The first round of the John Deere Classic was exactly what we thought it would be. A few golfers have made minor hits at 59, everyone in the top 10 has hit under 5 or higher, and if you hit above par you’ll lose at least 10 points and not be anywhere near. top 100 after Round 1.
Jonas Blixt took the lead after eating 62. After going out in the 33rd half, he went home four-legged in the second ninth and shot 29 to hit the bottom nine. Blixt has a bit of companionship near the top, especially with a potential US Ryder Cupper, but will start the second round with the lead.
There are some interesting candidates to touch and some just slightly above the leaderboard to keep an eye on. Let’s take a look at both as we recap Round 1 and wait to see what the next 54 holes look like.
Leader
1. Jonas Blixt (-9)
Blixt appeared casual after his round when asked if he was starting to think about claiming his first individual win since 2013. He said he was going to the zoo with his Swedish friend, Henrik Norlander, and hadn’t even thought about winning yet. string golf tournaments like JT Poston did a year ago.
“No, no. No, I only play 25% of the time,” he said. “There’s 75% more. I always feel like it’s nine hours on Sunday that really matters, so we’ll see where I’m going on Sunday. So I don’t know.”
However, Blixt should feel pleased with how he hit it in Round 1. His five strokes on approach had led the course by more than two strokes. Even though he still has a shot ahead (see odds below), he could well continue to draw for the next 54 holes. The problem is that a lot of other players do too.
other candidates
2. Grayson Murray (-8)
T3. Greyson Sigg, Garrick Higgo, Adam Schenk, Nate Lashley, Richy Werenski, Cameron Young (-6)
T9. Seamus Power, Brendon Todd, Alex Smalley (-5)
Young is clearly the big name here, and he needs a great week. One of the darlings of last year’s major championship season has struggled a lot since this year’s Masters with no top 25 finish and very little that works apart from his driver (which is fair say, probably works better than anyone in the world).
After a worldwide effort in Round 1, he is now ready to kick off his summer season ahead of the Open Championship (where he finished second a year ago) and return to the Ryder Cup conversation with a win. won or almost won this weekend. That’s how quickly things can change right now.
Young performed flawlessly that day, serving perfectly and scoring more putts than any other round so far in 2023. He’s now the most deserving of the favourites. to win the event and will probably gain the most from doing so — meaning he also has the most to lose.
Big names still
There are some golfers that I think could have done better at TPC Deere Run but at least stay in the group. Here’s what they can improve on going into the second round of Friday. None of them are completely out of place and it’s all been a really good round going into Blixt in the lead.
Ludvig Aberg (-3): Hit a terrible steering hit at 11 that led to bogey and hurt his driving numbers, but he was solid across the board. He’ll need something better than 68 at some point this week, but he’s also got enough power to play golf on this course.
Russell Henley (-2): Henley finished in the top 10 from tee to green but couldn’t make it into Rock River. He didn’t finish in the top 140 in that category, which means he should have scored better but at the same time he is poised to recover well over the next three days.
Gordon Sargent (-1): The short game is still in progress. He drove it like everyone thought he would (top 15 off tee), but made sloppy mistakes at 1st and 18th that caused him to step back a bit to get the point. number 3 under really nice.
2023 John Deere Classic updated odds and picks
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
- Cam Tu: 2/11
- Adam Schenk: 9-1
- Alex Smalley: 16-1
- Seamus Strength: 18-1
- Denny McCarthy: 20-1
- Nate Lashley: 20-1
- Garrick Higgo: 22-1
- Greyson Sigg: 25-1
- Russell Henley: 25-1
- Grayson Murray: 25-1
- Brendon Todd: 25-1
I like Schenk here at 9-1. He’s been playing excellent golf lately with three top 10 finishes in his last five outings and is well positioned to take the lead on Friday or Saturday. Also, I quite like Henley with 25-1 and Aberg a little further back with a great score (35-1). Those two could come off as scorching and could knock out a bit of a week’s Collin Morikawa before he led 16-1 on the final day and lost in the playoffs. There’s more room for them to work right now, and I suspect at least one of them will be in contention by Sunday afternoon.
