I’ll be sharing my weekly picks for Fanteam’s fantasy golf contests. Fanteam, the UKGC-regulated platform and Europe’s largest DFS site, offers an exciting way to engage with golf. See below for a special offer!

Before we really ramp things up with stellar line-ups at the Scottish Open and Open Championship at Royal Portrush over the next fortnight, there’s one more staple of the PGA Tour to enjoy.

The John Deere Classic has thrown up plenty of classy winners down the years and is a great opportunity to get the birdies and confidence flowing for the tougher tasks ahead.

Davis Thompson won with 28-under at TPC Deere Run last year – a tournament record – so, as with last week, let’s remind ourselves of some of the bonus points rules in this game:

No dropped shots in a round +3
3 consecutive birdies +3
Round of 64 or better +3
All four rounds sub-70 +5

That adds to the basic points scoring system which sees a birdie worth +3, an eagle +8 and better than eagle (including a hole in one) +10.

As usual, the captain and underdog (UD, the lowest-priced player) in your six man line-up both score x1.25pts. Choose carefully!

Before looking through the field let’s start with a SPECIAL OFFER below!

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Okay, let’s start building…

Top Tier Picks (18m and over)

Ben Griffin (21.2M): The idea of paying north of 20M for Ben Griffin would have seemed madness not that long ago but, now, it seems entirely justifed. Back-to-back top fours in Mexico and at the Cognizant put him on the radar and over the last few months he’s barely put a foot wrong. A winner of the Zurich Classic pairs event in April, starting with May’s PGA his form reads: 8-1-2-10-14-13. And if that doesn’t convince you, he’s played here once (2024) and closed 64-62 on the weekend to crash the top five. All aboard the Griffin train!

Jason Day (20.8M): The second most expensive option in the game and, if you can build a team around the top two, it could pay dividends. Day was 5-for-5 here, including a pair of T15s, when playing it way back (2006 to 2011). And after a 13-year absence, he returned last year to take T23 after a 66-66 finish. Lightly-raced, the Aussie has three top eights in his last seven starts, including fourth at last week’s Travelers Championship. Day ranked 9th for SG: Putting there which bodes well for this birdie-fest.

Others to consider: Denny McCarthy (20.2M) is a bona fide course horse with finishes of seventh, sixth and sixth in the last three years. Combine that with T12 at the Travelers last time and a fourth straight top 10 beckons for one of the game’s elite putters. Davis Thompson (19.2M) shot the lights out to win this by four last year. T34 (Rocket Classic) and T25 (Travelers) suggest he’s bubbling under and ready to pop again. Jake Knapp (18.8M) shot a 59 earlier this season and also a 61 when fourth at last week’s Rocket Classic. He played all four rounds (T52) on his JD debut last year and will likely kick on from that marker. Lucas Glover (18.2M) loves this event and won it in 2021. This is a good tournament for veterans and the 45-year-old has three top 10s in his last five visits and was ninth at the Travelers on his latest outing.

Mid-Range Value Selections ($14.2m up to 18m)

Kevin Yu (17.6M): The reasoning is a pretty simple combination of course and current form. Yu was sixth on debut in 2023 and fired a Friday 63 on the way to another top 20 last year. In addition, the 26-year-old from Taiwan has a third (Canadian Open) and a fourth (Myrtle Beach Classic) in his last five starts. Oh, he also ranks 19th for Birdie Average this season.

Michael Kim (16.4M): This is the most consistent season of Kim’s career. And this is the tournamant that provided his biggest thunderclap moment when he won by a staggering eight shots in 2018. Remarkably, he hasn’t made a cut here in four visits since but on his 2025 form that must surely change. The king of ‘X’ wrote on Sunday: “Game feels really close to a great week.” Let’s take his word for it.

Others to consider: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (15.2M) was runner-up on his John Deere debut (65-66-66 over the final 54 holes) and looks a great fit. The South African has two top 20s in his last four PGA Tour starts and ranked 1st in Putting at the Travelers. Compatriot Thriston Lawrence (14.6M) has really found his mojo in the last month or so. He nipped back to the DP World Tour to take fourth in the Soudal Open in Belgium and he’s carried that form back to the PGA Tour with 12th at the US Open and eighth in the Rocket Classic. A reminder that he finished third on the season-long Race to Dubai last season. Keith Mitchell (15.6M) is an absolute birdie machine (5th in Birdie Average), who has a seventh and an 18th in four John Deere starts. Back to the top end of this price bracket and Michael Thorbjornsen (18M) has strong claims. He was runner-up last year, 17th on debut in 2023, fourth at the Rocket Classic last week and ranks 6th in Birdie Average.

Underdog Options (14m and Under)

Jackson Suber (14M) enjoyed a profitable June. In two starts, the 25-year-old Korn Ferry graduate placed 18th in the Canadian Open and sixth in the Rocket Classic. He ranked in the top 20 for Putting in both. Suber also seems to enjoy his trips to Illinois as four Korn Ferry starts there in the last two seasons produced finishes of 11-3-21-2.

Garrick Higgo (13.8M) offers plenty of upside as a two-time PGA Tour winner, the second of those coming at the Corales Puntacana Championship just five starts ago. The South African, who won twice on the DP World Tour in 2021, was second at halfway in the 2023 John Deere before finishing 21st so he’s flashed some course form too.

Others to consider: Danny Willett (13M) was 13th in the Canadian Open two starts ago and is making more cuts than he’s missing. The putter looks in fine shape too. Cristobal Del Solar (12.4M) is a remarkable scorer. He fired a 57 on the Korn Ferry last year and led the way in the Canadian Open last month after laying down a 61 on day one. For a very reliable cut-maker (he’s made 10 of the last 11) turn to Hayden Springer (13.8M). His appeal certainly doesn’t end there because the American shot a 59 in round one here last year and finished seventh. He’s 29th in Birdie Average. Dylan Wu (13.2M) went to college in Illinois and he’s played the weekend in six of his last seven events so is another cheap-priced option offering reliability.

That’s this week in the books. Good luck and don’t forget to SIGN UP HERE

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