Week 27 Power Rankings: John Deere Classic

text size

EDITOR'S NOTE: Officially, Mike Vitti is the Director of Research and Development in the TOUR's Marketing Department. Unofficially, he's a stats guru who analyzes all kinds of data from our ShotLink numbers.

LISTEN: Mike Vitti discusses this week's rankings on the PGA TOUR Network. Click to listen

Vitti will size up the field each week and provide his top 10 players going into the tournament, based on factors such as the player's strengths, the course setup, recent performances, etc.

TPC Deere Run is a 7,257-yard, par-71 layout that plays host to this week's John Deere Classic. Players usually go low at this event with the last 11 winners at this venue finishing between 16 and 22 under.

Players will have the opportunity to make birdie on most holes on the course, as evidenced by the fact that 12 of the holes last year had more birdies than bogeys over the course of the week.

Two key holes to watch for are the par-5 second and par-5 17th. Both holes had players posting more birdies and eagles than they did pars, so leaving those holes without a red number could cost a player some spots on the leaderboard.

Power Rankings: John Deere Classic

Rank Player   Comment Kenny PERRY This week's defending champion has already won twice this season and finished in the top 10 in five other starts. He is currently seventh in total driving, fourth in greens in regulation, tied for fifth in scoring average and 14th in birdie average. Steve STRICKER Stricker has only finished outside of the top 25 three times in 14 starts this season. He enters this week 17th in greens in regulation, fifth in proximity to the hole, third in putts per greens in regulation, 10th in birdie average and third in scoring average. David TOMS Tying for second in two of his last three starts, Toms has seven top-10s in 16 starts this year. He ranks first in driving accuracy, sixth in greens in regulation, 10th in putts per greens in regulation and second in scoring average. Lucas GLOVER Glover is one of the hottest on TOUR right now with a win and ties for 11th and fith in his last three starts. He is first in total driving, 19th in putts per greens in regulation, fifth in birdie average, 11th in sand save percentage and 10th in scoring average. D.J. TRAHAN Trahan enters this week ninth in greens in regulation, 24th in par breaker percentage and seventh in par 5 birdie or better percentage. He tied for 14th in his last start and has recorded 13 rounds of par or better in 14 rounds played here. Chad CAMPBELL Campbell was seventh last year at the John Deere Classic, shooting 67s in each of the first three rounds. In eight rounds played, he has never played over par here. He also enters this week 14th in bounce back percentage. Woody AUSTIN Austin tied for ninth at last year's John Deere Classic and has posted rounds of par or better 17 times in his last 20 rounds at this event. He ranks in the top 25 in proximity to the hole and has finished in the top 25 in three of his last five starts. John SENDEN Senden leads the TOUR in greens in regulation percentage, is 19th in driving distance and 14th in scoring average. He has top-20s in three of his last five starts and won the John Deere Classic in '06, but he did miss the cut in '07 and '08. Zach JOHNSON Johnson has top-25s in over half of his 17 starts this year, including two wins. He hasn't fared well in the past here but enters this year 10th in driving accuracy, 14th in greens in regulation, 12th in proximity to the hole and 11th in scoring average. Matt BETTENCOURT Bettencourt has made the cut in his last five starts and posted three top-15s during that stretch. Of his last 20 rounds, 16 have been at or below par, and he has converted over 30 percent of his birdie opportunities in '09.