02, 2025

Good Morning. The numbers are in. LIV averaged a meager 163,000 viewers FOX and FS2 for Patrick Reeds playoff win.

Meanwhile, the TOUR averaged 2.79 million viewers on CBS. Golf on CBS is having it’s most-viewed season since 2018.

The TOUR would gain almost nothing by merging with LIV.

You Will Never Hit Your Driver The Same Again | 3 5's Drill

In this video, Clay will cover essential techniques to improve your golf driving skills. Learn how to position your body behind the golf ball, align your stance, and practice effective drills to hit consistent power draws. He’ll also discuss common mistakes and how to avoid them using proven methods, including the correct way to release the club with the anti-roll method. Follow these steps and turn your golf driver into a powerful, consistent weapon on the course.

Preview & Picks: The John Deere Classic

Another week, another mid-summer birdie-fest.

This time, the TOUR is headed to Silvis, Illinois for the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run.

Similar to last week, most of the big names will not be in the field, as they are taking time off ahead of next week's Scottish Open and The Open the following week.

This did not affect viewership last week, as the Rocket Classic saw a record number of viewers.

The highest-ranked player in the field is Ben Griffin at No. 17.

He’s followed by Sungjae Im (25), Jason Day (28), J.T. Poston (43), Lucas Glover (46), and last week’s playoff winner Aldrich Potgieter (49).

Other notables include Max Homa, Rickie Fowler, Nick Dunlap, Joel Dahmen, Tom Kim, and Jake Knapp.

For the 2nd week in a row, this is a full field event (156 players) with a cut!

You’ll never be able to convince us that the signature event model is better than full fields with a cut.

Signature events take away a lot of the magic that makes golf special.

The Details

Previous Winners

How To Watch

ESPN+ Coverage begins tomorrow at 7:45 a.m. ET, continues through Final Round on Sunday, July 6

Shanks Picks

We nabbed another Top 20 with Jake Knapp last week, but still searching for our 7th outright of the season.

Winner: Denny McCarthy +2500: Denny’s most recent finish was a T12 at The Travelers, but I’m really just picking him because my old man bets him every week and he’s a great course fit.

Winner: Chris Kirk +3500: Kirk was the first man out of the playoff last week, which means he’ll be aiming to get that bitter taste out of his mouth.

Winner: Jake Knapp +3500: Jake just missed the playoff last week, but this is another course that sets up well for bombers and you’ve gotta have at least one bomber on your card.

Top Twenty: Aldrich Potgieter +175: The kid won his first PGA TOUR event last week as a longshot. We don’t expect him to win again, but if the driver is still hot, a Top 20 is more than do-able.

Top Twenty: Rickie Fowler +200: We’re betting on a bounce back week for BDR on an easy course after he missed the cut at the Rocket Classic.

Top Twenty: Zach Johnson +430: ZJ has won the John Deere Classic once, finished in 2nd three times, and finished in 3rd twice. With that being said, his recent form hasn’t been too great, but a Top 20 at this number is achievable.