2025 John Deere Classic Picks & Predictions: Best PGA Bets

156 golfers will compete at the 2025 John Deere Classic during the next PGA Tour event. Hosted at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities, running alongside the Rock River near the Iowa and Illinois border in Silvis, Illinois, this is a par 71 that should yield tons of birdies and low scores.

Davis Thompson returns to defend his title at +3500 odds in outright winner betting markets. Thompson set a 72-hole record, shooting 28-under-par to win by four strokes last year. Ben Griffin opened as the betting favorite at +1600 odds, followed by Jason Day at +2500 and Denny McCarthy at +2800.

My 2025 Rocket Classic Best PGA Bets settled 1-2 last week. The winner was Akshay Bhatia, carding a T30 finish at +125 odds after shooting a 65 on Sunday to wind up T26 on the final leaderboard. Cameron Young, a pre-event favorite, only managed a T46 finish, never going lower than 68. Victor Perez was red-hot in Round 1 with a 66 but faded during the final three rounds, failing to cash his Top 30 Finish prop at +170 odds.

I’ve got three PGA best bets to tail before Round 1 tees off during the 2025 John Deere Classic. Follow me on X at Matt_MacKay_ for more free bets and PGA Tour analysis.

2025 John Deere Classic: Best Bets

These plays are 1 unit, or 1% of your betting bankroll. Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

Top 10 Finish

It’s been a quiet season for Denny McCarthy on the PGA Tour. He’s only recorded two top 10 finishes but the John Deere Classic has been where McCarthy plays his best golf.

Previous finishes include T6-T6-T7 at TPC Deere Run. McCarthy took the Rocket Classic off after posting a T12 finish during the Travelers Championship, which was his best finish since a T8 during the PGA Championship in May.

McCarthy is a fantastic putter, ranked ninth SG: Putting. He’s 58th SG: Approach and 42nd scrambling, while also sitting 58th in approach shots from 200+ yards.

McCarthy’s short game is good enough to contend this week and post a fourth consecutive top 10 finish at +260 odds.

Pick: Denny McCarthy (+260)

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Top 30 Finish

Michael Thorbjornsen grabbed a brief outright lead at the Rocket Classic on Sunday but couldn’t hold it down the stretch. The 23-year-old is rounding into form and returns to TPC Deere Run after logging a runner-up finish in 2024.

Thorbjornsen ranks 16th SG: Off-the-Tee, including second total driving and fifth in driving distance. He’s also sixth at finding greens in regulation and eighth at approach shots from 200+ yards. It’s led to Thorbjornsen averaging 69.8 per round (21st scoring average) and sixth in birdie average at 4.4 per round.

We could play this up to a Top 10 finish prop at +360 odds. However, I’m settling for a Top 30 Finish at +105 odds instead. The putter hasn’t been good, which is why we’re going with a conservative approach and backing Thorbjornsen to post his fourth top 30 finish in 2025.

Pick: Michael Thorbjornsen (+105)

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Top 40 Finish

One golfer flying under the radar in the past month has been Andrew Putnam. Despite failing to record a top 40 finish in five trips to TPC Deere Run, the 36-year-old American has logged consecutive top 10 finishes at the RBC Canadian Open and Rocket Classic.

Putnam is accurate tee-to-green and is very good when it comes to his short game. Ranks 13th SG: Putting, sixth SG: Around the Green and second scrambling.

16th sand save percentage and 36th SG: Approach are also encouraging metrics as Putnam attempts to break the top 40 for the first time at the John Deere Classic. He’s got four top 40 finishes in the last six events, so let’s back Putnam to record a top 40 finish at -110 odds.

Pick: Andrew Putnam (-110)

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