Michael Kim leads John Deere Classic

Maverick McNealy (+450 for a Top 10) … He’s a little longer off the tee than TOUR average but he’s made the most noise on shorter tracks where the entirety of his tool box has sharpened his game. Backdrops for his success stories have included familiar places like Pebble Beach and Silverado, but also sites like Harbour Town, Colonial and El Camaleón. In the two editions at Mayakoba since he debuted in 2019, he’s finished a respective T26 and T12, the latter primarily on the strength of lights-out putting. Meanwhile, it was taut ball-striking that yielded a T25 in his last start at Narashino. The icing on the cake, literally, would be for him to capture his maiden title on Sunday. It’ll be his 26th birthday. Russell Henley (+160 for a Top 20) … The veteran of 224 PGA TOUR starts as a professional has some understanding of what Lucas Herbert experienced on Sunday. The 25-year-old Aussie was in his third start as a TOUR member; Henley broke through in his membership debut in 2013, also on a small island beside the sea – at Waialae. Now grizzled with 154 paydays on the board, the 32-year-old has been peppering leaderboards regularly since just before the pandemic shut down competition for three months in 2020. He has a pair of top 25s in as many starts to open this season, and while it’s ridiculously early, no one has a higher percentage of fairways hit (76.79) and greens in regulation (84.03) through six events. To be fair to him, his ball-striking was tiptop throughout last season, so he hasn’t relented. Brice Garnett (+350 for a Top 20) … As a Sleeper for this tournament in 2019, he delivered a T11, yet it’s just his fourth-best performance in seven appearances. His comfort in these climes has extended to Corales where he broke through on the PGA TOUR in 2018 and finished T8 in March of 2021. He’s also capitalized on the paspalum in Puerto Rico with a 5-for-5 record punctuated by a T5, also earlier this year. All present as evidence for how and where he picks his spots; he doesn’t profile as streaky. The comparatively short-hitting 38-year-old ranked sixth on TOUR in fairways hit last season, 43rd in greens in regulation and 31st in Strokes Gained: Putting. James Hahn (+550 for a Top 20) … It’s been over a year now since he strung together three top 10s that lopped off chunks of the target to fulfill his Major Medical Extension, which he did later en route to a return to the FedExCup Playoffs, but he hasn’t connected as much as a pair of top 40s since. The drought is poised to end at Mayakoba where he finished T28 in 2018 and his skill set can shine. Finished T15 in his last start at Narashino and concluded last season ranked T15 on TOUR in ball-striking. Turns 40 today, Nov. 2. Sam Ryder (+700 for a Top 20) … The fifth-season product out of Stetson University took last week off after rising for a T7 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. It was his fifth top 10 of 2021. His quietly balance attack has yielded four consecutive season-ending FedExCup rankings from 101st-112th and five podium finishes with at least one every season. With the momentum of his last start and rest since returning from Japan, and that he’s positioned to parlay the experience of four previous trips to Mayakoba into another payday, it’s all but a gimme that he’ll record his first top 50 on the course, but the prop for a top 20 is aggressive. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. For live odds, visit betmgm.

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In the final round of the John Deere Classic, Bryson DeChambeau rolls in a 14-foot birdie putt to punctuate a final-round 65 and a one-shot win over Patrick Rodgers at TPC Deere Run. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where DeChambeau, 23, fires a back-nine 30 to become the second straight first-time winner on the PGA TOUR, and the 10th overall this season. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Putting so often tells the story on TOUR, and it did again at the Deere, where DeChambeau was second in strokes gained: putting (1.873) for the week. Considering he was 195th in that stat (-.594) coming into the Deere, it was a huge improvement. And he didn’t even need to go side-saddle to do it. Also, DeChambeau’s birdie putt from 14 feet, 1 inch at the last, which he punctuated with an exuberant celebration, was his 15th made putt of more than 10 feet for the week. That was not only the best in the field, it was the best of his young career. 2. Patrick Rodgers, the 36- and 54-hole leader who bogeyed the relatively easy 14th and 17th holes to lose by a shot, looks like he’ll win sooner rather than later. It wasn’t like he gave away the Deere. He shot a 1-under 70, and very nearly holed a must-make chip shot from behind the 18th green. That chip shot, which must have taken DeChambeau’s breath away, is reason for optimism. So is the fact that Rodgers embraced being in the lead. With his solo second, he jumped all the way to 52nd in the FedExCup and is now well positioned for a deep playoff run.   3. Steve Stricker, who will captain the U.S. Presidents Cup team at Liberty National this fall, keeps proving he’s still relevant on TOUR. First the 50-year-old pride of Wisconsin got through sectional U.S. Open qualifying, then he finished T16 at Erin Hills, and now he’s gone 65-64 on the weekend to finish T5 at the Deere. Oh, and don’t look now, but Stricker heads to The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale this week after finishing fourth at Troon last year.  4. Although there are exceptions, players who do well at TPC Deere Run tend to keep doing well there. Of the six past champions in the Deere field, four finished in the top 10. Stricker, Zach Johnson and Jonathan Byrd all finished T5 at 15 under, and Brian Harman finished T10. Sean O’Hair finished MDF (missed the Saturday cut), and Ryan Moore missed the Friday cut. Then again, players who don’t do well at the Deere don’t lack hope for the future. In his only other start at TPC Deere Run as a sponsor’s exemption in 2015, DeChambeau missed the cut. 5. You can’t overstate the Tiger Effect on TOUR, a rush of great young players who watched golf on TV when Woods was in his prime and who are now hoisting trophies themselves. The latest 20-something winner, DeChambeau at the Deere, comes a week after 23-year-old Xander Schauffele at The Greenbrier Classic. If you’re doing the math at home, 22 of 36 wins on the PGA TOUR have come from 18 different players under 30. That’s a TOUR record, up from the previous single-season high of 16 players who won 22 times in 2013-14.  FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Only 11 players have won on TOUR the week prior to winning a major, most recently Rory McIlroy at the 2014 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. He went on to win the PGA Championship the next week. The last player to do so before McIlroy was Woods at the 2007 WGC-Bridgestone followed by the PGA Championship. 2. Before DeChambeau’s performance at the Deere (1.873 in sg: putting, second best in the field) he had never ranked in the top 10 in that stat in any tournament. He also made a quantum leap in average distance of putts made, going from T182 on TOUR (67’ 4’’) entering the week to 5th (99’1’’) at the Deere. 3. Two stats that go nicely together: DeChambeau was just T32 in driving accuracy (75%) but was second in proximity to the hole on approach shots from the rough (23’1’’). 4. Rodgers’ solo second was his best result since a T4 at the Farmers Insurance Open, and his best result ever. (He finished T2 at the 2015 Wells Fargo Championship.) With his third top-10 finish this season, he vaulted from 62nd to 39th on the points list to make the U.S. Presidents Cup team that will take on the Internationals at Liberty National, Sept. 28-Oct. 1. 5. Of those on the bubble to make the U.S. team, Wells Fargo Championship winner Brian Harman helped himself the most. A past champion at the Deere, Harman finished T10 at TPC Deere Run this time around to move up to ninth on the points list. Winner DeChambeau still has his work cut out for him, having gone from 87th to 43rd. Another win would help that. TOP 3 VIDEOS 1. Kelly Kraft’s hospitality-tent par. 2. Daniel Berger’s fantastic recovery. 3. Bryson ends with a bang!

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OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – The FedExCup Playoffs will be a major determining factor in the votes of most PGA TOUR players as they contemplate their Player of the Year choice. Adding another layer of excitement to an already stacked four weeks of golf, the performance of those on the shortlist for Player of the Year will strengthen their pedigree with an impressive run in the postseason. And of course, others not yet in the full consciousness of the voters could yet leap out and surprise. “I don’t think you can even have the conversation until after East Lake to be fair,â€� former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy said. “These Playoffs are very important for Player of the Year.â€� While Justin Thomas, with wins at the PGA Championship, the CIMB Classic, Sentry Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open in Hawaii leads the contenders, he’s not a clear-cut choice just yet. He does have the bonus of shooting a 59 in Hawaii and a 63 at the U.S. Open. Jordan Spieth won The Open Championship, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Travelers Championship. He’s snapping at the heels of his friend. “The Playoffs are very important, this year. It’s a close race right now. I think it’s between four guys, in my opinion,â€� Spieth, who was the 2015 FedExCup champion and Player of the Year, said. “It’s a tremendous honor, having been there, it’s the MVP. You’re the MVP of the league. When you put it that way, it’s something that you want really badly. “So it’s a fight and it’s something that is keeping me going out and grinding at the end of a really good season.â€� Spieth admitted he felt slightly behind in the race but felt winning the FedExCup “would probably take care of it.â€� Thomas likes being the current favorite but adds, “I’d much rather hear you say that four events later than probably now.â€� While these two are the main contenders – ruling out others might be dangerous. Hideki Matsuyama – who enters the FedExCup Playoffs as the top seed – has won the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions, the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational. While he is without a major it is important to note he has three runner-up finishes, one of which was the U.S. Open. He finished inside the top 14 of all four majors and missed just one of 18 cuts all year. “You say those guys, but if Dustin Johnson wins the next four weeks, there’s only one Player of the Year. It not even close,â€� Ogilvy adds. “To be fair, if anybody wins the next four events, they are in the conversation.â€� Johnson, the No. 4 in the FedExCup and world No. 1, is almost the forgotten man of the season. This is despite winning the Genesis Open, World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship and World Golf Championships – Dell Match Play in consecutive starts earlier in the year. “I’m just fine flying under the radar. That’s all right,â€� Johnson grinned as he begins his Playoffs push. The 2016 U.S. Open champion certainly hasn’t given up hope of being crowned the season-long champ and Player of the Year. “I’m looking for a really good finish to the year. Obviously at the end, I’d like to be the FedExCup champion. That’s a goal of mine right now. We’ve got four big tournaments coming up, and so I need to play well in all four.â€� Canvassing other players, who are the voters for the award, and you get a similar sentiment to Ogilvy. U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka doesn’t feel like he’s in the running now, but hopes to get some people thinking over the next month. “You win three times in the Playoffs and win the FedExCup — I would certainly say that changes some things,â€� Koepka said. “It is probably narrowed down to two or three guys and I don’t think I’m one of them but then again if you pop off a couple big wins in the Playoffs then the story changes.â€� Bryson DeChambeau, a winner at the John Deere Classic, jokingly asked if he could be Player of the Year if he won all four Playoffs events. It’s not as funny as it seems. If he did, that would be five wins on the season, more than anyone else. “The majors definitely mean a lot but it is who has been consistent over the course of the year and the FedExCup Playoffs are part of that,â€� DeChambeau said. Jason Day, who won five times in 2015 but lost out on the vote to Spieth — also a five-time winner — will be looking at the raw numbers when casting his ballot. “At the end of the day whoever wins the most usually is going to be Player of the Year,â€� he said. “If they have the same amount of wins but one wins the FedExCup, well of course, that’s going to sway the vote.â€� It’s certainly a fun side note to keep an eye on as we get underway at THE NORTHERN TRUST this week.

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