2026 John Deere Classic Fantasy Golf Picks: Final CaddyBytes Grades
The CaddyBytes John Deere Classic fantasy page is now closed out after the final round at TPC Deere Run. Chris Gotterup won at 20-under, Max Homa finished solo second at 19-under, and Lucas Glover, Lee Hodges, and Ben Kohles tied third at 18-under.
The original CaddyBytes top-12 board gets a mixed but positive grade because it produced the winner. Gotterup was not a late hindsight add — he was an original top-five pick. That matters. The page also had Fowler as a useful top-15 finish, while Griffin, Bridgeman, Bradley, Cole, Tom Kim, Poston, Mitchell, and Sungjae Im made the weekend but did not give enough leaderboard punch.
Fantasy golf only. This page does not provide betting picks, odds, sportsbook information, or gambling advice.
Original CaddyBytes Top 12: Final Pick Grades
These grades are based on the original pre-tournament picks and how they finished. The winner hit is excellent. The rest of the board is graded honestly against finish position, final-round movement, and whether the pick actually helped a fantasy lineup.
| Original Rank | Player | Final finish | Rounds / Total | Grade | Final CaddyBytes read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J.T. Poston | T51, -8 | 68-69-71-68 / 276 | D | Made the cut but was never close enough for a No. 1 fantasy pick. Too much rank for too little leaderboard return. |
| 2 | Tom Kim | T46, -9 | 67-68-69-71 / 275 | C- | Four rounds under par, but the Sunday 71 and T46 finish did not match the No. 2 pre-tournament slot. |
| 3 | Ben Griffin | T21, -13 | 69-65-70-67 / 271 | B- | Solid made-cut/top-25 result. Not a true contention hit, but useful enough to avoid a bad grade. |
| 4 | Keith Mitchell | T51, -8 | 73-66-69-68 / 276 | D | The Caddie Hunch missed. The profile made sense before the week, but the finish did not pay it off. |
| 5 | Chris Gotterup | 1st, -20 | 66-68-68-62 / 264 | A+ | Winner. Original top-five pick. Closing 62. This is the board-saving hit and the clear best call of the page. |
| 6 | Jacob Bridgeman | T26, -12 | 67-70-68-67 / 272 | C+ | Useful made-cut finish but did not reach the top-20/top-10 zone needed for a stronger grade. |
| 7 | Rickie Fowler | T15, -14 | 70-69-63-68 / 270 | B+ | Best original-pick move after Gotterup. The third-round 63 saved the week and produced a real top-15 finish. |
| 8 | Eric Cole | T39, -10 | 76-63-70-65 / 274 | C | Wild week: poor start, great Friday, strong Sunday. Made the cut and salvaged points, but not enough finish position. |
| 9 | Keegan Bradley | T26, -12 | 70-69-69-64 / 272 | B- | Final-round 64 helped a lot. Good closing result, but the early rounds kept him from true contention. |
| 10 | Michael Thorbjornsen | Missed cut, -2 | 68-72 / 140 | F | Missed cut. Upside pick did not survive the weekend. |
| 11 | Sungjae Im | T71, -3 | 68-69-68-76 / 281 | D- | Made the cut but Sunday 76 erased the useful parts of the week. Poor fantasy close. |
| 12 | Max Greyserman | Missed cut, -2 | 71-69 / 140 | F | Missed cut. Late-board pick did not deliver weekend value. |
Best Original Picks After Final Round
The final review starts with the picks that actually helped. Gotterup is the headline. Fowler, Griffin, Bradley, and Bridgeman give the board some depth, but only Gotterup turned the pick into a tournament-winning result.
| Result Rank | Player | Final finish | Why it mattered | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Gotterup | 1st, -20 | Original top-five pick won the tournament with the low final round of 62. | A+ |
| 2 | Rickie Fowler | T15, -14 | The Saturday 63 turned him from a weak pick into a strong top-15 salvage. | B+ |
| 3 | Ben Griffin | T21, -13 | Not a contention hit, but still the best finish among the original top-three names. | B- |
| 4 | Keegan Bradley | T26, -12 | Final-round 64 made the result respectable and improved the grade. | B- |
| 5 | Jacob Bridgeman | T26, -12 | Steady enough for made-cut value, but not enough leaderboard punch. | C+ |
Value Plays and Sleeper Grades
The value side of the page was stronger than the top of the original top-12 order. Ben Kohles nearly made the final-hole playoff push and finished T3, while Max Homa finished solo second after a closing 64.
Ben Kohles
T3 at 18-under after 65-67-66-68. This was the best value/sleeper result on the page and came within range of the win late Sunday.
Max Homa
Solo 2nd at 19-under after 67-66-68-64. The name-value watch was excellent and nearly caught the winning number.
Rickie Fowler
T15 at 14-under after 70-69-63-68. Not a value hit exactly, but he became one of the stronger original-pick grades.
Chris Gotterup
Winner at 20-under after 66-68-68-62. The final-round 62 made him the defining hit of the page.
Misses, Risk Flags, and What We Learned
The final grades also show where the board was wrong. The biggest miss was not player quality — it was rank weight. The top two pre-tournament names did not produce top-board finishes, and the Caddie Hunch did not get close enough to the leaders.
| Miss / Risk | Final result | Final lesson |
|---|---|---|
| J.T. Poston as No. 1 | T51, -8 | Good course history and profile were not enough. The No. 1 slot needed stronger current finishing power. |
| Tom Kim as No. 2 | T46, -9 | Made the cut but did not generate enough Sunday scoring to justify the rank. |
| Keith Mitchell hunch | T51, -8 | Distance and upside did not turn into enough approach/putting conversion. |
| Thorbjornsen / Greyserman | Both missed cut at -2 | Back-end upside picks need better made-cut safety at a low-scoring Deere Run setup. |
| Sungjae Im Sunday close | T71 after final-round 76 | The made cut did not matter after the Sunday drop. Final-round form matters in post-event grading. |
CB Caddie Hunch Final Grade: Keith Mitchell Missed, Gotterup Carried the Board
The CaddyBytes hunch was Keith Mitchell, and that call did not pay off. Mitchell finished T51 at 8-under, which is a made cut but not a useful fantasy result for a hunch slot. That gets a D.
Final adjustment: The correct winning lane was already on the page with Chris Gotterup. The hunch missed, but the main board still found the winner, and the value side hit hard with Ben Kohles and Max Homa.
Final John Deere Classic Scoreboard Leaders
The final leaderboard confirms why Gotterup was the board-saving pick. He made the Sunday jump from T12 to the winner's circle with a closing 62, while Homa chased to solo second and Kohles finished T3 after falling short of a playoff chance on the 72nd hole.
| Position | Player | Score | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | CaddyBytes note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Gotterup | -20 | 66 | 68 | 68 | 62 | 264 | Original No. 5 pick and winner. |
| 2 | Max Homa | -19 | 67 | 66 | 68 | 64 | 265 | Value/name-watch hit. |
| T3 | Lucas Glover | -18 | 63 | 65 | 69 | 69 | 266 | 54-hole co-leader held T3. |
| T3 | Lee Hodges | -18 | 64 | 66 | 67 | 69 | 266 | 54-hole co-leader held T3. |
| T3 | Ben Kohles | -18 | 65 | 67 | 66 | 68 | 266 | Best value/sleeper finish. |
| T6 | Doug Ghim | -17 | 69 | 65 | 65 | 68 | 267 | Strong weekend result. |
| T6 | Mac Meissner | -17 | 67 | 70 | 66 | 64 | 267 | Final-round mover. |
| T6 | Jackson Suber | -17 | 68 | 64 | 66 | 69 | 267 | Contended deep into the weekend. |
| T9 | Zac Blair | -16 | 63 | 68 | 67 | 70 | 268 | Faded from the Sunday chase group. |
| T9 | Ryo Hisatsune | -16 | 67 | 65 | 69 | 67 | 268 | Top-10 finisher. |
| T9 | Zach Johnson | -16 | 64 | 70 | 66 | 68 | 268 | Strong home-state week. |
| T15 | Rickie Fowler | -14 | 70 | 69 | 63 | 68 | 270 | Best original-pick finish behind Gotterup. |
Final Fantasy Grade Review
| Check | Final note |
|---|---|
| Did the page find the winner? | Yes. Chris Gotterup was an original top-five pick and won the tournament. |
| Did the top-ranked picks pay off? | No. J.T. Poston and Tom Kim both finished outside the top 45. |
| Did the value/sleeper side work? | Yes. Ben Kohles finished T3 and Max Homa finished solo second. |
| Did the hunch work? | No. Keith Mitchell finished T51 and did not become a Sunday factor. |
| Final page grade | B. Winner hit plus value hits, but too many high-rank names failed to contend. |
Fantasy note: This page is for CaddyBytes fantasy golf analysis and tournament coverage. It does not provide gambling picks, odds, sportsbook information, or betting advice. The page is updated after the final round with post-tournament fantasy grades.