The last event on the PGA Tour schedule before the 2013 British Open takes place at the TPC Deere Run in Silvis, IL, as some of the best golfers in the world get one last tune up in at the John Deere Classic. There are a ton of tournaments that are relatively new on the PGA Golf schedule, but this one has been around since 1971, giving us plenty of data to work with. Check out our John Deere Classic picks for what should be a great event.

2013 John Deere Classic Predictions & Info
2013 John Deere Classic Dates: Thursday, July 11th – Sunday, July 14th, 2013
2013 John Deere Classic Location: TPC Deere Run, Silvis, IL
Defending John Deere Classic Winner: Zach Johnson
2013 John Deere Classic TV Coverage – Network: Golf Channel, CBS

Steve Stricker (Odds To Win 2013 John Deere Classic: 6.50 to 1 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook) has been absolutely insane at this tournament over the course of the last few years. Stricker shot a -16 last year in this tournament, and the only reason he didn’t win the event is because he shot a relatively terrible -1 on Sunday, losing five shots to the eventual winner on the day. Stricker also has wins in 2009, 2010, and 2011 here in Silvis, and there is no reason to think that he won’t be able to do something remarkable once again come Thursday. The only cause for concern would be that Stricker hasn’t won a tournament yet this year, but he does have a pair of second place finishes and has a total of four finishes of eighth or better in his seven starts. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, and it makes you have to start and end with betting on Stricker at the John Deere Classic.

Not surprisingly, the man that bested Stricker last year, Zach Johnson (John Deere Classic Odds: 16 to 1 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook) is the second favorite on the odds to win the John Deere Classic. Johnson has had a good history playing in this even as well, and though last year was his first win, he always seems to play well on courses that play towards lower scores. Again, the issue that we have with Johnson is that he hasn’t won an event this year, and the only time that he finished in the Top 10 was when he finished third at the Crowne Plaza Invitational against a relatively weak field. This year’s field at the John Deere Classic is weak as well, as there aren’t that many golfers that want to play the week before flying over to the other side of the pond to take on a very tough and very different Muirfield course, but we don’t think that it is ultimately going to make Johnson the winner in at least one out of 16 tries at this tournament.

List Of Past John Deere Classic Winners (Since 2000)
2012 – Zach Johnson
2011 – Steve Stricker
2010 – Steve Stricker
2009 – Steve Stricker
2008 – Kenny Perry
2007 – Jonathan Byrd
2006 – John Senden
2005 – Sean O’Hair
2004 – Mark Hensby
2003 – Vijay Singh
2002 – JP Hayes
2001 – David Gossett
2000 – Michael Clark II

We’re going to go a bit off the board to find the next golfers that we are going to back. Last year, Troy Matteson (Odds To Win The John Deere Classic: 150 to 1 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook) lost at the John Deere Classic in a playoff. He’s back this time around, and he is going to be hoping for a much better performance than he has seen of late. Matteson has missed a ton of cuts this year, and though he has played in gobs of events, his best finish was a 16th place outing at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Of course, we know that this could all change for Matteson now that he is on one of the easier golf courses on the PGA Tour, and if lightning can strike the same way that it did last year, you never know. There’s no way that we’re not taking 150 to 1 on a man that lost in a playoff on this very same course a season ago.

And that’s why we want to back John Senden (John Deere Classic Lines: 45 to 1 @ 5Dimes Sportsbook) as well. Senden finished three shots off of the pace in the 2012 John Deere Classic, but the difference between him and Matteson is that at least he has played well in a few events this year. No, we haven’t seen Senden break through yet for a victory, but he has a lot of Top 25 finishes under his belt, including finishing 15th at the US Open. The conditions are significantly different this week at the John Deere Classic than they were at Medina at the US Open, so the scores are going to be a whole heck of a lot lower, but if Senden was able to put up such a good fight last year, we have to think that he will be able to do so once again this time around.

Odds to Win John Deere Classic @ 5Dimes Sportsbook (as of 7/10/13):
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Steve Stricker 6.50 to 1
Zach Johnson 16 to 1
Keegan Bradley 20 to 1
Louis Oosthuizen 20 to 1
Ryan Moore 30 to 1
Charley Hoffman 35 to 1
Peter Hanson 35 to 1
Scott Stallings 35 to 1
Jimmy Walker 40 to 1
Jordan Spieth 40 to 1
Kevin Streelman 40 to 1
Nick Watney 40 to 1
Brendon De Jonge 45 to 1
John Senden 45 to 1
Harris English 50 to 1
John Huh 50 to 1
Jonas Blixt 50 to 1
Kyle Stanley 50 to 1
Rory Sabbatini 50 to 1
Jason Kokrak 60 to 1
Luke Guthrie 65 to 1
Gary Woodland 66 to 1
Matt Jones 66 to 1
Boo Weekley 70 to 1
John Rollins 70 to 1
Morgan Hoffmann 70 to 1
Camilo Villegas 75 to 1
Carl Pettersson 75 to 1
Ted Potter Jr. 75 to 1
Charles Howell III 80 to 1
Chris Kirk 80 to 1
James Driscoll 80 to 1
Jeff Overton 80 to 1
Marc Leishman 80 to 1
Pat Perez 80 to 1
Russell Knox 80 to 1
KJ Choi 85 to 1
Ben Crane 90 to 1
Charlie Wi 90 to 1
Dong Hwan Lee 90 to 1
Brian Davis 95 to 1
Cameron Tringale 100 to 1
DA Points 100 to 1
Tommy Gainey 100 to 1
Roberto Castro 115 to 1
Davis Love III 120 to 1
Andres Romero 125 to 1
David Hearn 125 to 1
Robert Karlsson 125 to 1
Tim Petrovic 125 to 1
Vaughn Taylor 125 to 1
YE Yang 125 to 1
Brendan Steele 150 to 1
Bryce Molder 150 to 1
Daniel Summerhays 150 to 1
George McNeill 150 to 1
Greg Chalmers 150 to 1
Ken Duke 150 to 1
Troy Matteson 150 to 1
Chez Reavie 170 to 1
Bill Lunde 175 to 1
Jerry Kelly 175 to 1
Patrick Reed 175 to 1
Charlie Beljn 185 to 1
DJ Trahan 185 to 1
JJ Henry 185 to 1
Martin Flores 185 to 1
Aaron Baddeley 200 to 1
Brendon Todd 200 to 1
Brian Gay 200 to 1
Bud Cauley 200 to 1
Cameron Percy 200 to 1
Casey Wittenberg 200 to 1
David Mathis 200 to 1
Doug LaBelle 200 to 1
James Hahn 200 to 1
Justin Thomas 200 to 1
Kevin Stadler 200 to 1
Mark Wilson 200 to 1
Nicholas Thompson 200 to 1
Robert Streb 200 to 1
Ryo Ishikawa 200 to 1
Seung Yul Noh 200 to 1
Shawn Stefani 200 to 1
Stuart Appleby 200 to 1
Tag Ridings 200 to 1
Brian Harman 225 to 1
Derek Ernst 225 to 1
Greg Owen 225 to 1
Jonathan Byrd 225 to 1
Scott Brown 225 to 1
William McGirt 225 to 1
Ben Kohles 250 to 1
Chad Campbell 250 to 1
Justin Hicks 250 to 1
Lucas Glover 250 to 1
Ricky Barnes 250 to 1
Robert Allenby 250 to 1
Sean O’Hair 250 to 1
Tom Gillis 250 to 1
Trevor Immelman 250 to 1
Brad Fritsch 275 to 1
Erik Compton 275 to 1
Jason Bohn 275 to 1
Nick O’Hern 275 to 1
Rod Pampling 275 to 1
Scott Langley 275 to 1
Steven Bowditch 275 to 1
Darron Stiles 325 to 1
Dicky Pride 325 to 1
Gary Christian 350 to 1
Henrik Norlander 375 to 1
Steve Marino 375 to 1
Bobby Gates 485 to 1
Luke List 485 to 1
Scott Verplank 485 to 1
Billy Mayfair 500 to 1
David Duval 500 to 1
Fabian Gomez 500 to 1
Jim Herman 500 to 1
Kevin Sutherland 500 to 1
Mike Weir 500 to 1
Stephen Ames 500 to 1
Todd Hamilton 500 to 1
Will Claxton 500 to 1
Heath Slocum 585 to 1
Aaron Watkins 650 to 1
Steve LeBrun 700 to 1
Colt Knost 785 to 1
Jin Park 900 to 1
Alistair Presnell 1,000 to 1
Andres Gonzales 1,000 to 1
Andrew Svoboda 1,000 to 1
Donald Constable 1,000 to 1
Eric Meierdierks 1,000 to 1
Jeff Gove 1,000 to 1
Jesper Parnevik 1,000 to 1
Joe Affrunti 1,000 to 1
Joe Ogilvie 1,000 to 1
Joey Snyder III 1,000 to 1
Justin Bolli 1,000 to 1
Lee Williams 1,000 to 1
Michael Bradley 1,000 to 1
Michael Letzig 1,000 to 1
Neal Lancaster 1,000 to 1
Patrick Rodgers 1,000 to 1
Paul Haley II 1,000 to 1
Scott Gardiner 1,000 to 1
Scott McCarron 1,000 to 1
Sean McCarty 1,000 to 1
Si Woo Kim 1,000 to 1
Steven Ihm 1,000 to 1