John Deere Classic 2025: Dave Tindall's each-way picks from 40/1 to 60/1

• 60/161.00 Christiaan Bezuidenhout was runner-up here on debut

• 40/141.00 Lucas Glover has course and current form

• 60/161.00 Thriston Lawrence is one to follow when on a run

• Read Steve Rawlings' preview of the tournament here

Introduction to the John Deere Classic

TPC Deere Run celebrates its 25th anniversary as host of the John Deere Classic this week.

Steve Stricker has been the dominant force with three wins, while Jordan Spieth is a two-time champion. 

Zach Johnson's win and three second places also show that skill and craft count for plenty here rather than just brute force.

The par 71 featuring bentgrass greens measures 7,289 yards and it's very gettable: 12 of the last 15 editions have been won with 20-under or lower and that includes Davis Thompson's 28-under 12 months ago.

It's also no surprise that twice the course has yielded 59s: Paul Goydos in 2010 and Hayden Springer last year.

Ideal weather conditions for the first two days should faciliate another low scoring week although wind and rain enter the equation on the weekend.

Feeding into the idea that touch is needed, most winners here have holed plenty of putts or been neat and tidy around the greens.

Steve Rawlings notes the correlation with Colonial, home of the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Stricker, Johnson and Spieth have won that event too while Kenny Perry has triumphed at both venues. 

Ben Griffin took the spoils at Colonial this year and he's the favourite this week at 16/117.00.

Bet 1: Back Christiaan Bezuidenhout @ 60/161.00

Christiaan Bezuidenhout was runner-up on his John Deere Classic debut in 2022 and, confirming the link between this course and Colonial, he was 16th (all four rounds in the 60s) at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May, his fourth straight top 25 there.

Since then he's dug out a battling 12th place in the US Open and perhaps feeling the after effects of that 72-hole grind, he was slow out of the blocks at the Travelers a week later.

Rounds of 71-74 only just got him through the cut but he kicked on over the weekend with laps of 69 and 66.

Notably, Bezuidenhout was 1st for Strokes Gained: Putting at the Travelers and that followed 8th for SGP in the US Open at Oakmont. He was 3rd in Putting when runner-up on the first of his two John Deere appearances and ranks 12th in that category in 2025.

Bezuidenhout has always been a good scrambler (24th Around The Green this season) and there's also the added element of him feeling a little inspired by the win for fellow South African Aldrich Potgieter at last week's Rocket Classic.

"It's a beautiful golf course. It's a lovely layout. It's not too long, which leaves you with a lot of wedges in your hand," he said when seeing TPC Deere Run for the first time.

"I actually think it's not a course that you need to know. It's pretty straightforward off the tee box. The greens are soft so you can fire at the pins.

"So everything just comes down to short irons and putting. Off the tee it's pretty generous."

Back him in the 8 Places market at 60/161.00.

Bet 2: Back Lucas Glover @ 40/141.00

If leaning into history and noting the great records of Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson, the man best equipped to play the veteran card with is Lucas Glover.

I tipped him at 50/151.00 when the American won here in 2021 and he's followed that with sixth in 2023 and another top 25 last year. 

Overall, the former US Open champion has seven top 25s, with three top 10s in his last five visits.

Glover returns for another crack on the back of ninth at the Travelers Championship. Three starts earlier he was 22nd at Colonial after sitting 10th after 54 holes following a Saturday 64.

The 45-year-old (Stricker was 44 when he won here for the third time) ranks 2nd for Approaches from 125-150 yards to highlight his wedge play excellence and that will be a key weapon.

Beyond that, he also has a strong emotional attachment to the event as it gave him a start here in 2002 when he had no status. Players remember that sort of stuff.

The doubt would be his putting although he did say a couple of years ago: "I love the greens here."

The stats back it up. Glover has ranked in the top 28 for Putting Average in five of his last six visits to the John Deere Classic while he's finished in the top 20 for SG: Putting in two of the last four and gained strokes on the greens in all of those. 

After ranking 2nd for Approach at the Travelers, Glover should set up a bunch of chances and I'll take him at 40/141.00 (8 Places) although 33s for 12 is also worth considering.

Bet 3: Back Thriston Lawrence @ 60/161.00

There will be some correct answers but if being asked to name the top three players on the DP World Tour's 2024 Race to Dubai, not too many will come up with Thriston Lawrence.

With five second places that year as well as a fourth in the Open Championship, the South African finished third behind winner Rory McIlroy and Rasmus Hojgaard.

He actually went into the final event, the DP World Tour Championship, with a chance to finish top.

That excellent and sustained run secured a PGA Tour card for 2025 although he struggled badly at first, missing cut after cut.

But a return to the DP World Tour seems to have acted as the perfect reset. 

A fourth at the Soudal Open in Belgium restored some confidence and since returning Stateside he's posted 12th at the US Open (sixth after 54 holes) and eighth at last week's Rocket Classic.

Dylan Frittelli won this event in 2019 so a South African has lifted the John Deere trophy in recent memory.

And that above quote from compatriot and friend Bezuidenhout that the course doesn't take much learning should help Lawrence on his debut.

History tells us that he's a good man to follow when in form.

At the end of 2023 and into early 2024, Lawrence had five straight top 11s while last summer he was second in June's European Open, fourth in July's Open Championship, a winner back home in South Africa in August and runner-up at the following week's British Masters.

With a fourth, an eighth and a 12th (in a major!) in his last four starts, Lawrence deserves our attention.

He's putting well (5th for SGP at the US Open, 9th at Soudal) and really had his irons dialled in at the Rocket Classic.

Take the 60/161.00 (8 Places) on a player with four DP World Tour victories and perhaps one ready to follow in the footsteps of Ryan Fox by progressing from a leading golfer on the DP World Tour to a winner on the PGA Tour.

*You can follow me on Twitter @DaveTindallgolf

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