Surprise Picks: John Deere Classic

Andre Novak (+8000) …The next Sleeper to win the tournament he’s touted for in this space will be the first, so you know that in advance. It’s also been five years (and four editions) since the last time a new winner was crowned at the John Deere Classic (Dylan Frittelli). Despite those historical headwinds, the 29-year-old non-winner is worthy of the challenge. Once and mostly on the shortlist only on paspalum putting surfaces, he’s proven his game travels. He’s finished in the top 20 in his last two starts and six this season, three of which were back-to-back top 10s to start the season. Overall, he’s 16th on the PGA TOUR in greens in regulation, T14 in proximity, 18th in conversion percentage inside 10 feet and 35th in adjusted scoring — also 2-for-2 at TPC Deere Run with a 68.63 scoring average on par 71.