Deere tourney history made
SILVIS, Ill. (AP) — Davis Thompson won his first PGA Tour title Sunday with a a 7-under 64 to set the 72-hole scoring record at the John Deere Classic and leave all the drama to second place.
Staked to a two-shot lead, Thompson made a 45-foot birdie putt on the opening hole and no one got any closer to him the rest of the way. He opened with five birdies in six holes, stretched his lead to six shots and ended up winning by four strokes,
Thompson, a 25-yearold from Georgia, finished at 28-under 256 to break by one the John Deere Classic record set by Michael Kim in 2018.
The victory gets him into the next three majors, starting with the British Open in two weeks at Royal Troon. He also will make his Masters debut next April.
Thompson is the 24th player to get his first PGA Tour win at the John Deere Classic, the most of any tournament dating to 1970.
The final hour was all about who would finish second and earn the other spot to the British Open. That went to C.T. Pan of Taiwan, who birdied the 16th and 17th holes and finished with a two-putt par from 20 feet for a 64.
But a pair of youngsters made him sweat it out.
Florida State sophomore Luke Clanton holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 63 and was the first to get to 24 under. Michael Thorbjornsen, the No. 1 player in the PGA Tour University ranking after finishing at Stanford, hit out of a fairway bunker to 18 feet and made the birdie putt for a 63 to join Clanton. With a three-way tie, the Open spot went to Pan based on the world ranking.