Patrick Cantlay will no longer headline the field at the John Deere Classic. The eight-time winner is withdrawing three days ahead of his initial tee time. The reason for his withdrawal was not disclosed by the PGA Tour. He has been in good form lately, finishing in the top five of the last two events he has played. He will be replaced by two-time winner Russell Knox.
The PGA Tour Communications X page revealed:
"Patrick Cantlay is a WD from the John Deere Classic and is replaced in the field by Russell Knox."
Cantlay was the betting favorite prior to withdrawal. He had slightly better odds than Jordan Spieth, Sungjae Im, Sepp Straka, and others. Now, Spieth will presumably have the more favorable odds this weekend.
Cantlay was also one of the highest-ranked members of the field. He is World No. 8 right now, and the next-closest player in the field for the John Deere Classic is Sepp Straka at 24th overall. Spieth is ranked 32nd as well.
Full odds for John Deere Classic without Patrick Cantlay
Patrick Cantlay was expected by oddsmakers to win the John Deere Classic. The star golfer put in a top-five finish at the Travelers Championship and was tied for third at the US Open before that.
The odds provided here did include Patrick Cantlay (+900). These will shift before tee times on Thursday since Cantlay has been removed from the field. As it stands, Jordan Spieth had the second-best odds and is now the favorite.
Here are the odds via CBS Sports:
- Jordan Spieth +1800
- Sungjae Im +2000
- Sepp Straka +2000
- Aaron Rai +2200
- Maverick McNealy +2800
- Keith Mitchell +2800
- Davis Thompson +3000
- Denny McCarthy +3000
- Jason Day +3300
- J.T. Poston +3500
- Sam Stevens +4000
- Nick Dunlap +4000
- Cam Davis +5000
- Kevin Yu +5000
- Eric Cole +6000
- Beau Hossler +6000
- Taylor Montgomery +6000
- Luke Clanton +6500
- Ben Griffin +6500
- Mark Hubbard +6500
- Lucas Glover +6500
- Patrick Rodgers +7000
- Ryo Hisatsune +7000
- Michael Thorbjornsen +7000
- Thorbjørn Olesen +7000
- Adam Svensson +7500
- Doug Ghim +7500
- Andrew Novak +8000
- Adam Schenk +8000
- Daniel Berger +8000
- Seamus Power +8000
- J.J. Spaun +8000
- Lee Hodges +8000
- Michael Kim +9000
- Jhonattan Vegas +9000
- S.H. Kim +10000
- Nate Lashley +10000
- Neal Shipley +10000
- Davis Riley +10000
- K.H. Lee +10000
- Alejandro Tosti +10000
- Mac Meissner +11000
- Dylan Wu +11000
- Alex Smalley +11000
- Jake Knapp +11000
- Joseph Bramlett +11000
- Andrew Putnam +11000
- Hayden Springer +11000
- Brendon Todd +11000
- Rico Hoey +11000
- Chris Gotterup +11000
- Chan Kim +11000
- Jacob Bridgeman +11000
- Luke List +11000
- David Skinns +12000
- Justin Lower +12000
- C.T. Pan +12000
- Pierceson Coody +12000
- Chandler Phillips +12000
- Zach Johnson +12000
- Cameron Champ +12000
- Joel Dahmen +15000
- Nick Hardy +15000
- Sami Valimaki +15000
- Ryan Moore +15000
- Greyson Sigg +15000
- Chesson Hadley +15000
- Garrick Higgo +15000
- Carson Young +15000
- Ben Silverman +15000
- Vince Whaley +15000
Either way, Cantlay's withdrawal shakes things up for the PGA Tour this weekend.