The US’ Davis Thompson on Sunday birdied five of the first six holes and cruised to a record-setting four-stroke victory at the John Deere Classic, while Taiwan’s C.T. Pan tied for second and also earned a berth into the British Open.
Thompson, 25, fired a seven-under-par 64 to finish on a 72-hole tournament record of 28-under 256 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, to take home his first PGA Tour title.
Thompson, ranked 70th in the world, broke the old mark of 27-under set by the US’ Michael Kim in 2018. He followed his sizzling start with back-to-back birdies at nine, and 10 then answered his lone bogey at 12 with a birdie at 14 and parred his way into the clubhouse.
Photo: AFP
“I’m just thankful it worked out. I got off to a great start today and was able to just kind of cruise on the back nine,” Thompson said after closing with a seven-under 64. “Getting off to a good start was crucial, and I was just able to ride the momentum coming in.”
Thompson made a 45 foot (41.7m) birdie putt on the first hole for a three-shot lead, and no one got closer to him the rest of the way.
The 25-year-old from Georgia finished at 28-under 256 to break by one the John Deere Classic record set by Michael Kim in 2018.
Photo: Joseph Cress-USA Today
“I just wanted to stay aggressive,” Thompson said. “I knew there would be low scores out there today, because the wind kind of died down and the conditions were a little soft. So I knew I was going to have to go play well. Thankfully, I made a great putt on one and had a great up and down on two and kept the ball rolling.”
The victory gets him into the next three majors, starting with the British Open in two weeks at Royal Troon in Scotland.
The final hour was all about who would finish second and earn the other spot to the British Open. That went to Pan, who birdied the 16th and 17th holes and finished with a two-putt par from 20 feet for a 64.
However, 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 for second, the British Open spot went to Pan based on the world ranking.
“Honestly going to be hectic to arrange all the travel details last minute, but it will be a good problem to have,” Pan said.
Additional reporting by AP
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