Golfbet Insider Rob Bolton joins John Swantek to provide all the gaming intel for this week’s event in the Quad Cities at the John Deere Classic.
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1 2 3 four five cities in the Quad Cities what is that counterintuitive yes is it factual yes can you win a bar bet with that information absolutely and Rob Bolton and I highly encourage you to use that information to do exactly that consider it a a gesture in advance of the Fourth of July holiday here as we point toward the John Deere Classic in the Quad Cities I won’t ask you to name them this time around though what’s happening big fella bondorf Davenport Rock Island Molen and East Molen Silva is not included uh nearby four miles from the Mississippi might as well be the thing about that we talk about it every year and the thing that still uh eats it my craw is the fact that they use Quad City in many of the names like the Quad City River Bandits instead of Quad City quad is a modifier multiple but City so now we’re now we’re getting a little bit deeper in terms of how we Define ourselves as a as a region as a local municipality times five so it always presents like the obvious Icebreaker for you and Manaka the tour every year and I’m happy for that hey is that the River Bandits uh memorabilia behind you there by the way sort of uh that cap yeah I figured look I’m on my way to to getting you a minor league BAS baseball cap and so since we’re about halfway through the calendar year uh All-Star break is certainly with uh with Major League Baseball coming up and I have been doing some shopping I thought you know what I have a bunch of minor league baseball caps and I break them out every once in a while this week’s is the Quad City River Bandits alter well not alter eal they actually have a brand for that these days but from 2004 to 2007 they were the swing of the Quad Cities that is one of their caps I absolutely love it you see the saxophone with the baseball coming out of it forms the shape with an S for swing they got tired of it after four years went back to the River Bandits what they have been ever since so yeah there’s our baseball there’s our there’s our American flag uh nothing goes uh nothing goes Better Together uh when we’re celebrating independence day in this country can’t wait to add to my minor league baseball cap collection courtesy of You by the way uh so I’d like to sort of sprinkle in some guys in the power rankings ordinarily but when I looked at the top four I was really intrigued by all four of those guys because that’s who I would like to hit here this week Rob because sjm at the top of the power rankings was kind of lost in the the mayam at The Travelers Championship right the week that Cameron young shot 59 on Saturday Scotty of course won again on Sunday a very quietly productive tie for third for sun JM who uh I would think is the betting favorite this week at plus 1200 huh yeah in fact as of last night he he’s he’s 200 shorter he was 1400 about 12 hours ago yeah throughout the majors uh he has not been good in the majors uh otherwise he’s been one of the best in the world so it’s odd how that happens and it helps he’s like exhibit a of why I just throw out negative results in the majors they’re just different and it doesn’t it’s not an indictment about anybody he can’t play the majors of course that’s not the case uh they’re different tournaments he traveled to his native South Korea and Def successfully defended a title there and has just kept the rally rolling it wasn’t the case last year uh it is the case this year and he was scuffling a little bit in terms of our expectations for him earlier this year so yeah I mean Patrick Klay was in the field early he was going to make his tournament debut he probably would have been at top the power rankings probably would have been at top the betting board if he already wasn’t I didn’t get a chance to look at it before he withdrew uh but sunre man he’s a proper surrogate for that spot this week and uh he’s got to be in every fantasy format there’s no doubt about it even for defensive purposes just because yeah in a field that really doesn’t have a prohibitive let’s put it an obvious favorite to Prevail a guy like that is that so I’m excited about the fact that he’s 12 to1 to win even though it was a little bit longer not long ago the betting board obviously reflects what the uh the betters are thinking and doing about it uh and they’re doing the right thing I think this might be a week to kind of sprinkle your units around that was the council from your colleague Ben everil from pj.com so maybe that’s the approach for Gamers and betters uh this week people will often land on the defending champion and with mixed results because sometimes they’re just not in the same form that they were when they won a year ago even if there was a comfort level on that Golf Course small sample size but in sepa’s only title defense he finished tied for fifth at what is now the cognizant classic in South Florida last year seaka coming at you number two in the power rankings plus 1600 this week you know sometimes when we talk about defending Champions it’s just easier to say yeah yeah they won last year so of course they’re comfortable but you know a year is a long period of time and even though all the factors that we use to prognosticate and to expect and to use for our betting purposes and fantasy purposes all makes sense that’s what we have to use we can’t get inside the guy and we can’t get inside the future which is what’s going to happen this week really only takes one horrible hole to rule out the fact that he’s is going to defend his title this week so I it’s why I always start at the bottom but with a guy like that we start with a top 10 as a reasonable expectation that’s where I would that’s where I would uh play around in in terms of a market for SE straka uh the last time he defended a title was at the uh cognizant classic at the Palm Beaches that was last year he hung up a top 10 so like the guy is just unflappable I mean he’s just he’s just really impressive he just goes out there and golfs his ball and he seems to has no short are memory so the fact that he’s back he’s defending he doesn’t have to be he’s going to be over in the UK coming up here to to play some more golf in the last major of the year of course and so that’s on the horizon but uh yeah I I don’t I just love the guy that he just he just plays for right now that’s really the key here and he happens to be in form what we’ve learned about him in the last year half or so is that he’s no longer that six times a year I’m really really good guy he has been able to sustain it so he’s been comfortable in his own skin at this level that’s also contributing to the the confidence this week I think if I told people that Davis Thompson is the owner of three career runner-up finishes on the PJ tour they would be surprised by that two of them have come this year one of them came last week in Detroit in fact at the rocket mortgage classic Thompson also top 10 at the US Open he is quietly turning into an impactful young player on the PGA tour and he’s at plus 2200 this week the man who sits third in the power rankings there’s another Barb how many uh finishes for Davis Thompson and you’re going to get a lot of people because he’s not a not a PGA Tour winner yet and even amongst Avid golf fans they’re going to be like who what does he look like you know because we haven’t seen him Jump Ahead yet but you know I talk about trajectory and I talk about Bel career bell curve a lot and because that’s that helps fra help me frame expectations uh as it concerns the macro but he’s the kind of guy who could be the poster boy for what this is what a career trajectory is supposed to look like when you’re this good this young and you don’t win yet and now you’re on your third year in the PGA Tour when it’s expected that it’s it’s time to break through you’re finally learning where to stay on the road where to eat where you want to play where you need to break and looking forward to it and becoming a professional golfer this is his job pays very well but it’s still difficult to get it all together and he has been able to do that man uh I really wanted to slot him number one uh in this tournament and had there been another first time winnner since Dylan fatelli in 2019 there was no 2020 Edition so there’s been three editions since none of which were firsttime winners he may have sat at the top I’m so confident in his ability right now he’s also not he’s also at the top of the power rankings in terms of the guys not currently in the Open Championship we talk about motivation and hunger and that’s another Lane uh really strong narrative this week I don’t tend to get into that too much but he he needs to qualify for the Open Championship uh assuming he wants to play I’m going to go ahead and assume that that’s the case and so this week the top two who make the cut uh that uh that aren’t into the open and finish the highest they’ll get into the open I went into deeper detail into that in the golf B inset on Wednesday so I encourage viewers to check that out but he is at the top of that list and my confidence is highest in him and because of that by the way because of all of that I want to add that the top five Market has me particularly intrigued this week so that’s where I would shop for Davis Thompson as well yeah Thompson looks poised to to break through so does Aaron raw who actually shared second place with Thompson last week at the Detroit Golf Club he’s now in the playoff hunt firmly 57th in the FedEx Cup race with only maybe half dozen events to go before the playoffs start and uh I think the markets are paying attention plus 1,800 for the Englishman who’s fourth in the power rankings here and the highest among the non-winners in the field uh Thompson is 22 plus 2200 Denny McCarthy plus 2200 and then down from there uh both Ry and Thompson were in the power rankings last week and delivered they’ve basically fulfilled the projection it’s been easy to support them there’s been no reason not to Ry also the same narrative not in the Open Championship right now native of England you know he’d want to go back there and play in that tournament it’s very simple plug both of these guys in use them uh usum wisely yes sprinkling the units makes a lot of sense just because Scotty shuffler not playing let’s put it that way that’s kind of the idea there but there is so much more value on deeper markets uh in other markets deeper into the field there there’s a top 40 Market of B MGM this week so I’m completely in agreement with Ben there however when it comes to Ryan Thompson I might I might go a little heavier in units for both of those guys explore multiple markets they are delivering exactly as expected right now there’s also a top five market and it will offer some value this week what you’re looking for in that prop first and foremost is somebody to make the cut guess what Mark Hubbert is 19 for 19 in making Cuts this week he’s at plus 850 I don’t think he’s quite at the form where he was earlier in the Year Rob where he ran fourth at Pebble but 67.4 scoring averages last nine trips around TPC Deer Run I do like that need a guy who’s going to present some punch Firepower we know hubard is is all about that made for it and yeah you echoed what I wrote in the fact that we need a guy who makes the cut to pay P off the top five of course you need guy that makes a cut to pay off all the finishes inside the top whatever you’re going to be searching for um but Hubbert is is a he’s a scorer he has the profile to play well on this course uh all he came within one shot of a top five last year in this tournament uh and he’s actually playing a little bit better this year in fact I think to a man he’s just B been able to sustain the form over uh a period of time so yeah again I mean top five market for guys in Power Rankings Sam Stevens I’m just going to throw them in they number five in the power rankings those three together are the guys in the focus of the of the golf bet Insider this week but hubt is eight and a half to to one for a top five this week uh top fives Man four of them four of them this year almost five with SH Kim who was an outright I and I wrote about the top five I’m still a little regretful about that that’s okay I’ll move on probably um Mark cover is the guy this week it’s it’s a tepid endorsement just because the power rankings is loaded with guys who’s supposed to have that finish the field is is what it is the construct makes it more difficult to find that top five but Huber’s not in the power rankings he’s my top five I’m here to Proclaim that I am a big Neil Shipley fan he’s a delightful young guy had him on the podcast last week everyone knows him as the low Amer both the Masters and the US Open a very select group of guys including tiger and Jack have done that uh he also made his PJ tour debut as a professional last week finished 20th and if you haven’t seen him throw out the first pitch Rob at the Tigers game last Monday I mean I’ve seen guys Spike that first pitch I’ve seen him float it my man fired some high stinking cheese it was pretty special uh just another reason to root for this guy and there’s a top 10 prop available on Chipley this week at plus 500 uh coming off at top 20 last week yeah I saw the pitch and and having lived in Michigan for 6 and A2 years my first thought was do they know that he’s an Ohio State guy like minute and he was so comfortable it really showed us so many of these people just don’t seem you know like they’re made for the lights this guy this guy is he seems to have just the right foundation in his life he’s a Pittsburgh dude like Midwestern in a sense he’s got that grit he’s and he wasn’t happy with the T20 last week it was evident at the very end and and right now it’s cute because he hasn’t done anything to hurt us and he was plus 500 for top 20 last week he’s now plus 500 for top 10 this week but I’m leaning into that I’m waiting for you know this is the thing with social media especially when he does something that’s going to irritate us you know Cameron young did it last week you know Cameron Young’s never done anything to us he’s a little frustrating to watch He’s not in the field this week he frustrating to watch but he’s so good and he pays his off he can be lucrative and he has been lucrative Neil Shipley right now has been really lucrative he hasn’t done anything wrong so that’s the narrative I’m thinking about with that guy as he tries to break through get his PGA Tour card currently non-member but man everything is just in the right place for the guy his trajectory is really strong but mostly just the fact that he he kind of came out of nowhere in a short period of time but it hasn’t slowed him down he hasn’t been a flash in the pan uh really impressive really exciting and and and a guy I mean look you know he’s not an amateur anymore Nick Dunlap broke through as an amateur of the American Express but Shipley had me thinking top five this week That’s How Strong I’m feeling about the guy let’s sneak in one more here and sprinkle in a little Regional flavor with the the pride of Chicago land at the University of Illinois Nick Hardy he’s only had one top 20 in the last 12 months however as you’ve often touted that’s why you’re getting solid value at plus 450 from Hardy who finished 21st at Deer Run last year yeah look it’s always easy to to grab the guy who finished top 20 last week and and and endorsement for top 20 that’s not really the job I mean the part of it is hey by the way in case you missed it is part of the job but the chip on the shoulder is is really the is really the theme for for him for me this week because he didn’t get into the BMW Championship last year uh south of the city at Olympia Fields uh so he would have had family and friends no doubt he’ll have many much more support uh this week than he has in any tournament since uh the last time he played John Deere so and he’s he’s a season veteran already in this tournament even though he’s he’s relatively new to the PGA Tour so this is about the fit in terms of the Comfort level and getting back on the board with the friends and family that wanted to see him play and certainly no more than he did at the BMW Championship last year for the local flavor there’s always somebody from the Midwest who comes out and breaks through in this tournament in one way shape or form Zack Johnson and Steve Stricker held the man or held the uh uh the top spot in that way for many many years Mark Wilson used to be on that short list I mean these are guys that people locally Know da Point another one I mean these are the guys that we think about locally who always rise up in a tournament like this and it’s just special because it’s the only tournament anywhere near it uh within a you know six or seven hour drive uh and and people flock to it so obviously being a Chicagoland native myself you feel a little bit more of the enthusiasm and energy supporting a guy like Nick Hardy it’s easy to do for me but again from a betting perspective at 4 and a half to one for top 20 given those things I love it always a fun event always a lot of Fourth of July weekend fireworks at TPC Deer Run and we expect nothing short of the same this week for the John Deere classic I’m hitting the road big fella for the Genesis Scottish you will be in good hands the next couple weeks uh with our Pals from PJ tour.com and you and I will reconvene Wednesday July 17th if it works for you to preview the Open Championship I look forward to it all right buddy enjoy your trip uh Bend an elbow for me will you many
