SILVIS, IL. – The John Deere Classic is known for its record number of champions who notched their first PGA Tour win here. There have been 34 of them in the tourney’s first 54 years and, on Sunday, the next one could be Doug Ghim.
Ghim grew up in Arlington Heights and had a great collegiate career at Texas. But, now 30 years old and a tour member since 2018, Ghim still hasn’t had that elusive first victory.
He has come close. He played in the last group at The Players Championship in 2022, but Justin Thomas won with Ghim finishing sixth. He tied for second in the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open and led the John Deere Classic for 36 holes last year after shooting 62 in the first round. But on the weekend he faded to a tie for 31st.
“It gets frustrating seeing guys you grew up with get that win and you wonder if it’ll ever happen to me,’’ said Ghim. “Maybe it’ll be tomorrow. If it does or not I’ll be grateful for the opportunity and I’ll learn a lot. If I perform the way I know I can I’ll have a chance.’’
Ghim certainly performed at a high level in Saturday’s third round, shooting a 6-under-par 65 that boosted him five places into solo sixth place. He’s at 14-under-par 199 for the first 54 holes. He trails co-leaders Lucas Glover and Lee Hodges by just two strokes and Ben Koles, Jackson Suber and Zac Blair – the trio tied for third – by one.
“I’m excited, especially playing one close to home,’’ said Ghim, “but it’s just golf. The more you play, the luckier you get. But we all do a good job of thinking too much.’’
Ghim can thinking about the players he has to beat. The main one is Glover. The 46-year old former U.S. Open champion won the JDC in 2021 and has either led solo or shared the lead in all three rounds this year.
Hodges is the only player ahead of Ghim who has a PGA Tour win. He won the 3M Open in Minnesota in 2023, going wire-to-wire to win by seven shots. Kohles, Suber and Blair will – like Ghim – be seeking their first PGA Tour win on Sunday.
The Fourth of July produced a weather change for the JDC. Friday night rain led to Saturday play going off in threesomes with rounds starting on both the first and 10th tees. Preferred lies were also allowed. Still, there wasn’t a dramatic drop in scores. Rickie Fowler did the best, shooting a 63 to tie the low round of the week.
A late afternoon thunderstorm also created a suspension in play on Friday with six players left on the course, including four atop the leaderboard. Blair was the leader at 16-under. Kohles had finished at 15-under and Glover, Suber and Hodges were on the course at that number.
