By Vik Chokshi
FOX Sports Gambling Lead

We came so close to hitting another long-shot bet last week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, as both Min Woo Lee and Aaron Rai finished one stroke behind eventual winner Cameron Davis.

Alas, we move on.

This week, the PGA Tour heads to Silvis, Illinois, for the John Deere Classic. This tournament will be played at TPC Deere Run, which is a par-71 course that’s 7,268 yards long. 

As for betting on the tournament, we’ve got you covered with everything you need, from the odds to best bets.

Let’s dive into the action.

FAVORITES

Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy each remain off the tour until it heads overseas in the coming weeks. Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and a few other notables are also out for this event, so we’re seeing some new faces atop the betting board this week.

Sungjae Im is the current favorite at +1400, and Sepp Straka isn’t too far behind him at +1600. Straka won last year’s tournament, defeating the rest of the field by at least two strokes.

J.T. Poston, the 2022 winner, comes in at +3000.

Now that we teed off with the basics, let’s approach the top favorites and my portfolio for this tournament.

ODDS LIST

Sungjae Im: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Sepp Straka: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Aaron Rai: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Jordan Spieth: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Denny McCarthy: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Davis Thompson: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Maverick McNealy: +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)
Keith Mitchell: +2800 (bet $10 to win $290 total)
Jason Day: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
J.T. Poston: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Nick Dunlap: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Adam Svensson: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)

*Odds as of 7/3

LONG-SHOT OUTRIGHT BETS TO MAKE

If you follow me on Twitter or read this column, you know I love betting on golf long shots (+1500 to +2000 or longer). There’s just something thrilling about holding a lottery ticket deep into Sunday. It also presents you with multiple hedging opportunities if you want to eliminate some of your risks.

A lot of my bets this week are based on course history and form, so here are a couple of guys worth sprinkling pizza money on:

Aaron Rai +2000
J.T. Poston +3000
Lucas Glover +4500
Eric Cole +4500
Jhonnatan Vegas +9000
Troy Merritt +22000