John Deere Classic First-Round Leader Tips: Picks from 40/1 to 100/1

• 40/141.00 J.T. Poston was R1 leader here when winning in 2022

• 66/167.00 Michael Kim won by eight here in 2018 and started fast last week

• 100/1101.00 Harry Higgs has been in great form on the Korn Ferry Tour

Weather forecast for Thursday

A 62 has been required to win this market in four of the last five editions (63 in the other).

Of the six players with a piece of the Thursday lead in those events, there was an even split. Three teed off in the morning and three in the afternoon.

Temperatures are around 70-75 degrees throughout day one, while wind speeds are a tad higher in the afternoon, rising to maybe 8-10mph.

I'm slightly leaning towards the morning wave but won't put all my eggs in that basket.

J.T. Poston @ 40/141.00

J.T. Poston has the chance to put his name on the leaderboard early as he heads out at 07.29 local from the 10th .

The 31-year-old has been one of the stars of the show in this event over the last two years, winning in 2022 and adding sixth when defending in 2023.

Poston's victory was wire-to-wire, the man from North Carolina grabbing the first-round lead with a 62 .

He again showed his ability to shoot the lights out with a 61 in the final round of this year's Sony Open while just seven starts ago he took FRL honours again when opening with a 63 at the RBC Heritage.

That's one of a number of fast starts over the last 12 months which include another 63 that put him second after 18 holes of the Shriners Children's Open.

Poston, who opened with a 66 at the Travelers on his latest start, is 40/141.00.

Michael Kim @ 66/167.00

Michael Kim holds the 72-hole record at TPC Deere Run after a remarkable performance in 2018 when he fired 27-under to win by eight.

It was fuelled by an opening 63 to put him second and it's rather strange to see he's missed all three cuts since. He did at least shoot a Friday 69 last year despite it not being enough to make the weekend.

Kim returns in good nick after four top 20s in his last seven starts and he opened last week's Rocket Mortgage Classic with a 65 to end round one just a shot behind leader Akshay Bhatia.

Summing up his week on Twitter, Kim closed by saying: "On to the Zach Johnson foundation event and then the best tournament in the world John Deere Classic! (Def not biased lol)."

There has to be a chance he'll come alive again at TPC Deere Run and current form suggests it could be now.

Back him at 66/167.00 from his 07.40 tee-time.

Harry Higgs @ 100/1101.00

Harry Higgs has been making waves on the Korn Ferry Tour, winning back-to-back events in May when landing the AdventHealth Championship and the Knoxville Open.

He also made time to make a wonderful speech in honour of Grayson Murray after that latter victory.

Higgs opened with a 64 in the Knoxville and also sprinkled three rounds of 65 over those two events.

He's since added fourth at the Compliance Solutions Championship two weeks ago while he opened last week's Korn Ferry event with a 65.

There's nothing special about his John Deere record although he made the cut last year and it's in hope rather than expectation that Higgs brings his hot Korn Ferry form to the main stage.

But he's been there before, is full of confidence and, at the odds, is worth a punt at 100s to make hay from his 13.22 tee-time.

Read Dave's each-way John Deere Classic preview here