PGA TOUR JOHN DEERE CLASSICSite: Silvis, Ill.
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For all the late pars and the closing run of 46 holes without a bogey, Ryan Moore thought the key to his victory Sunday in the John Deere Classic was a 24-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole.
Moore has a slight lead on fellow Americans Morgan Hoffman and Ben Martin after firing a pair of 65s on Saturday and finishing in the dark on a marathon day that got the tournament back on schedule.
“I don’t quite have a lot of confidence right now”, Guthrie said. “I got to see golf the way you’re supposed to play it from him all day”. “In the end though I snuck it out”.
Play resumed five hours late at noon after almost 2.4 inches of rain overnight – on top of the inch Thursday morning and afternoon that delayed play 31/2 hours. He was third in March in the Valspar Championship and has five top-10 finishes this season.
Loupe, a 27-year-old former LSU player, was facing a 6-foot par putt on the par-4 15th hole when play was called for the day.
The 27-year-old now sits on eight-under par but he is just two shots in front of the chasing pack and will need to avoid mistakes.
“There actually was plenty of light for the tee shot and the second shot”, Moore said. He had three double bogeys, six bogeys and a birdie. 11-16 and parred the last two. The victory marks Moore’s fifth career PGA Tour title and his first since the 2014 CIMB Classic, while Martin’s runner-up emphatically moved him off the FedEx Cup bubble.
Wesley Bryan, the leader Friday when play was suspended, tied for eighth at 14 under after his second straight 70.
Bryan earned his PGA Tour card by winning three events on the Web.com Tour, and he shared the 36-hole lead this week, but he only shot 2 under over the weekend with four birdies and three bogeys Sunday.
South Korea’s Whee Kim also was 13 under after a 64.
“This is a great event”, said Moore, who has never missed a cut here. The 49-year-old Stricker, a former University of IL player from Wisconsin, won the event in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
“This is pretty hard today”. “If you hit your line you know they’re going to go in”. We’re lucky to be playing. “There wasn’t a whole lot of opportunities to make mistakes”.
Steve Stricker had a 72 to tie for 52nd at 6 under.
Johnson, a Drake alum who grew up in Cedar Rapids, was among 90 golfers who were scheduled to begin the second round about 7 p.m. Friday.
“As far as the start and stop, we’re used to that”, Johnson said.
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Coinciding with the Summer Olympics, defending champion Jordan Spieth elected to take the week off.
