John Deere Classic 2026: Dave Tindall's each-way picks from 25/1 to 100/1

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Introduction to the John Deere Classic

Similar to last week's course, River Highlands, Deere Run is one of those PGA Tour venues where sub-60s have been recorded.

Both are TPC tracks and share a number of similarites so looking at last week's leaderboard is a decent place for clues.

Of course, the field is nowhere near as strong given that the Travelers Championship was a Signature series tournament.

Here, there are some decent names but the fact that Ben Griffin is 10/111.00 favourite shows that the world's very best are resting up after the two-week stretch of major followed by Signature event.

In the last seven editions of the John Deere, we've seen Davis Thompson win with 28-under (2024) and Michael Kim triumph on 27-under (2018). Brian Campbell's 18-under last year was the joint-highest score since Kenny Perry won with 16-under in 2008.

Approach play isn't as dominant a stat as at other events although it's always important while Around The Green and Putting (i.e. short game) show up strongly when looking at past winners.

Colonial (Charles Schwab) and Copperhead (Valspar) provide strong course form correlations.

As Steve Rawlings notes, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson, Kenny Perry, and Jordan Spieth have won both this and the Charles Schwab while John Deere winners Spieth, John Senden, Sean O'Hair and Vijay Singh have their names on the Valspar trophy.

Here are my three each-way bets for this week's tournament...

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Jacob Bridgeman each-way @ 25/126.00

Jacob Bridgeman was one of the surprise breakout stories earlier in the year.

Starting out with a fourth in the Sony Open, he reeled off eight straight top 20s of which there were some notable highlights.

The standout was him beating a world-class field to capture the Genesis Invitational (Signature Event) at Riviera before he stayed hot with a top five at TPC Sawgrass.

There's been an inevitable dip but he's still only missed one cut all season and there are signs his form could take an upwards curve again.

Bridgeman was 11th at the Canadian Open in mid-June (6th for SG: Approach) and after a solid 39th in the US Open he overcame a slow start to close with a pair of 66s at last week's Travelers (47th).

The 26-year-old now returns to a course where he shot three 68s and a closing 64 to finish fifth last year on just his second John Deere appearance.

Bridgeman ranks 4th for SG: Putting and 13th for Birdie or Better Conversion Percentage which are great pointers.

I also like the fact that he has form on one of the correlating courses. That comes via third and 14th in the last two editions of the Valspar Championship.

Bridgeman has won more money this season than anyone in the field and hopefully he can land another big haul this week. Back him each-way at 25/126.00 (5 Places).

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Bet 2: Denny McCarthy each-way @ 45/146.00

Denny McCarthy has been a frustating figure to follow down the years in terms of trying to be on him when he lands his first win.

He's twice lost playoffs and overall has finished in the top 10 no less than 29 times.

McCarthy certainly has to be worth a look here due to course form from 2022 to 2025 which reads 6-6-7-11.

He's sprinkled three 64s over the last three years while in both 2022 and 2023 he was second with a round to play.

McCarthy knows the deal at TPC Deere Run. He once said: "You got to be aggressive. You got to take advantage when you have a short iron or wedge in your hand. You got to attack."

As usual, it's the putter that stands out in his stats (24th SG: Putting) but making nine of his last 10 cuts points to other areas working well too.

In his last two starts, McCarthy has ranked in the top 10 for Greens In Regulation while he was fifth for Scrambling at the Travelers last week.

His performance at TPC River Highlands is the clincher in terms of a bet.

After rather dawdling along in terms of finishes, the 33-year-old from Maryland stepped on the gas over the weekend at the Travelers, shooting 66-65 to end in the top 15.

The timing of that gives him some great momentum for perhaps his most successful tour stop so let's take the 45/146.00 (5 Places).

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Bet 3: A.J. Ewart each-way @ 100/1101.00

In the 10 Places market, A.J. Ewart looks an interesting contender at a three-figure price.

The Canadian has racked up nine top 30 finishes in his last 12 starts and that run includes a trio of top 20s in his latest five outings.

Ewart is a first-timer at TPC Deere Run but he does have form at the two correlating courses: Copperhead and Colonial.

At the former he was 11th in this year's Valspar Championship while a Friday 63 helped him finish 17th at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

His big strength is the putter. Ewart ranks 7th for SG: Putting this season and was 5th in that metric at Colonial.

As for Around The Green, he's ranked in the top 20 in two of his last three starts while 18th for Approach in Canada last time was promising.

Adding to the feeling that he might like this test, this is what Ewart said at Colonial last month: "I've learned that it's one of my favourite stops I've gone to this year. I really enjoyed every minute of it.

"The golf course is just an old, classic. It's pretty much in front of you and it doesn't demand too much, but it will penalise you if you're off. But I think it's just a very classic, good golf course."

And as for his recent play. "My game's been good. I think I've gotten off to a good start this year and I've just felt like I've gotten into a good groove. I've been playing well.

"I've just tried to make steps every week of just getting better and getting more comfortable and trying to put myself into contention more. I know that I belong out here and I can compete."

If his putter performs as normal, a top 10 is very much within his grasp and maybe even a title challenge.

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Now read Steve Rawlings' John Deere Classic preview

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*You can follow me on Twitter @DaveTindallgolf

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