The Golf Watch

"Give the John Deere Classic credit for being creative in recruiting players"

This year's JDC field has had a serious boost thanks to a new tactic used by the tournament committee.  Jeff Rude of Golfweek explains on The Tour Blog:

Give the John Deere Classic credit for being creative in recruiting players. The tournament spent about $300,000 on a charter plane (the one the Dallas Mavericks use) to get players from the Quad Cities to England for the British Open.

Because of that service, new this year, the Deere field is vastly improved. Entering the 2007 tournament, the field included seven players who went to the British Open the next week. This year, 20 players heading to the British came to America’s heartland.

I guess this means that if a player misses the cut Friday, he has to stay until Sunday for the flight across the pond.

Byrd captures third PGA Tour title at John Deere, qualifies for British Open

Jonathan Byrd birdied three of his last five holes to capture his third PGA Tour title at the John Deere Classic.  Byrd trailed Tim Clark by as many as five strokes during his final round, but after bogeys on the 15th and 17th holes, Clark saw his lead disappear.  With the win, Byrd now qualifies for the British Open at Carnoustie.  "I’m going.  I don’t have any other plans.  I have no passport with me.  I’m going to have to make a quick trip home and get that…I never played there, so I’m pretty excited," said Byrd to Bobby Clampett of CBS.  Peter Oosterhuis said the following about Tim Clark: "I was very surprised he didn’t win today.  Maybe a couple of dodgy decisions, but some bad breaks too at 15 and 17.”  

Patterson: American Century probably has better field than John Deere

This weekend, NBC and ESPN2 will be airing the American Century Championship from Nevada where all-star athletes like Michael Jordan and Emmitt Smith will compete on the golf course.  Jeff Patterson writes on Golf Digest's blog entitled Local Knowledge, that the American Century Championship probably has a better field than this week's PGA Tour event, the John Deere Classic.  Patterson writes, "As the PGA Tour stops in Illinois this week for the John Deere Classic, another golf tournament, the American Century Championship, will be played in Nevada. The latter, believe it or not, probably has the better field."

Beem, Kuchar, eight others out of John Deere

Tom Johnston of Quad-Cities Online reports that 10 players have withdrawn from this year's John Deere Classic. "As is usually the case, there were a number of field changes on Monday -- 10 of them involving 20 players," writes Johnston.  Notables that will no longer be playing include 2002 PGA Champion Rich Beem, former US Amateur winner Matt Kuchar, and Olin Browne.  The only player in the top-40 in the world at this week's event is reigning Masters champion Zach Johnson.

Johnson is highest ranked player in John Deere field

Zach Johnson, who is currently ranked 15th in the world, is the higest ranked player in the field this week at the John Deere Classic.  In fact, he is the only player in the top-40 in the world who will be at the tournament.  Dan Lubin of CBS SportsLine.com writes, "Being the cynosure of a PGA Tour event certainly marks a career first for Johnson. But what adds another measure of significance to this week’s action is the setting. The TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois is just a stone’s throw from the Iowa border and only about a 100 miles east of Cedar Rapids. Due to its proximity, Zach’s support system will be legions large..." Johnson is scheduled to play next week at the British Open.