Betting odds, field notes and more for this week’s PGA Tour stop.
A few days after Matt Fitzpatrick’s stellar U.S. Open win at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, the players have traveled just down the road to TPC River Highlands for the Travelers Championship.
And the field is loaded.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy are in Hartford, Connecticut. In total, five of the world’s top-10 players will be teeing it up this week.
As it stands now, Brooks Koepka is also in the field. However, it was reported Tuesday morning that the four-time major champion is leaving the PGA Tour for LIV Golf. We’ll have to wait and see if he actually plays on the U.S. circuit this week.
Golf course
TPC River Highlands | Par 70 | 6,852 yards
The 15th green during the final round of the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. (Photo: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports)
Key statistics
Even though this is a short golf course, distance isn’t king around here. A variety of different styles can win at River Highlands, just look at the last three winners: Harris English, Dustin Johnson and Chez Reavie. With that being said, driving accuracy will be key this week as the rough is long and very penal. The winning score will be somewhere in the mid to high teens, so running into a hot putter will be important, as well.
Data Golf Information
Course Fit (compares golf courses based on the degree to which different golfer attributes — such as driving distance — to predict who performs well at each course – DataGolf): 1. TPC Potomac, 2. East Lake, 3. TPC Twin Cities
Percent chance to win (based on course history, fit, trending, etc.): 1. Scottie Scheffler (7.9 percent), 2. Rory McIlroy (7.7 percent), 3. Patrick Cantlay (6.2 percent)
Latest Twilight 9 episode
Like golf? How about two idiots talking PGA Tour, golf betting and everything in between? Oh, and a lot of laughs along the way. Listen to the Twilight 9 podcast!
Who are the five former Georgia Bulldog golf standouts that are competing in the 2022 U.S. Open golf tournament? Three are in the same group!
The 2022 U.S. Open is being held at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. The prestigious golf tournament is the 122nd edition of the U.S. Open. It is the PGA Tour’s third major of the season.
The U.S Open is held June 16-19. Amazingly, three former Georgia Bulldogs are all in the same group for the first two days of the event. Has something like that ever happened in the history of the PGA Tour?
The University of Georgia has the strongest presence on the PGA Tour of any college golf program.
Who are the five former Georgia Bulldog golf standouts that are competing in the 2022 U.S. Open golf tournament?
Abraham Ancer has finished T-14 at Colonial the last two seasons and is coming off a top 10 at the PGA.
The week after a major always feels like a hangover.
Four straight days of 12 hours on the couch, eating like crap, and maybe indulging in a few adult beverages will do it every time.
Now, it’s time for a quick turnaround as the PGA Tour heads back down to Texas for what feels like the 10th time.
The Charles Schwab Challenge, despite its spot on the schedule, has conjured up quite the field here in 2022. PGA champion Justin Thomas isn’t taking any time to celebrate his second career major win and is set to tee off Thursday at Colonial Country Club.
Joining him are World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Will Zalatoris.
Golf course
Colonial Country Club | Par 70 | 7,209 yards | Perry Maxwell design
Jason Kokrak hits an approach shot on the ninth hole during the final round of the 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Key statistics
Driving accuracy: Colonial has the fourth narrowest fairways on Tour.
Strokes Gained: Around the Green: Colonial has the seventh smallest greens on Tour, so players who get up and down when they inevitably miss the green will have a significant advantage this week.
Data Golf Information
Course Fit (compares golf courses based on the degree to which different golfer attributes — such as driving distance — to predict who performs well at each course – DataGolf): 1. TPC Sugarloaf, 2. Westchester CC, 3. Sea Island GC
Trending: 1. Scottie Scheffler (last three starts: T-18, T-15, MC), 2. Justin Thomas (T-35, T-5, 1), 3. Will Zalatoris (T-4, MC, 2)
Percent chance to win (based on course history, fit, trending, etc.): 1. Justin Thomas (7.8 percent), 2. Scottie Scheffler (6 percent), 3. Jordan Spieth (4.7 percent)
Latest Twilight 9 episode
Like golf? How about two idiots talking PGA Tour, golf betting and everything in-between? Oh, and a lot of laughs along the way. Listen to the Twilight 9 podcast!
The game’s best players are headed to TPC Potomac at Avenel Farms for the Wells Fargo Championship. If that sounds odd, it should, as the regular host venue, Quail Hollow Club, will stage the Presidents Cup later this year.
TPC Potomac hosted the Quicken Loans National in 2017 and 2018 but hasn’t been featured on Tour since.
Rory McIlroy is both the defending champion and betting favorite (+750). Last year’s triumph was McIlroy’s third Wells Fargo Championship victory, but here are a few sleepers for this week:
Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).
There’s no special treatment, no excuses, no throwing out a bad round. Every score mattered.
University of Georgia men’s golf coach Chris Haack has a pat answer ready when asked the same question again and again.
How to explain the tremendous success of his former Bulldogs on the PGA Tour:
“Great coaching,” he quips as a faux brag, but it is a valid response.
Since 2008, 11 of his former players have won a total of 44 titles on the PGA Tour, from two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson with 14 victories to Savannah native Brian Harman with three to the latest UGA alumnus to earn his first, Sepp Straka, on February 27 at the Honda Classic.
Straka is No. 17 in the FedExCup Standings for April 10, with Kevin Kisner (20th), Russell Henley (21st), Hudson Swafford (28th), and Keith Mitchell (30th) in the top 30. Other Bulldogs in the top 125 are Chris Kirk (63rd), Harman (72nd), Brendon Todd (92nd), and Greyson Sigg (118th).
“Around here, we don’t call it the PGA Tour. We call it the UGA Tour,” Haack said.
Again, the line’s been used before, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
The Masters’ field last week included Harman, Henley, Kisner, Straka, Swafford, and Watson, with Harris English invited but out following hip surgery in February.
The PGA Tour event this week, the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, includes Harman, Henley, Kirk, Kisner, Straka, Swafford, and Todd.
“I really can’t explain it,” Haack said, “other than the fact I feel we’ve put them in an environment that helps them to get better and understand how to get more comfortable on the golf course and handle pressure and all the psychology of the game that we try to influence on them a little bit.
“Somehow, it seems to work.”
This pipeline from UGA to the PGA — with former Bulldogs playing professionally on other tours such as the Korn Ferry — hasn’t always worked this well.
Haack became the Georgia coach in July 1996 and would be inducted into multiple halls of fame for an unmatched run in the program. There have been two national championships, eight Southeastern Conference crowns, and more than 60 team tournament titles.
The knock, and that’s a stretch, was that for all of its talent over the years, Georgia didn’t produce a commensurate number of PGA Tour players. Before the Haack era, UGA had produced five winners on the PGA Tour: Chip Beck (four victories), Terry Diehl (one), Bill Kratzert (four), Peter Persons (one), and Tim Simpson (four).
“That’s how other schools would negatively recruit against Georgia: ‘Georgia gets all of these great players and none of them end up on the PGA Tour,’ ” said Harman, 35, a 2009 UGA graduate. “I’m just so happy to be part of the generation that changed that. Now every time any of us come up on TV, that’s what comes up, all these Georgia golfers.”
Harman credits Haack for building and sustaining a program so strong, “it sort of recruits itself.”
Brian Harman chips on the second hole during the first round of the 2022 Masters Tournament. (Photo: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports)
Having been around the sport a long time, Haack remembers when UGA had very good players who didn’t pursue professional golf, choosing other careers. Haack views it not as a failure but another era, when the tour wasn’t so lucrative and there was a different culture on college golf teams.
“When I brought guys in, I didn’t let them join fraternities. I made our golf program our fraternity,” Haack said. “I think that really changed a little bit of the culture of how we were going to look at things, how we were going to compete in the best tournaments. We just kind of changed the culture of expectations a little bit.”
Don’t expect Haack’s program to produce “cookie-cutter” golfers. It’s quite the opposite.
“They didn’t try to make us play a certain way,” said Spencer Ralston, 24, a 2021 UGA graduate now on the Korn Ferry Tour. “I think the greatest thing that they did when we were in school was they gave us the flexibility and everything to go out and play well.”
Ralston said the program has the resources, from the facilities to the tournament travel experiences, to allow the golfers to flourish, have fun and build confidence in their games.
Georgia’s Spencer Ralston, left, with men’s golf coach Chris Haack during the second round of the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, on May 29, 2021.
A team captain for two years, Ralston enjoyed it so much that he played five years with the bonus year granted by the NCAA for COVID-19’s impact.
“Each year I think you can see I grew more and more as a person and became a better player,” Ralston said in an interview during the Club Car Championship at The Landings Club.
Every golfer is unique
Golfers are going to be different, Haack said, from their swings to their personalities.
“What it boils down to is what are your natural tendencies when the pressure’s the greatest?” Haack said. “When all the eyes are on you coming down to that 18th hole, you’re going to go and do whatever is natural or easiest or most comfortable.”
This is where Haack the golf coach and sports psychologist are one.
“We’re not a big cookie-cutter group where we’re all trying to do the exact same thing,” he said. “What we try to do is put them in a situation up here (in Athens) with the way that we qualify and the way that we get guys going to tournaments, so they get comfortable in their own skin of what works for them in those situations. We make them reinforce that over and over and over so that it just becomes part of their natural regimen.”
Haack referred to “the way that we qualify” for tournaments. It’s the game within the game that former UGA golfers said sets the program apart. The coach doesn’t pick the five golfers who will compete for UGA in a tournament. The golfers basically determine that.
The “best” golfers — the ones with the biggest names, most accolades, highest ranking, etc. — don’t represent the team unless they perform the best at the team qualifier leading up to a tournament. Just like in the pros.
The team has a qualifier of at least three rounds — simulating a tournament — usually at the UGA Golf Course, Athens Country Club, and Jennings Mill Country Club in Watkinsville. Sometimes it’s up to six rounds, depending on the time between tournaments.
They are still teammates and friends, but the competition is fierce as they play for the available spots. They also can secure a spot with a top-10 individual finish at the most recent college tournament, then still go through qualifying to “bank” a future spot.
Also, if the Bulldogs win a tournament as a team, Haack may stick with the same five to build chemistry as long as each contributed to the victory. If there was a weak link, there’s a spot open.
Everyone knows the drill from the start. Haack and associate head coach Jim Douglas are consistent, even if they cannot anticipate which golfers will get hot or which newcomers may break into the lineup.
“You did all the work at home,” Ralston said. “When you got to a tournament, you’re relaxed, you have fun, you go out and play to your potential.”
The golfers may be different types, but they shared “a similar mindset where we weren’t afraid of competition,” Harman said. “We wanted to challenge each other. We had a really good environment for making everyone better.”
Harman, a star at Savannah Christian as well as in junior golf on a national scale, recalled that when he arrived at UGA, he was the top-ranked amateur in the world at 18.
Haack told him to qualify for his first tournament as a Bulldog, and that never changed.
“There were no passes given,” Harman said. “It just builds grit and resiliency. As many times as I argued with Haacker, ‘Why are we qualifying? We know how the team’s going to be,’ we always had to figure it out and go shoot a score. That’s what the tour’s all about.”
There’s no special treatment, no excuses, no throwing out a bad round. Every score mattered.
“The hard qualifying sort of hardened us for that life,” of a professional, Harman said.
Haack said that in his 26 years at UGA, only three players had never missed a tournament: Harman, Henley, and Kisner.
The better golfer is the one with the lower score, and Haack likes to keep it “cut and dried.” He doesn’t protect golfers or play favorites.
“That’s what we play for; we play for scores,” he said. “It’s not about who hit it really good but didn’t make any putts. It’s about scoring. That’s the game.
“It’s not about who hits it far, who hits it straight, who’s got the best chipping stroke. It’s about the score. That’s what wins and loses money on the PGA Tour. We just ingrain that in them pretty early. That’s what it’s going to be like the rest of your life, so you might as well get used to competing every day.”
Georgia men’s golf coach Chris Haack, left, and golfer Joey Garber at the NCAA Championships on May 28, 2013 at Capital City Club’s Crabapple Course.
Tournament conditions
Joey Garber, 30, plays on the Korn Ferry Tour and was in Savannah for the Club Car Championship. The 2014 UGA graduate is often asked, including from his peers, about so many Bulldogs in the pros.
When he explains about the competition within the team, rather than the coach arbitrarily selecting the lineup, they understand.
“I think that’s pretty rare for a coach to put his butt on the line and do it that way,” Garber said. “I think a lot of coaches are more comfortable picking their lineup, putting their best players out there. But (Haack) has done a good job recruiting. He has a deep enough squad that he’s allowed to do that and trusts all of his players that qualify will play well. It definitely starts from there.
“It prepares you because nothing’s given to you in this game,” Garber continued. “When you turn pro, you’re on your own. I learned that a little bit the hard way. That’s the way he gets you ready to play on the PGA Tour, and I think that’s why you see success out of so many Georgia players.”
Korn Ferry Tour player and 2014 UGA graduate Joey Garber.
It’s not a perfect system. Garber was the No. 1 player in college golf when he failed to qualify for an event. There was room for other players to compete as individuals — on other teams this would usually be the sixth- or seventh-best player in the coach’s view. So Garber came along and won the whole thing. That didn’t help UGA’s score.
“I think our coach took a little bit of grief for that,” Garber said. “That’s just the nature of the beast. I didn’t have any qualms about it, nor would, I think, any of my teammates. That’s just the atmosphere and culture he creates. You want the best for everyone.”
Georgia men’s golf coach Chris Haack, left, with golfer Greyson Sigg on Sept. 5, 2015.
The UGA golf fraternity continues on the PGA Tour as they remain friends and socialize, particularly those among the many pros residing on St. Simons Island. Garber said he moved there in part because of the opportunity to sharpen his skills in practice rounds against fellow islanders who happen to be among the best players in the world.
Haack keeps up with how his former players are faring on the pro tours.
“I’m probably pulling harder for Greyson Sigg than anybody right now,” Haack said. “I want to see him win as much as he can possibly win — only because he’s marrying my daughter.
“Right now, I’m his biggest fan.”
Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz
However, it wasn’t enough to get Harman to the weekend, as his scores of 74 and 75 kept him one stroke from making the cut.
Along the way, though, Harman was witness to a hole-in-one. On the 16th hole, playing partner Stewart Cink made an ace at the par-3, 170 yard hole. He did it on his son/caddie Reagan’s 24th birthday. It was the 24th ace in Masters history at the 16th, and the sixth for Cink in his PGA Tour career.
Harman witnessed another, much more raucous, hole-in-one earlier this season at TPC Scottsdale.
It also happened on the 16th hole at the wet and wild WM Phoenix Open. You remember that one: Sam Ryder’s Saturday ace ignited a beer-can launch sequence that would certainly never happen at Augusta National.
In Phoenix, Harman was next to hit but had to wait about 15 minutes for the grounds crew to pick up the thousands of aluminum beer cans and bottles.
“The rules official asked me if I wanted to hit with all the beer cans out there,” he said. “I declined and asked them to go clean it up.”
At Augusta, Harman said: “I was there in Phoenix for that shot Sam hit. I’ve been watching a lot of holes-in-one lately.”
Dennis Knight of the Savannah Morning News contributed to this article.
How to watch | ESPN+ | Paramount+ | Golf Channel free on Fubo TV. We recommend interesting sports viewing and streaming opportunities. If you sign up to a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.
Mitchell thought back to the record-shattering swimming king he credits with helping to transform his career.
For Keith Mitchell, maybe Michael Phelps made the difference.
Yes, that Michael Phelps.
After Mitchell finished his round at The Players Championship, he thought back to the record-shattering swimming king he credits with helping to transform his career.
“I just remember feeling like a loser talking to him sometimes, how I felt on the golf course, like pity and sorrow, and this game is hard,” Mitchell recalled from his meeting with Phelps. “He just pretty much said there’s no place for that if you want to be at the top.”
A pep talk that paid off.
Nearly eight months away from NCAA football champion Georgia’s scheduled trip to the First Coast for the Florida-Georgia gridiron classic, Mitchell and Brian Harman brought some Bulldog bark to The Players Championship.
Players Notebook: Volunteers passed first course evacuation in six years with high marks
Mitchell battled to a 5-under 67, one shot off the lead, and Harman rallied from a shaky start to ascend the leaderboard with a 4-under 68 to highlight a promising day for the Southeast Georgia contingent in Thursday’s storm-disrupted first round.
The Sea Island, Ga. residents, separated by only 12 spots in the World Golf Ranking — Harman at 61st, Mitchell at 73rd — took The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass by storm.
They wouldn’t be the first Southeast Georgia residents to lift the trophy, a list that most famously includes two-time champion Davis Love III.
Mitchell stayed nearly trouble-free, including an eagle at No. 9 to wrap up the front nine in 33. He then birdied No. 12, No. 13 and No. 16 on his way home to a 67. If not for a bogey at 18, Mitchell would have finished as the Thursday night co-leader alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Tom Hoge. He didn’t get out on Friday before a weather delay.
His mindset, he said, is different now. For that, Mitchell points to his meeting with 23-time Olympic gold medalist Phelps.
“We had dinner a long time ago in Phoenix and he was talking about some really thoughtful things that apply to every sport,” Mitchell said. “I’ll never forget, it really made an impact on me. It’s not just your typical golf stuff like one shot at a time and stay patient. It was more of kind of how to act and focus on the course, which is how you would do in swim meets.”
Mitchell’s only PGA Tour victory came in 2019 at the Honda Classic, but he’s been piling up the top-15 finishes of late: six already this season, including a tie for 12th at Sea Island in the RSM Classic last fall.
“[Phelps] was kind of helping me through some like downs and kind of really hit the reset button about a year ago,” he said. “That kind of started everything.”
Mitchell has started well at the Stadium Course before. His issue was the finish.
In 2018, he shot an opening-round 67, only to follow up with a 75 and a 78 that plunged him down into a tie for 77th. His best finish at The Players came in 2019, when he shot a 71 and a 65 before fading over the weekend to 3 under for the tournament and a tie for 47th.
This time, he’s more confident.
“I’ve had a little bit of time to adjust to the spotlight a little bit at this golf tournament, because in the Stadium on 17 and 18 is really unlike any other golf course and any other tournament,” he said. “We all players treat this like a major, so it feels like it when you’re out there. That would have been my first major [in 2018], and I definitely did not handle it very well, so hopefully I can do better.”
[vertical-gallery id=778253697]
Harman, meanwhile, didn’t let his afternoon slip away after back-to-back bogeys.
The day brought a superb finish for Harman, who turned his Thursday around as the first golfer to hit a shot on the back nine, opening the delayed round at 7:45 a.m. A too-short approach on No. 10 led to a bogey, and he dropped another stroke after finding water on No. 11. But he found a rhythm after the weather delay, with birdies on No. 2, No. 4, No. 6 and No. 9.
That rhythm has been a recurring theme for Harman at TPC Sawgrass, particularly since the tournament’s move to March. Harman owns three top-10 finishes here, including two since the schedule switch: a tie for eighth in 2019 and a tie for third in 2021.
The numbers say Sunday could bring the strains of “Glory, Glory to Old Georgia” to the First Coast. Since 2008, 11 former University of Georgia players have combined for 38 PGA Tour victories.
What might be even sweeter than victory at The Players? For Bulldogs like Mitchell and Harman, maybe winning The Players as a Bulldog in Gator Country.
“It’s tough seeing a lot of Gator fans out there for sure, but I got a few ‘Go Dawgs,'” Mitchell said, “so hopefully they’ll be around for the weekend.”
Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.
Swafford ran away with the win thanks to some late-round heroics.
If you spent your Sunday afternoon and evening watching the NFL playoffs, you saw some exciting football. But you also missed some exciting golf.
During the final round of the 2022 American Express three players were tied for the lead at 20 under par with another six within three shots late in the action at the Stadium Course at PGA West, but it was Hudson Swafford who prevailed in the end. The 34-year-old shot an 8-under 64 to win at 23 under for his third win on Tour and first since the 2020 Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship. His first win came at the American Express in 2017.
Swafford broke the three-way tie atop the leaderboard with Francesco Molinari and Brian Harman with an eagle on the par-5 16th to move to 22 under. He grabbed some more breathing room with a clutch birdie from the edge of the green on the par-3 17th to take a three-shot advantage to the 18th tee.
A Swafford par on the 18th meant Tom Hoge needed to hole-out for eagle on his 72nd hole, which he did not. The 32-year-old Hoge finished second at 21 under, followed by Brian Harman, Lanto Griffin and Lee Hodges all T-3 at 20 under.
The John Deere Classic returns to the PGA Tour schedule in 2021 after last year’s event was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. A rather weak field is at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, for the final event ahead of The Open Championship. Below, we look at the fantasy golf power rankings and odds for the 2021 John Deere Classic, with PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Brian Harman and Daniel Berger headline the field as the eighth- and ninth-ranked golfers, respectively, in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings. Dylan Frittelli is back as the reigning champion of the John Deere Classic from 2019.
TPC Deere Run is a par 71 playing to 7,268 yards. All but two of the last 11 champions of the John Deere Classic finished 20-under par or better.
Tied for 37th in 2019 after a missed cut in his first appearance at TPC Deere Run in 2017. He had a season-best finish of T-3 at the Charles Schwab Challenge before three straight missed cuts against stronger fields, but he rebounded with a T-67 last week.
19. Denny McCarthy (+10000)
Missed the cut in four of his last six events but had a couple of strong showings early this year including a T-3 at The Honda Classic. One of the top putters in this field with 0.53 Strokes Gained: Putting per round on the 2020-21 season.
18. Sepp Straka (+6600)
Collected his second top-10 finish of 2021 at the Travelers Championship before missing the cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He was fifth in the field among those who made the cut at the Travelers in SG: Approach.
17. Doug Ghim (+6600)
Back up to 217th in the Official World Golf Ranking with three made cuts in his last four events including a T-14 finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Twenty-ninth on Tour in driving accuracy and averaging 0.87 SG: Tee-to-Green through 60 measured rounds this season.
16. Dylan Frittelli (+8000)
The 2019 champion of the John Deere Classic missed the cut in 10 of his 15 events this year with his lone top-10 finish being a T-9 in the WGC-Match Play. He has made just one appearance at TPC Deere Run but his 3.27 strokes gained on the field per round lead this year’s contingent.
Place your legal, online 2021 John Deere Classic bets in CO, IA, IN, MI, NJ, PA, TN, VA, WV and Washington D.C., at BetMGM. Risk-free first bet! Terms and conditions apply. Bet now!
15. Beau Hossler (+6600)
Has been riding a hot putter to three straight top-25 finishes. He was fifth in the field among those who made the cut with 1.48 SG: Putting at TPC Deere Run in 2019.
14. Seamus Power (+3300)
Made the cut in each of the last three runnings of the John Deere Classic and has averaged 0.51 strokes gained on the field per round over his 12 rounds at this venue. He has made seven straight cuts on the PGA Tour with two top-10 finishes in that stretch.
13. Hank Lebioda (+4500)
Tied for fourth at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic with 1.52 SG: Putting per round. That’s the strongest part of his game and it’s often the difference at TPC Deere Run.
12. Zach Johnson (+4000)
His 62 rounds played at TPC Deere Run are the most in this field by a comfortable margin and he has averaged 1.55 strokes gained per round. He tied for 25th at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago.
11. Aaron Wise (+4000)
Averaging 0.97 SG: Tee-to-Green and 0.42 SG: Approach per round for the season. Has two top-10 finishes in his last five events.
Will be focused on the John Deere Classic this week after withdrawing from The Open Championship in favor of the Olympics. He’ll be trying to get his game in top form for Tokyo.
9. Chez Reavie (+6000)
Twenty-eight career rounds played at TPC Deere Run with 0.16 strokes gained on the field per round. His putting has been disastrous this season, but he’s fourth on Tour in driving accuracy.
8. Cameron Davis (+3000)
Last week’s champ was near the top of the field in both SG: Around-the-Green and SG: Tee-to-Green. He does the bulk of his scoring on par 5s but will have one less opportunity this week at the shorter Deere Run.
7. Alex Noren (+2800)
Picked up his first top-10 finish of 2021 with a T-4 showing last week in a stronger field than this. He was strong across the board while averaging 1.70 SG: Tee-to-Green, 0.67 SG: Off-the-Tee and 0.64 SG: Around-the-Green.
6. Kevin Streelman (+2200)
Didn’t play this event in 2019 but tied for seventh in 2018 with a field-best 1.19 SG: Around-the-Green per round. He had four straight top-20 finishes before missing the cut at the Travelers Championship.
5. Kevin Na (+4500)
Leads all qualified golfers with 0.63 SG: Around-the-Green through 58 measured rounds this season. He’s also 36th in driving accuracy and is looking for his second win of 2021.
4. Russell Henley (+1800)
The 2019 runner-up is 46th on Tour in driving accuracy and tied for 14th in par 4 efficiency from this week’s key distance of 400-450 yards. He was in top form in the US Open and should finish better against the weaker field.
3. Daniel Berger (+1000)
This week’s betting favorite is the second-best player in the field by the Golfweek rankings. He has made five straight cuts and is coming off of a T-7 at the US Open but is likely to be looking ahead to The Open.
2. Brian Harman (+1400)
The 2014 champion of the John Deere Classic has averaged 1.08 strokes gained on the field over 24 career rounds at TPC Deere Run. He returns as the top-ranked player in the field.
1. Sungjae Im (+1600)
Tied for eighth last week while ranking in the top five of the field among those who made the cut in SG: Around-the-Green and SG: Tee-to-Green.
Like Kim, he won’t be participating in The Open while focusing on medaling at The Olympics in order to avoid military service in South Korea.
Get some action on the 2021 John Deere Classic by signing up and betting at BetMGM. If you’re looking for more sports betting picks and tips, access all of our content at SportsbookWire.com. Please gamble responsibly.
Follow @EstenMcLaren on Twitter. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage. This information is for entertainment purposes only. We make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any content.
Brian Harman matched his best round of the week Saturday with a 67 on Harbour Town Golf Links. He sits T10 at the RBC Heritage.
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Brian Harman launched what felt like a good shot off the 17th tee at Harbour Town Golf Links on Saturday afternoon, but a breeze coming off Calibouge Sound blew it astray.
The fiery left-hander returned his 7-iron to his golf bag with a note of authority.
A few minutes later, the Savannah, Georgia, native showed a subtle fist pump after holing an 11-footer for a deft up-and-down and an unlikely par.
It was one hole in an excellent round for Harman, who matched his lowest score of the week with a 4-under-par 67 at the RBC Heritage. He climbed up the leaderboard into a tie for 10th and sits at 9-under par (67-70-67) headed into Sunday’s final round.
“No. 17 was kind of odd,” said Harman, who entered the week at No. 48 in the Official World Golf Ranking. “That was one of my better swings of the day, and it ended up in a really bad spot. The wind was blowing between south and southeast, and I think it got caught in a little gust and knocked it over the green. So to make that putt and get out of there with a three was awesome.”
Harman had just one bogey on the day — at the par-4 eighth — but he got it right back with a birdie putt of 9 feet at the short par-4 ninth hole. He birdied from 11 feet on the same hole on Friday to close out his round.
He had one of his best tee shots of the day at the par-3, 14th hole, nestling an iron to within 4 feet and converting. He followed with another birdie on the par-5 15th, using a three-shot approach and dropping a 9-foot putt into the cup.
His most memorable shot of the day came on the par-3 fourth. He missed the green right on the 194-yard hole but somehow chipped in from 18 yards for a birdie.
“I was in a really bad spot, but I hit a really, really great chip shot. I had to bump it up over a hill,” said Harman, a graduate of Savannah Christian and the University of Georgia. “With any luck, I was hoping to walk away with a three on that one, and I made a two.
“I probably got the most out of this round (of his previous two this week),” Harman said. “I don’t know if I played quite as well as I did. I made some good putts and I made some really good up and downs, had that chip-in. I’ll try to tighten up my ball striking a little bit and try to shoot a low one tomorrow.”
Harman entered the week playing some of the best golf of his career. He is ranked No. 33 in the FedEx Cup standings, with four top-12 finishes in his last seven starts. He tied for third at the Players Championship and was the final player to qualify for the Masters when he beat his fellow former UGA golfer Bubba Watson in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play to reach the quarterfinals.
He took full advantage of his opportunity in his third appearance at Augusta National, finishing in a tie for 12th to secure a spot in the 2022 Masters.
This week has a more relaxed vibe, and Harman is enjoying it with his family at Harbour Town, with his parents staying nearby to the place where Harman, his wife Kelly Van Slyke and their young girl and boy, Cooper and Walter, are residing this week.
“They have been cooking for me every night and watching the kids once in a while, so it’s been great. They can come any time they want,” Harman said with a smile.
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
