Golf Top Plays: John Deere Classic

Editor’s Note: We may not write up every player we consider to be a top play. Be sure to consult the chart at the bottom of the page. This article will update to reflect any injury or weather news.

DFS OPTIMIZER: If you are looking for a DFS optimizer, we have two options for ETR subscribers. Both of these products will sync automatically with ETR content (projections, ownership, etc.) if you already have an ETR golf subscription. Use the following links for full details about each product: THESOLVER (Optimizer + Bankroll Tracker) & Fantasy Labs (Optimizer).

Below, you will find the players we consider the best for the slate. These do NOT account for ownership, but they do account for salary. In other words, Jon Rahm could be our No. 1 play in the high range… but he could also be a bad tournament play because he projects for 60% ownership in an extreme example.

This article is for cash games (contests in which roughly 50% of the field gets paid out, such as a head-to-head or double-up). For tournaments, our focus should be more on the projected ownership and projected ceiling columns in our projections table.

With that said, these are our Top Plays considering the following factors: median projection, lower volatility, upside, and value. They are listed in price descending order. At the bottom, you’ll find suggested rankings by site once salary is accounted for.

HIGH-PRICED

Ben Griffin ($10,500 DK, $12,000 FD) – Griffin checks in as our top overall golfer in this watered-down field, boasting the slate’s highest projection (89.8), best odds to make the cut (82.4%), and lowest volatility score (1.7). After a rather mediocre to downright bad stretch of golf from February to April, Griffin has found more recent success, logging a solo third-place finish at the Cadillac Championship, a T14 at the PGA Championship, a T3 at the Charles Schwab, a T17 at the U.S. Open, and a T10 last week at the Travelers Championship. During that run, he’s gained at least 1.0 True Strokes: Putting, according to Data Golf, on four separate occasions, and he’s a strong enough ball striker to put himself in position to get hot on the greens and rack up the necessary birdies at TPC Deere Run.