Three Dark Horse Picks to win the 2021 John Deere Classic

With a wide-open field for this week's John Deere Classic, traditional dark horse, or upset picks may not come as much of a surprise.

Daniel Berger is the current favorite at WynnBET to win this week on the PGA Tour at +1000. While Berger has been solid with two top-7 finishes in two of the last four tournaments, he's typically not seen as a traditional odds-on favorite.

So where can we find an edge in the field? Who are some non-traditional plays to check out?

Here are three players, all of odds of 40/1 or higher at WynnBET that all have the upside to not just contend, but to win at TPC Deere Run.

Dark Horse Candidates to win the 2021 John Deere Classic

Patton Kizzire 40/1

Kizzire has played this course twice, both finishing in the top 30 in 2017 and 2018. I always like considering golfers who feel comfortable on a course they've played a few times, even if their recent form has been inconsistent.

In Kizzire's case, it appears that he's turned a corner, finishing T25 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last week following three consecutive missed cuts.

Also in Kizzire's favor, he was masterful on the final day. He went on to shoot a 64 on Sunday and finished the event gaining almost five strokes with his putter. Kizzire is sixth in the field in strokes gained (SG): putting over his last 24 rounds, but what's encouraging is that he's starting to improve with his irons.

In his back-to-back top-3 finishes in May, Kizzire gained 6.5 strokes with his approach. If he has his irons straightened out, he'll be in the mix at desirable odds.

Pat Perez 75/1

Like Kizzire, Perez is coming off a strong outing at the Rocket Mortgage Classic after missing the cut in his previous tournament. However, his recent form leading up to the Travelers Championship had been improving for three consecutive weeks, culminating with a T10 at the Palmetto.

Perez currently ranks top-9 in total strokes gained, as well as SG: around-the-green, and is also hovering right around the top 25 in approach. Those metrics would typically feature someone with far lower odds than 75/1. He's also made the cut the last two times he's played at TPC Deere Run.

Kramer Hickok 75/1

I like Hickok in this spot as someone doing everything relatively well right now. He's 12th in SG: total, fourth in SG: around-the-green, and 15th in SG: short game over his last 24 rounds.

The biggest issue in his game right now has been his approach shots. In four of his last five rounds, Hickok has lost strokes with his irons, yet his finished second and 14th in two of them.

Last week, he played just well enough to hang around, but I expect a bounce back this week similar to what we saw at the Travelers in late June.

With longshot picks, I like to recommend considering hedging your bets with either top 5, 10 or 20 plays as well.

Interested in making these bets? Maybe even fading them for other players?

Download the WynnBET app in New Jersey, Indiana or Colorado.