John Deere Classic Recap: DeChambeau’s Win Snaps Slump

There are so many good young golfers. They burst onto the PGA Tour seemingly every few weeks, armed with stellar pedigrees and high expectations, both from themselves and gamers alike. But there simply aren't enough victories to go around, especially when you allow for the DJs, Spieths and other superstars to get their annual share.

In the past few years, no golfer arrived with more fanfare than Bryson DeChambeau. He was an SMU all-American and one of only five golfers to win both the NCAA singles title and U.S. Amateur in the same year. He entered the 2016 Masters as that quirky physics major who made all his irons the same length. He exited Augusta far from quirky, with an impressive tie for 21st. DeChambeau turned pro the next week, tied for fourth at the RBC Heritage and his can't-miss career was off and running.

And then it wasn't.

DeChambeau missed his next four cuts and stumbled to the end of the season, needing the Web.com Tour finals to keep his card. This season began no better, making only six cuts in his first 21 starts. To make matters worse, he watched Cody Gribble, then Mackenzie Hughes, Jon Rahm, Wesley Bryan and, just last week, Xander Schauffele all win their maiden PGA Tour titles this season.

DeChambeau endured a soul-crushing eighth consecutive trunk-slam at the U.S. Open. Rock bottom.

How do we know it was the bottom? Well, since then, DeChambeau has been an arrow pointing straight up.

He tied for 26th at the Travelers, then 17th at the Quicken Loans and, just last week, 14th at the Greenbrier. On Sunday, he was headed for another nice finish at the John Deere Classic when he found another gear, birdieing seven of the last 11 holes to overtake another one-time phenom, Patrick Rodgers, and win by one stroke.

In his 40th PGA Tour start, Bryson DeChambeau finally won.

We're just joking about the "finally" part. Winning your first tournament at age 23 is pretty darn good. It's when we get into the comparison game – DeChambeau with an impeccable resume getting lapped by others with lesser pedigrees – that things become unfair.

It's not like DeChambeau has been around all that long, as Rodgers has. (We'll assess Rodgers' tournament and career in a bit.) Still, fair or not. that's how we measure each and every new Flavor of the Month on the PGA Tour.

For gamers, all that matters now is what lies ahead for DeChambeau. First off, he'll head to the Open Championship, and then the WGC-Bridgestone, PGA Championship and the playoffs. The fields will be much tougher than those of the past month. So we shouldn't expect too much, especially this week at Royal Birkdale.

But for any golfer who putted as well as DeChambeau did – a 14-footer for birdie on 18 to win it was the 15th putt in excess of 10 feet that he made during the week – that will keep him in a lot of tournaments.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Patrick Rodgers

Rodgers is no longer in that group of good young players. He's still young. It's the "good" part that's in question. Rodgers, 25, had his first career title – in his 78th PGA Tour event – well within his grasp. But he hit a wayward drive on 17 at TPC Deere Run, which led to bogey, and another bad tee ball on 18, which prevented a tying birdie putt. And driving is the best part of Rodgers' game. Nerves seemed to have set in. Back in 2014, Rodgers arrived as the world's No. 1 amateur, with a great career forecast. And he just hasn't gotten it done, coming close once before with a T2 at the 2015 Wells Fargo. This latest runner-up moved Rodgers to 52nd in the point standings, so at least his card is secure. But he won't find another golden opportunity for victory (and in such a weak field) anytime soon.

Steve Stricker

Stricker made an early Sunday charge up the leaderboard for another top-five cash at his beloved John Deere. It was just his 10th start all season, but the T5 moved him to 103rd in the point standings, ensuring a berth in the upcoming playoffs. But first Stricker will be at the Open Championship, thanks to his solo 4th there last year. We don't expect much from him at Royal Birkdale other than weekend play, but Stricker surely will be of value in other tournaments the rest of the season.

Zach Johnson

This has been a woeful season for Johnson, one in which he has fallen out of the top 50 in the OWGR for the first time in a decade. So he really needed the T5 he recorded at TPC Deere Run. Even with that, he's only 71st in the new OWGR and 87th in the point standings. Johnson heads to the Open Championship as a former winner, so don't dismiss his chances for a good week.

Scott Stallings

Stallings is an odd sort on the PGA Tour. He's a three-time winner but not considered very good. His tie for fifth with Stricker, Johnson and former Deere winner Jonathan Byrd was his second top 10 and fifth top-25 of the season, yet he's made the cut in only half of his 22 starts. The strong showing at the Deere ensured he'll be in the top 125 at the end of the regular season; he's currently 108th. But he's much too undependable to trust in most lineups.

J.J. Henry

Henry is another veteran who used a high finish at the Deere – a tie for 10th – to all but ensure his card for next season. Henry moved from 136th in points to 118th, and there aren't many more tournaments for eight golfers to overtake him into the top 125. If Henry plays the Canadian Open or Wyndham, he could have long-shot value.

Bubba Watson

Watson is in no danger of losing his card, but it would be an embarrassment for the two-time major winner to not qualify for the playoffs. Watson slipped to 123rd in the point standings with a tie for 44th. That's actually one of his better showings of late. A few weeks back, Watson showed a glimmer but that has since flickered out.

Ryan Palmer

Palmer has made the playoffs every year since 2010 but maybe not this year. The veteran missed the cut at TPC Deere Run and fell from 120th to 126th in the point standings. Palmer has been faltering for a few years but only little by little until a more precipitous drop this year. He finished 30th in the point standings in 2014, then 56th and 63rd, which was his lowest finish since 2009. Palmer may sneak into the top 125, but he's not the golfer he's been the past number of years.

Scottish Open

Rafa Cabrera Bello won on the first playoff hole over hard-luck loser Callum Shinkwin, who needed only a par on 18 to win the European Tour event. Cabrera Bello missed the cut the week before at the Irish Open, but the six recent rounds of play should serve him well at the Open Championship this week. This was the Spaniard's third career win, the first in five years. … Padraig Harrington, the winner the last time the Open was played at Royal Birkdale, now has to be considered a contender after he tied for fourth in Scotland. … Matt Kuchar who also looked good in tying Harrington, heads to the Open not only in fine form but with favorable daily fantasy prices. … Then there's the case of Rickie Fowler, who tied for ninth. Ordinarily, that's a fine showing. But in light of Fowler's fade at the U.S. Open, plus his fade in this tournament after opening with a 67, we're not sure what to think of Fowler's chances at Royal Birkdale. Remember, a top 10 or even a top five won't be viewed favorably. Fowler is in the difficult position of needing a win or his tournament will be considered a failure. … Jason Dufner, Patrick Reed and former Open champ Stewart Cink all missed the Scottish cut. But just the fact that they were there and got in two rounds of prep will be a great help for them at Royal Birkdale.

RotoWire Value Picks

Last week: Four top-10s, seven top-25s, two missed cuts, one WD
This week: Winner (DeChambeau), four top-5s, six top-12s, four missed cuts, one WD

In Tier 1, we did quite well and would've done even better had Danny Lee not withdrawn. Daniel Berger and Steve Stricker tied for fifth, and Brian Harman tied for 10th. In Tier 2, not so good. Chez Reavie and Ben Martin tied for 29th, Kyle Stanley tied for 55th, and Kevin Na missed the cut. Tier 3 featured winner Bryson DeChambeau and also T12 Chad Campbell. Nick Watney and Nick Taylor both missed the cut. Among the long shots, bingo, Wesley Bryan tied for third. Brandon Hagy tied for 50th, and Michael Kim tied for 55th, while Grayson Murray missed the cut.

In our DraftKings game, we finished seventh out of 235, even with one missed cut: DeChambeau, Bryan, Stricker, Harman, Kim and Murray for a total of 528 points.