The PGA Tour has a tournament in Illinois this week but the top players in the world are already thinking about the Open Championship in a couple of weeks and they are bypassing this event. You know that the field is watered down when the top two betting choices are Russell Henley and Denny McCarthy. That being said, there are plenty of good golf betting matchups for this week’s John Deere Classic. I am coming off a tough week with the matchups at the Rocket Mortgage Classic but I did have Rickie Fowler winning the event. Let’s look at John Deere Classic matchup picks.

Defending Champion: J.T. Poston

Tournament Notes: TPC Deere Run normally plays pretty easy, so expect the scores to be really good this week. Poston won last year with a 21-under par score. It is all about hitting greens and making putts so that should bode well for a player like McCarthy.

John Deere Classic Matchups

Henley, Russell -129 vs. McCarthy, Denny

Young, Cameron -150 vs. Aberg, Ludvig

Hadwin, Adam -120 vs. Schenk, Adam

Young, Cameron -130 vs. Hadwin, Adam

Grillo, Emiliano -129 vs. Cole, Eric

Kirk, Chris -125 vs. Mitchell, Keith

Moore, Taylor -137 vs. Poston, J.T.

Jaeger, Stephan -120 vs. Smalley, Alex

Rodgers, Patrick -120 vs. Power, Seamus

Taylor, Nick -129 vs. Kuchar, Matt

Kyoung-Hoon Lee -120 vs. Ghim, Doug

Straka, Sepp -137 vs. Svensson, Adam

Hossler, Beau -125 vs. Stevens, Sam

Bramlett, Joseph -150 vs. List, Luke

Reavie, Chez -143 vs. Johnson, Zach

Hubbard, Mark -137 vs. Glover, Lucas

Hossler, Beau -115 vs. An, Byeong Hun

Aberg, Ludvig -120 vs. Ghim Doug

Grillo, Emiliano -120 vs. Kirk, Chris

Straka, Sepp -120 vs. Hubbard, Mark

Jaeger, Stephan -120 vs. Rodgers, Patrick

Stevens, Sam -120 vs. Kim, Michael

Taylor, Nick -120 vs. Bezuidenhout, Christiaan

Palmer, Ryan -115 vs, Reavie, Chez

Poston, J.T. -120 vs. Lee, K.H.

Smalley, Alex -115 vs. Power, Seamus

Schenk, Adam -120 vs. Cole, Eric

Svensson, Adam -120 vs. Montgomery, Taylor

Golf Picks

McCarthy, Denny -101 vs. Henley, Russell

This could be the week for McCarthy to get his first PGA Tour win. He comes in playing really well with a 2^nd place finish, a tie for 20^th and a tie for 7^th in his last three starts. He ranks 14^th on the PGA Tour in adjusted scoring. He played well in this event a year ago and tied for 6^th. Henley has also played well in this event and while he hits a lot of fairways, McCarthy is the better putter and I think that will be the difference. I’ll take McCarthy in this matchup.

Moore, Taylor -137 vs. Poston, J.T.

I will oftentimes go against the defending champion, as it is a lot to ask of a player, especially one who is not highly ranked, to deal with all of the pressures of being the defending champion. Moore comes in playing well, as he tied for 4^th in Detroit last week and it was his putting that led the way. I’ll lay the price and take Moore in this matchup.

Aberg, Ludvig -120 vs. Ghim Doug

There is no question that Aberg is getting a lot of headlines, as he has gone from Texas Tech to the PGA Tour without much of a hiccup. He has finished in the Top 40 in all three events and he looks better and better each week. I see no reason not to back him in this matchup against Ghim.

Smalley, Alex -115 vs. Power, Seamus

Smalley comes in playing well with four top 25 finishes in his last seven starts. He has played well at TPC Deere Run in the past including a tie for 16^th last year. He ranks in the Top 25 on the PGA Tour in GIR and proximity. I’ll take Smalley in this matchup.

Jaeger, Stephan -120 vs. Rodgers, Patrick

Jaeger played well last week with a tie for 9^th and he has five top 25 finishes in the last four months. He ranks 16^th on the PGA Tour in greens hit and we know that accuracy will be important this week. I’ll take Jaeger in this matchup.

Check out John Deere Classic odds at BetRivers.