Draftkings John Deere Classic First Round Picks 7/3/25

This Thursday morning, Draftkings golf fans will be presented with the first round of the 2025 John Deere Classic. Let’s take a look at the first round of this tournament from a DFS perspective.

Before I discuss my Draftkings player selections for this week’s PGA Tour event let’s review where the first round of the 2025 John Deere Classic will be played.

The 2025 John Deere Classic will be played at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. The golf course is a par 71 that measures approximately 7,289 yards.

TPC Deere Run has been the host golf course for the John Deere Classic since the event’s debut in 2000.

Davis Thompson won the 2024 John Deere Classic with a cumulative four round score of 28 under par.

I wanted to emphasize that the purpose of this article is not to provide an exact DFS lineup.

Having stated that, this article will provide multiple player options in an effort to assist the reader in generating a unique lineup that will hopefully have the potential to win a DraftKings GPP (guaranteed prize pool) contest! Keep that in mind as you construct your lineups for this DFS slate.

For those readers that are not aware, the rules and scoring for DraftKings single round showdown contests are vastly different than the traditional classic contests offered by the platform.

If you need to review the specific rules for the single round showdown contests feel free to check out the DraftKings website.

Here are my DraftKings picks for the first round of the 2025 John Deere Classic.

Draftkings First Round Picks

Ben Griffin $10,600

Ben Griffin arrives at this week’s event on the heels of six consecutive top 14 finishes on the PGA Tour, including a win at the 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge six weeks ago.

Griffin is currently ranked 19th in GIR (greens in regulation-69.66%), 13th in total strokes gained (1.071), eighth in overall scoring average (70.03) and second in total birdies made (298) on the PGA Tour.

Mark Hubbard $7,700

Mark Hubbard has amassed four top 13 finishes in his last seven events played on the PGA Tour, including a 13th-place result at the last week’s 2025 Rocket Classic.

It should also be noted that Mark Hubbard has posted a quality result at TPC Deere Run previously. Hubbard finished fifth at the 2024 John Deere Classic.

Victor Perez $7,500

Victor Perez has tallied three top 19 finishes in his last six events played on the PGA Tour, including a ninth-place result at the 2025 RBC Canadian Open three weeks ago.

Due to Victor Perez’s quality result at the RBC Canadian Open I decided to take a hard look at the player data from the event to see how Perez fared relative to the field.

Upon the completion of four rounds of competitive play at the 2025 RBC Canadian Open, in relation to the field, Victor Perez ranked second in GIR (greens in regulation-86.1%), 13th in total birdies made (20) and 12th in bogey avoidance (6).

Cameron Champ $7,300

Last month, Cameron Champ fired a final round 67 at the 2025 RBC Canadian open on his way to an eventual ninth place result. Additionally, Champ finished 11th at the 2021 John Deere Classic.

Jake Knapp $9,600

Since the beginning of February, Jake Knapp has played 13 tournaments on the PGA Tour. In those 13 events just noted, Knapp amassed seven top 27 finishes, including a 12th place result at the 2025 Players Championship in March.

Additional golfers I like to perform well in the first round of the 2025 John Deere Classic (Draftkings price noted): Davis Thompson $9,400: Kevin Yu $8,700: Chris Kirk $8,900: Hayden Springer $7,200.