With all major events for the 2026 PGA Tour season now complete and players only six weeks away from their first playoff event, all eyes are now on the bubble. The 2026 John Deere Classic will give players a chance to make their mark on the season with all the characters hoping to set off fireworks in Silvis, Illinois this Fourth of July weekend.
Returning to the TPC Deere Run, the field is headlined by none other than Ben Griffin. Griffin, a three-time champion in 2025, has yet to recapture that magic this season — a common theme among current players, but his play has started to turn around with quality games in recent months.
Chris Gotterup is the winner of the Sony Open and WM Phoenix Open earlier this year and is the most won man in the field. The powerful right-hander hasn’t faced anyone since then, but there’s never been a better time than now as he looks to tie Matt Fitzpatrick for the most wins on the PGA Tour this season.
Which brings us to Jordan Spieth, who just came back from a performance that nearly finished in last place at the Travelers Championship. Spieth, who tried out a variety of putters for his final signature event, stuck with his trusty putter and got stuck in the mud all week.
Spieth, who announced his arrival on the PGA Tour with an epic win at the John Deere Classic in 2013 (and two years later in 2015), is hoping the magic of the TPC Deere Run will be upon him in his second start since his 2015 win.
Viktor Hovland defeats Scottie Scheffler in the 2026 Travelers Championship Playoffs, earning his first win in 15 months
patrick mcdonald
Like Spieth in 2013, Jackson Koibun hopes to make a splash when the decorated Auburn product makes his professional debut. Koibun arrived with an amateur resume as big as a CVS receipt and had just shared low amateur honors at the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
Keith Mitchell, Keegan Bradley, JT Poston, Tom Kim, Rickie Fowler and Max Homa are among the players to watch this week as the postseason rapidly approaches and the bubble continues to weigh heavily on everyone’s minds.
2026 John Deere Classic Schedule
date: July 2nd to 5th
position: TPC Deer Run — Forest, Illinois
Par: 71 | Yardage: 7,327 | Architect: DA Wavering & Chris Gray
wallet: $8.8 million
2026 John Deere Classic Field, Odds
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
- Ben Griffin (13-1): It’s been a similar season for Griffin since his 2025 breakout, but the wheels are starting to turn. Since the Zurich Classic, the 30-year-old has realized swing changes and is more consistent across the bag as his iron play returns to historic levels. He has a podium finish at Charles Schwab, a top 20 at the U.S. Open, and a modest top 10 at the Travelers Championship.
- Chris Gotterup (14-1): After winning two of the first three tournaments of 2026, it was inevitable that he would cool down. Gotterup continued to play sensational golf in the spring, but once the calendar turned to summer, his game took another step back. Since finishing T10 at the PGA Championship, he has failed to finish inside the top 25 in the past three tournaments, largely due to inefficiency in his short game. Don’t be surprised if that mini-run ends this week, as his surgical bones are still sound and he’s a capable winner.
- Keith Mitchell (18-1): His putter is starting to become more consistent, and when combined with his driving and iron play, he could be dangerous. A week after back-to-back rounds of 70-70-70-70 at Sinek Hills, Mitchell slid into the top 25 at the Travelers Championship. He’s played the John Deere Classic a few times with mixed results, mostly because he’s never putt well on these greens. If that changes, so will his destiny.
- Keegan Bradley (27-1)
- Jackson Koibun (27-1): Let’s see what the child has. The 21-year-old made his professional debut ranking a whopping 41st in the Data Golf Rankings, ahead of players such as Spieth, Fowler, Poston, Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka. In a glimpse of his college dominance, Koibun in 2024 became the first player to win the Haskins, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Phil Mickelson awards. Last year, he competed on the PGA Tour as an amateur and finished T11, T6, T5, and T4. He is expected to compete for the title soon.
- JT Poston (27-1)
- Eric Cole (28-1)
- Jordan Spieth (28-1): From the newcomer on the block to the man once dubbed the “Golden Kid,” Spieth needs to find his fountain of youth after three straight disappointing games. Inconsistency continues to wreak havoc on his game as he is unable to string four rounds together while firing on all cylinders in all four areas of his game. For the second year in a row, he ranked 52nd in the season-long race and was in the top-50 bubble at the end of the year.
- Pierceson Coody (29-1)
- Jacob Bridgman (30-1)
2026 John Deere Classic Pick
Who will win the 2026 John Deere Classic? Which long shot will shock the golf world? Visit SportsLine now to see all the predicted leaderboards from our model that has decided on 17 golf majors heading into the weekend, including the last five Masters.
