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Arab News
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Davis Thompson makes late birdie to break out of a logjam and lead John Deere
SILVIS, Illinois:Davis Thompson made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Saturday to break out of a logjam that at one point featured 10 players tied for the lead, giving him a 4-under 67 on a much tougher golf course and a one-shot lead in the John Deere Classic. Thompson was among five players tied for the lead when he stood over his final putt, after Brian Campbell had just holed a 30-foot birdie putt. His final birdie put him at 15-under 198, one shot ahead of Campbell, Max Homa, Emiliano Grillo and David Lipsky, each of whom had a 68. About the only player not in the mix was 36-hole leader Doug Ghim, who played his last 10 holes with two bogeys and no birdies and shot 74, pushing him outside the top 20. Thompson had a birdie-birdie finish, though he missed an 8-foot eagle attempt on the par-5 17th hole. He will try to become the first player to win back-to-back at the John Deere Classic since Steve Stricker won three in a row from 2009 through 2011. Also at stake for Thompson is a chance to get into the British Open, as a victory would move him to the top of the alternate list determined by the next world ranking. But the final 18 holes feels a lot longer off considering how many players are very much in the mix going into Sunday. 'Nice to have some momentum going into tomorrow,' Thompson said. Camilo Villegas (69) and Austin Eckroat (67) were among four players three shots behind. Matt Kuchar (67) and Auburn junior Jackson Koivun were in the group four back. Thirteen players were within four shots of the lead. Of the top 14 players, only Lipsky, Koivun and Kevin Roy have yet to win on the PGA Tour. Homa is the most proven of the lot, though he has been trying to pull himself out of a deep slump that has left him on the outside of just trying to make the PGA Tour playoffs this year. Homa was steady again, even after one of his rare misses. He was some 40 yards left of the green at the par-5 10th, even going across the road, but managed to escape with par and then took advantage of the scoring holes on the back nine for his 68. Homa last won on the PGA Tour in January 2023 at Torrey Pines. He has been under scrutiny this year for his poor form — more than a year since his last top 10 — while changing coaches, equipment and twice changing caddies. 'Golf has just been very boring for me this year. I haven't had a whole lot of stress, and you want to be stressed out. So I look forward to the butterflies in the morning; I look forward to the first tee shot,' Homa said. 'It's just nice to get to feel that again. It's been a while.' This was not the same TPC Deere Run that yielded low scores over the opening two rounds. The starting times were moved up to avoid afternoon thunderstorms, and hot weather and wind combined to make the greens firmer and fasters. Plus, several of the pins were tucked along the edges, punishing misses on the wrong side. No one shot lower than 66 in the third round. There were 28 scores of 65 or better over the opening two rounds. 'Certainly makes for a fun Sunday when a bunch of guys have a chance,' Kuchar said. One of them is Koivun, still four shots back but with a chance to make it two years in a row with an amateur winning on the PGA Tour. Nick Dunlap won The American Express last year in January and left Alabama to turn pro, having $20 million signature events to play. Koivun already is assured a PGA Tour card through the PGA Tour University accelerated program, but is deferring that to return to Auburn. 'It's obviously very inspiring to see what he did about a year ago now,' Koivun said. 'Obviously, to be one of the few (amateurs) to win a professional event would be great. At the end of the day I just got to go give it my best shot and be happy with the result.'
Washington Post
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Davis Thompson makes late birdie to break out of a logjam and lead John Deere
SILVIS, Ill. — Davis Thompson made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Saturday to break out of a logjam that at one point featured 10 players tied for the lead, giving him a 4-under 67 on a much tougher golf course and a one-shot lead in the John Deere Classic.
Associated Press
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Davis Thompson makes late birdie to break out of a logjam and lead John Deere
SILVIS, Ill. (AP) — Davis Thompson made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Saturday to break out of a logjam that at one point featured 10 players tied for the lead, giving him a 4-under 67 on a much tougher golf course and a one-shot lead in the John Deere Classic. Thompson was among five players tied for the lead when he stood over his final putt, after Brian Campbell had just holed a 30-foot birdie putt. His final birdie put him at 15-under 198, one shot ahead of Campbell, Max Homa, Emiliano Grillo and David Lipsky, each of whom had a 68. About the only player not in the mix was 36-hole leader Doug Ghim, who played his last 10 holes with two bogeys and no birdies and shot 74, pushing him outside the top 20. Thompson had a birdie-birdie finish, though he missed an 8-foot eagle attempt on the par-5 17th hole. He will try to become the first player to win back-to-back at the John Deere Classic since Steve Stricker won three in a row from 2009 through 2011. Also at stake for Thompson is a chance to get into the British Open, as a victory would move him to the top of the alternate list determined by the next world ranking. But the final 18 holes feels a lot longer off considering how many players are very much in the mix going into Sunday. 'Nice to have some momentum going into tomorrow,' Thompson said. Camilo Villegas (69) and Austin Eckroat (67) were among four players three shots behind. Matt Kuchar (67) and Auburn junior Jackson Koivun were in the group four back. Thirteen players were within four shots of the lead. Of the top 14 players, only Lipsky, Koivun and Kevin Roy have yet to win on the PGA Tour. Homa is the most proven of the lot, though he has been trying to pull himself out of a deep slump that has left him on the outside of just trying to make the PGA Tour playoffs this year. Homa was steady again, even after one of his rare misses. He was some 40 yards left of the green at the par-5 10th, even going across the road, but managed to escape with par and then took advantage of the scoring holes on the back nine for his 68. Homa last won on the PGA Tour in January 2023 at Torrey Pines. He has been under scrutiny this year for his poor form — more than a year since his last top 10 — while changing coaches, equipment and twice changing caddies. 'Golf has just been very boring for me this year. I haven't had a whole lot of stress, and you want to be stressed out. So I look forward to the butterflies in the morning; I look forward to the first tee shot,' Homa said. 'It's just nice to get to feel that again. It's been a while.' This was not the same TPC Deere Run that yielded low scores over the opening two rounds. The starting times were moved up to avoid afternoon thunderstorms, and hot weather and wind combined to make the greens firmer and fasters. Plus, several of the pins were tucked along the edges, punishing misses on the wrong side. No one shot lower than 66 in the third round. There were 28 scores of 65 or better over the opening two rounds. 'Certainly makes for a fun Sunday when a bunch of guys have a chance,' Kuchar said. One of them is Koivun, still four shots back but with a chance to make it two years in a row with an amateur winning on the PGA Tour. Nick Dunlap won The American Express last year in January and left Alabama to turn pro, having $20 million signature events to play. Koivun already is assured a PGA Tour card through the PGA Tour University accelerated program, but is deferring that to return to Auburn. 'It's obviously very inspiring to see what he did about a year ago now,' Koivun said. 'Obviously, to be one of the few (amateurs) to win a professional event would be great. At the end of the day I just got to go give it my best shot and be happy with the result.' ___ AP golf:
Associated Press
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Ghim holes out from fairway again at Deere for first 36-hole lead on PGA Tour
SILVIS, Ill. (AP) — Doug Ghim holed out from the fairway for eagle for the second straight day, sending him to a 3-under 68 and a one-shot lead Friday in the John Deere Classic, his first 36-hole lead in his six years on the PGA Tour. Defending champion Davis Thompson (63) and Max Homa (68) were among the five players within one shot of the lead going into the weekend. The starting times have been moved up Saturday because of rain in the forecast. Ghim holed out on the short par-4 sixth in the opening round. This time it was from 179 yards away on the par-4 15th. 'I guess holing out two days in a row is always nice,' Ghim said. 'It's been a couple years since I holed out from the fairway. To get two back-to-back days is great.' Ghim had a two-shot lead until hitting left into the trees and down a cart path, punching out through the green and chipping to 18 feet, missing the putt to make his second bogey of the round. He was at 12-under 130. Mexico Open winner Brian Campbell (66), David Lipsky (67) and Emiliano Grillo (66) were tied for second Ghim still feels a long way off from a chance to win for the first time at a tournament that has produced more first-time winners than any PGA Tour event since 1970. 'The person that's going to win this tournament will be in the 20-under par area, so last time I checked I'm not there yet,' Ghim said. 'I don't feel like I'm in the lead, and I'm just happy that I get to be teeing off late tomorrow in contention.' Homa was tied with Ghim late in the afternoon, when the greens were getting dry and crusty. But on the 18th hole, he pulled his tee shot into a bunker, missing the green to the right and wound up missing a 12-foot par putt to fall one back. He's still in good shape going into the weekend as he tries to get his game turned around. Putting four rounds together, or even three rounds, has been the difficulty and Homa did not sound like he was willing to get too far ahead of himself. 'I don't think really much changes. I mean, just play the golf course,' Homa said. 'You're going to have to shoot really low. If you went out there and tried to do something specific, I'm not so sure that is going to work. Somebody can go out there and shoot 11 under out there and jump everybody. So just go do what we did today and play another round of golf. 'Just keep waiting until the back nine on Sunday basically.' Thompson played in the morning and was the first to reach 11-under 131 as he tries to become the first repeat winner of the John Deere Classic since Steve Stricker won three in a row from 2009 through 2011. There was high drama late in the day that wound up setting the cut at 5-under 137. Rikuya Hoshino and Jesper Svensson each made birdie on their last hole to move the cut line to 5 under, only for Paul Peterson to take bogey on his last hole to move it back to 4 under. But in the final group, Brendan Valdes drilled his tee shot on the par-4 18th, hit his approach to about 8 feet and holed the birdie putt for a 66. That moved the cut back to 5 under, eliminating 14 players from the weekend. Rickie Fowler and Jake Knapp wound up making the cut on the number. Meanwhile, 12 players were separated by two shots going into the third round, a group that includes Camilo Villegas, Sam Stevens and Si Woo Kim. Stevens and Kim are trying to finish high enough to move up the world ranking that will be used next week to set the alternate list for the British Open. ___ AP golf:
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Max Homa cards second-round 68, enters weekend in contention at 2025 John Deere Classic
SILVIS, Ill. — Max Homa shot 3-under 68 Friday in the second round of the 2025 John Deere Classic to enter the weekend in contention at TPC Deere Run. Homa has struggled all season, failing to make the cut in seven of 16 starts and finishing inside the top 25 just once. His 63 on Thursday had him one shot off the lead entering Friday, and he's in the same position as the focus turns to the weekend. Doug Ghim leads at 12 under and Homa is part of a five-way tie for second at 11 under. Advertisement "I thought everything was good," Homa said. "Rolled it well. Hit the irons awesome. Wedged it well. Drove it well... Similar to yesterday, just nothing sticks out. Just was really good golf kind of through the bag. Yeah, those are my favorite kind of days." Homa made five birdies in the second round, offset by two bogeys, one of which came on the last hole when a wayward tee shot found the fairway bunker down the left side of No. 18. "It was a lot harder today with the wind, especially the back nine. Couple of those tee shots played pretty tricky as opposed to yesterday when we played with no wind." Other than that, though, Homa was dialed in off the tee all day, especially on the par-5 17th when he sailed a 354-yard drive over the trees to set up a second shot of just 189 yards. Advertisement "I like to cut the ball and that hole, you know, sets up for a bit of a draw. But what's nice is the way I was swinging it it didn't have a ton of curve on it the last two days, so I'm able to hit a have you small cut, and if I just get some air under it. It's definitely an uncomfortable tee shot, but I like the way I wedge it, so it feels like a free ball. If I miss the fairway, I layup and get to hit a wedge in there 10 feet." He didn't need to lay up. He hit his second shot to the left side of the green and got up-and-down for birdie. Homa enters the weekend firmly in contention for the first time this season as he seeks his seventh PGA Tour victory and his first since January 2023. The job is far from over, though, especially considering the fact that 12 of the last 15 winners at the John Deere Classic have finished at 20 under or better. Advertisement "I don't think really much changes [over the weekend]. I mean, just play the golf course. You're going to have to shoot really low. If you went out there and tried to do something specific, I'm not so sure that is going to work. Somebody can go out there and shoot 11-under out there and jump everybody. So just go do what we did today and play another round of golf. Just keep waiting until the back nine on Sunday basically." The solo leader, Doug Ghim, echoed that sentiment. "Being in the lead this early in the tournament doesn't really mean that much. Obviously having a lead is awesome at any point in the tournament, but with 36 holes left to play and that many people at 11-under par, I mean, doesn't feel like much of a lead. If anything, I feel like I'm chasing to try to get to 20-, 22-under par, even deeper if possible. You know, as far as I know I'm nine, ten shots back of that right now." Advertisement Due to thunderstorms in the forecast at TPC Deere Run on Saturday afternoon, players will be going off both No. 1 tee and No. 10 tee in threesomes for the third round, starting at 7:45 a.m. ET. Homa will tee off in the second-to-last group with David Lipsky and Emiliano Grillo, just ahead of Ghim, Brian Campbell and defending John Deere Classic champion Davis Thompson. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: John Deere Classic 2025: Max Homa in contention after two rounds
