Fantasy Golf: The John Deere Classic Preview

Last week I picked Max Greyserman to win which he should have done about five or six times on Sunday but what he unfortunately didn't know what that he was doomed sometime on Tuesday when I missed my third straight par putt of six feet or less on the third hole of my match to go three down. And just in case that didn't do it for my pick Max, on Saturday I played in a 4 v 4 basketball tournament and had three open looks at a three point shot to win the semifinal game and missed them all. Suffice it to say we lost.

So as I sat there on Sunday watching Max miss a birdie putt on 18 which put him in a three-way playoff, my overriding sense was one of impending doom. The only surprise was that the inevitable didn't occur on the third playoff hole. Instead fate dragged me all the way to the fifth hole before finally putting me out of my misery like a gimpy mule.

But hey you know me, it's a new week and "Hope" is practically my middle fucking name so let's get back at it.

GOLF ANALYSIS

If this tournament field was a hat, it would be on the rack in the Bushwood pro shop or on the head of Judge Smails. Our favorites are: (1) Ben Griffin who has been arguably the hottest golfer on the planet not named Scottie Scheffler but he's played eight of the last nine weeks as indicated by the recent downward trend of his results, and (2) Jason Day who is golf's equivalent of David Justice playing for the A's. (In related news, I just went to the movies and had a 32 oz coke so I'm all hopped-up on caffeine and spewing references). 

We've been waiting for the right spot to pick Bud Cauley all year and this is it. He's got three top fives in 2025 and a tie for sixth at The Players. It would be a great story for a guy who's career almost ended in 2018 when the car he was riding-in went airborne and hit a tree resulting in six broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a broken leg. (Note: This pick may have been influenced by the fact that it was the F1:Movie I just saw).

The rest of the picks are mostly veterans because this tournament has been the domain of guys like Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson and more recently, Lucase Glover. It actually makes sense. Just put a couple tractors out there on the lawn and the old coots get all inspired. 

Place	Player	Odds
Winner	Bud Cauley	+4000
Top 5	Denny McCarthy	+500
Top 10	Chris Kirk	+320
Top 10	Keith Mitchell	+400
Top 20	Chandler Phillips	+350

One and Done Pick: Bud Cauley

"[Troy Hawke voice] You have the radiant
glow of an expectant mother and the 
assured gait of a derby winning stallion."

Other Guy I'd Pick: Denny McCarthy

Sleeper Pick: Chandler Phillips 

DraftKings Top Ten Values

J.T. Poston	$10,100
Denny McCarthy	$9,900
Lucas Glover	$9,000
Chris Kirk	$8,900
Bud Cauley	$8,600
Keith Mitchell	$7,800
Mark Hubbard	$7,700
Stephan Jaeger	$7,600
Doug Ghim	$7,200
Chandler Phillips	$7,000

Email the Fantasy Golf Report here.

We can't get out of here without a quick review. F1: The Movie is everything that you'd expect and that's a good thing. You basically get the laid-back but don't fuck with me Brad Pitt from Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood as a racecar driver along with one of the best uses of a classic rock song in an opening sequence ever. That's really all I needed but the rest of it held-up pretty well in a Top Gun Maverick way if that's your kind of thing. (It's definitely my kind of thing). 

THE OSCAR FOR BEST SUPPORTING 

ACTOR GOES TO BRAD PITT'S CHEST

HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE CHART 

I actually picked defending champion Davis Thompson here last year but he's disappointed me at every turn in 2025 (along with most of my other picks) so he's sitting this one out along with Kevin Yu who appears to be getting overhyped into a T47. (Remember the FGR rule about picking guys I go out of my way to avoid).  

	DK Price	2024	2023	2022	2021	2019
Jason Day	$10,500	T23	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Ben Griffin	$10,400	T5	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
J.T. Poston	$10,100	T30	T6	1st	MC	MC
Denny McCarthy	$9,900	T7	T6	T6	MC	MC
Si Woo Kim	$9,700	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Davis Thompson	$9,600	1st	T31	DNP	DNP	DNP
Jake Knapp	$9,400	T52	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Chris Gotterup	$9,300	MC	DNP	T4	DNP	DNP
Sungjae Im	$9,200	T12	DNP	DNP	T47	T26
M. Thorbjornsen	$9,100	T2	T17	DNP	DNP	DNP
Lucas Glover	$9,000	T23	T6	MC	1st	T10
Chris Kirk	$8,900	DNP	T21	DNP	DNP	DNP
Kevin Yu	$8,800	T20	T6	DNP	DNP	DNP
Luke Clanton	$8,700	T2	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Bud Cauley	$8,600	T61	DNP	DNP	DNP	T18
Ryan Gerard	$8,500	DNP	T26	DNP	DNP	DNP
Pierceson Coody	$8,400	T30	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Sam Stevens	$8,300	T34	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Michael Kim	$8,200	MC	MC	DNP	MC	MC
Thor Olesen	$8,100	T61	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Rickie Fowler	$8,000	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Aldrich Potgieter	$7,900	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Alex Smalley	$7,900	MC	T2	T16	T47	DNP
Keith Mitchell	$7,800	T18	T42	DNP	MC	DNP
Nicco Echevarria	$7,800	T52	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP
Kurt Kitayama	$7,700	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Mark Hubbard	$7,700	T32	T6	T13	T41	DNP
Andrew Putnam	$7,600	MC	DNP	T41	MC	DNP
C. Bezuidenhout	$7,600	DNP	MC	T2	DNP	DNP
Stephan Jaeger	$7,600	DNP	T13	T30	DNP	W/D
Emiliano Grillo	$7,500	DNP	MC	T2	DNP	DNP
Jacob Bridgeman	$7,500	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Victor Perez	$7,500	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Jesper Svensson	$7,400	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Kevin Roy	$7,400	DNP	T31	DNP	DNP	DNP
Ryo Hisatune	$7,400	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Vince Whaley	$7,400	MC	MC	T43	MC	DNP
Lee Hodges	$7,300	77th	DNP	T43	DNP	DNP
Rico Hoey	$7,300	T26	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Sami Valimaki	$7,300	T12	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Thriston Lawrence	$7,300	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Tom Kim	$7,300	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Cameron Champ	$7,200	MC	T51	MC	T11	MC
Doug Ghim	$7,200	T34	T26	MC	T18	DNP
Eric Cole	$7,200	T7	T42	DNP	MC	DNP
Matt McCarty	$7,200	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Patrick Rodgers	$7,200	T34	MC	T30	T23	DNP
Seamus Power	$7,200	T17	T13	DNP	T8	T61
Beau Hossler	$7,100	T61	T26	DNP	MC	T26
Henrik Norlander	$7,100	T61	MC	MC	T28	DNP
Isaiah Salinda	$7,100	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Max McGreevy	$7,100	DNP	MC	MC	DNP	DNP
Ricky Castillio	$7,100	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Sam Ryder	$7,100	T34	MC	T60	T58	T18
Austin Eckroat	$7,000	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Chandler Phillips	$7,000	T44	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Joe Highsmith	$7,000	MC	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Justin Suber	$7,000	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Matt Kuchar	$7,000	MC	67th	DNP	DNP	DNP
Max Homa	$7,000	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
Zach Johnson	$6,900	T26	T35	T60	T34	T37
Adam Hadwin	$6,800	DNP	MC	MC	DNP	DNP
Adam Schenk	$6,800	MC	T4	W/D	T4	T6
Luke List	$6,800	MC	DNP	DNP	T4	DNP
Adam Svensson	$6,700	T34	T21	T24	DNP	T18
Joel Dahmen	$6,700	T46	MC	DNP	DNP	MC