Lucas Glover and Zac Blair share the first-round lead at the John Deere Classic after posting bogey-free, 8-under 63s on Thursday in Silvis, Ill.<\/p>\n
Zach Johnson, Lee Hodges and German Stephan Jaeger are one stroke behind the co-leaders after one trip around TPC Deere Run. Davis Riley used a hole-in-one and an eagle on consecutive holes to shoot a 6-under 65, where he\u2019s tied with Ben Kohles and Patrick Fishburn.<\/p>\n
Glover, 46, birdied seven of his first 11 holes before cooling down the rest of the way.<\/p>\n
The 2009 U.S. Open champion won the John Deere in 2021 and has collected three of his six PGA Tour titles in this decade. He said the 63 — his lowest round of the year by four shots — showed him his game is \u201cstill there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy to lose belief in that when you\u2019ve been struggling,\u201d Glover said. \u201cLike I said, I saw some good things Sunday (at the Travelers Championship), even though I finished wherever I finished, way down there. Saw some good stuff. Been having just a lot of those days where my ball seemed to just roll away from the hole. Today it kind of rolled towards it, so maybe it\u2019s turning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blair, meanwhile, is searching for his first PGA Tour victory. The 35-year-old started his day on the back nine, then went birdie-eagle at Nos. 1-2 for a boost. He led the field in strokes gained on approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust trying not to chase every flag, maybe, and do dumb things and just get a lot of looks,\u201d Blair said. \u201cFelt like I did a pretty good job with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s eagle-birdie finish pushed him near the top of the leaderboard and all but ensured he will make the cut at the John Deere for an incredible 18th year in a row. The native of nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has played the event every year since 2002 and skipped the U.S. Senior Open this week to keep that streak going.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe outcome of my week from a golf standpoint, professionally speaking, just is irrelevant almost,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s everything\u2019s icing on the cake, but you could maybe say it\u2019s kind of that way, as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just love being here, you know, and I\u2019m comfortable obviously, so my scorecard — I know that\u2019s an ingredient this week, but it\u2019s not everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Riley stood at 2 under for his round before sinking the first hole-in-one of his PGA Tour career at the par-3, 150-yard 16th hole. His 9-iron shot landed just behind the pin and slowly spun back to the cup. He followed that up with an 18 1\/2-foot eagle putt at the par-5 17th.<\/p>\n
\u201c(On) the back nine I felt like I was hitting some high-quality shots,\u201d Riley said. \u201cThen obviously to get the hole-in-one and to eagle the next was the kicker for me and what made today what could have been a pretty average day into a really good day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Defending champion Brian Campbell and two-time John Deere winner Jordan Spieth opened with 1-under 70s.<\/p>\n
–Field Level Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lucas Glover and Zac Blair share the first-round lead at the John Deere Classic after posting bogey-free, 8-under 63s on Thursday in Silvis, Ill. Zach Johnson, Lee Hodges and German…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":480489,"template":"","news_cat":[25,4388,4383,4396],"class_list":["post-480488","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news_cat-pga_tour","news_cat-recap","news_cat-story","news_cat-top-story"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n