John Deere Classic: Bet on Nick Hardy to crack the Top 10 at this week's PGA Tour stop

With last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in the rear-view mirror, we now look forward to this week’s John Deere Classic in Illinois. TPC Deere Run will host this event, which it has done annually since 2000.

TPC Deere Run is a par-71, 7,289-yard track designed by D.A. Weibring that benefits strong ball strikers and those who excel on bentgrass greens. Looking at the top of previous leaderboards, the greatest predictors of success at this course are strokes gained tee to green and greens in regulation percentage (GIR%).

Entering this tournament in good form, Nick Hardy has made seven of his past 11 cuts. Over that stretch, he boasts three Top 20 finishes, including his victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

This strong stretch of golf is likely to continue at TPC Deere Run, a venue at which he is three-for-three on made cuts. A strong putter on bentgrass greens, Hardy gained +0.98 strokes putting at the Travelers Championship, +0.92 strokes putting at the Charles Schwab Challenge and +0.08 strokes putting at the PGA Championship.

All three of those tournaments were contested on — you guessed it — bentgrass greens.

Furthermore, Hardy is an excellent ball striker. Entering this week, he ranks in the Top 90 on TOUR in both strokes gained tee to green and GIR%.

Birdies will prevail this week at TPC Deere Run, a relatively easy course. That should benefit Hardy, a golfer who ranks 53rd on TOUR this season in total birdies. At 13/2, it is worth taking a shot on him to finish inside the Top 10 among a watered-down field.

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