The British Open is only over a week away and some golfers are practicing by participating in the John Deere Classic where Steve Stricker is the sports books fave. Stricker will look to defend his title in the tournament.



Stricker is 12-1 at the offshore sportsbook in golf betting while Tim Clark and Zach Johnson are the co-second choices at 14-1.

Sportsbook probabilities also list KJ Choi with a chance as he’s 17.5 to 1. There are only 2 openings outstanding to get into the British Open so this is a crucial tournament. The highest finishing competitor at the John Deere Classic who’s not already in the British Open will get a spot. The other spot is going to go to the highest finishing competitor at the Scottish Open who is not already in the lineup.

The contenders to win the John Deere Classic this week appear to be a select few. There are only 3 competitors rated in the top 20 on earth and only 7 in the top 50 contending at this year’s John Deere. Steve Stricker is a logical fave since he’s the fourth ranked competitor on the planet, but Tim Clark might be a better pick. He is 7th in the FedEx Cup standings and 5th on the PGA Tour money list. It adds up that he’s 2nd on the probabilities board. Since he won the tournament a year ago, Stricker is still preferred though. Kenny Perry won this event 2 years ago while the remainder of the past victors of this tournament aren’t familiar names.

A year ago it was Stricker taking the title with Johnson finishing 2nd. Johnson has said that he actually wants to win this week so he may be a quality pick in a tournament that he considers his 5th major. Last week’s fourth place finisher Charlie Wi may be in contention again this week and he has appealing probabilities of 37-1 at the offshore sports books.

Along with being ranked fourth on the planet, Stricker has made the cut in all 11 competitions he’s played and has 4 top 10 finishes, including a victory in the Northern Trust Open 4 months ago. He took 6 weeks away in April and May to rest an aching right shoulder and has played in only 2 competitions since coming back to the tour. The injury interrupted a promising year for Stricker, but rest accompanied by therapy was the only cure, so he simply had to sit out.

Not to be overlooked this week are former champion Kenny Perry at 22-1 and Rickey Fowler who’s also 22-1. Bubba Watson may be a profitable choice at probabilities of 29-1, and he has performed well this year. 1 longshot that might have a chance is former champion Jonathan Byrd. He has probabilities of 58-1 to win this week.

The John Deere Classic begins on Thursday and carries on through Sunday.

The Golf Channel has live coverage of the first 2 rounds on Thursday and Friday while CBS picks up the coverage over the weekend.


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