Viktor Hovland, in just fourth career pro start, is favorite to win John Deere Classic

At 21 years old and with just three career pro starts under his belt, Viktor Hovland is the favorite to win this week’s John Deere Classic. Hovland, who turned pro last month, has 18/1 odds to win the John Deere at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill., according to Golfodds.com.

Hovland made five starts on the PGA Tour before turning pro prior to the Travelers Championship. He was cut at the Mayakoba Golf Classic and Farmers Insurance Open and tied for 40th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The former Oklahoma State star earned invites into his next two events by winning the 2018 U.S. Amateur. He tied for 32nd and was the low amateur at the Masters and tied for 12th at the U.S. Open. At Pebble Beach he went from a largely unknown rising talent to a potential star in the making, as he stuck around near the top of the leaderboard and was lauded for his remarkable accuracy. His 47 of 56 fairways hit (83.9 percent) tied Henrik Stenson for the best of the week, and he tied for third in greens in regulation (51/72, 70.8 percent). His four-under 280 broke Jack Nicklaus’ record for the lowest amateur score.

He turned pro the following week and tied for 54th at the Travelers. In his next two starts — at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and 3M Open — he tied for 13th.

Besides Hovland being the favorite to win, there’s a slew of other young promising players with strong odds to win. Behind Hovland is Collin Morikawa (20/1), Joaquin Niemann (20/1), Sungjae Im (20/1) and Matthew Wolff (25/1). Morikawa, 22, and Wolff, 20, also turned pro last month, and just last week Wolff outlasted Morikawa to win the 3M Open in Blaine, Minn. Niemann, another former No. 1 amateur, is still only 20 even though he turned pro over a year ago, and Im, 21, turned pro in 2015 and won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour last year.

Complete odds for the John Deere Classic are below. The tournament begins on Thursday and is the final Tour event before the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

John Deere Classic odds to win

Viktor Hovland 18/1
Collin Morikawa 20/1
Joaquin Niemann 20/1
Sungjae Im 20/1
Matthew Wolff 25/1
Kevin Streelman 25/1
Lucas Glover 25/1
Charles Howell III 25/1
Zach Johnson 25/1
Brian Harman 25/1
Daniel Berger 25/1
Ryan Moore 30/1
Kyle Stanley 40/1
Bud Cauley 40/1
Sam Burns 40/1
Wyndham Clark 40/1
Kevin Tway 40/1
Joel Dahmen 50/1
Ryan Palmer 50/1
Jason Dufner 50/1
Nate Lashley 60/1
Scott Brown 60/1
Bronson Burgoon 60/1
J.T. Poston 60/1
Martin Laird 60/1
Cameron Champ 60/1
Mackenzie Hughes 60/1
Peter Malnati 60/1
Denny McCarthy 60/1
Pat Perez 60/1
Vaughn Taylor 60/1
Troy Merritt 60/1
Nick Watney 80/1
Jhonattan Vegas 80/1
Cameron Tringale 80/1
Johnson Wagner 80/1
Danny Lee 80/1
Austin Cook 80/1
Sam Ryder 80/1
Harold Varner III 80/1
Beau Hossler 80/1
Sepp Straka 80/1
Talor Gooch 80/1
Nick Taylor 80/1
Brian Stuard 80/1
Doc Redman 100/1
Russell Henley 100/1
Kyoung-Hoon Lee 100/1
Matt Jones 100/1
Ryan Armour 100/1
Carlos Ortiz 100/1
Roger Sloan 100/1
Joey Garber 100/1
Brice Garnett 100/1
Shawn Stefani 100/1
Hank Lebioda 100/1
Bill Haas 125/1
Peter Uihlein 125/1
Scott Stallings 125/1
Matt Every 125/1
Andrew Landry 125/1
Stephan Jaeger 125/1
Michael Thompson 125/1
Luke Donald 125/1
Zack Sucher 150/1
Adam Long 150/1
Trey Mullinax 150/1
Sam Saunders 150/1
Roberto Castro 150/1
Ted Potter, Jr. 150/1
Kramer Hickok 150/1
Alex Prugh 150/1
Seamus Power 150/1
Ollie Schniederjans 200/1
Curtis Luck 200/1
Cameron Davis 200/1
Stewart Cink 200/1
Michael Kim 300/1
Ho Sung Choi 500/1
Field (all others) 5/1

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