SILVIS, IL. – Saturday’s third round was the traditional moving day at the John Deere Classic, and Jordan Spieth set the tone for that.
His fast start inspired others with later tee times, especially Davis Thompson. Thompson shot the week’s low round – a 9-under-par 62 – and will take a two-stroke lead over Eric Cole, Aaron Rai and Hayden Springer into Sunday’s final round at TPC Deere Run.
Spieth, who skipped the JDC for nine years after his last win here, showed flashes of the spectacular form he displayed in years past, but he had too big a deficit to have much of an impact on the leaderboard at the end of the day.
Starting in a tie for 47th place, the two-time JDC champion scorched the front nine with a 29, then worked his way in for an 8-under-par 63. That boosted him 35 spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 12th.
“Just a good solid round. No chip-ins, nothing spectacular, no crazy ones,’’ said Spieth. “Anything is going to be a lull from a 29.’’
Spieth was briefly tied for the lead after 12 holes, then got caught in a club choice dilemma at the 13th. That led to his only bogey and he let a good birdie chance get away at No. 14.
“If I par (at 13) and birdie 14 from the position I was in I shoot 32 on the back and a 61,’’ said Spieth.
Could-a, should-a, would-a!
Spieth goes into Sunday’s final round seven strokes behind Thompson, who stands at 21-under-par 192 after 54 holes. So, get ready for another first-time PGA Tour winner – a JDC tradition. There have been 23 of them in the tournament’s 53-year history, with Spieth among them.
Despite his stunning third round, that 24th first-time winner might not be Thompson. Cole, Rai and Springer all have yet to win on golf’s premier circuit.
Thompson has had three runner-up finishes, with two of them coming in his last six starts. He tied for second last week in the Rocket Mortgage Championship in Detroit and was also a runner-up in the new Myrtle Beach Classic in May. In between his finishes included a tie for ninth in the U.S. Open.
Jon Rahm, now on the LIV Tour, was the first winner to thwart Thompson’s bid for win No. 1. They shared the 54-hole lead before Rahm won by a stroke in their duel at last year’s American Express Championship in California.
“Last week I was four back going into Sunday and didn’t know what it would take to win that golf tournament,’’ said Thompson. “It’s a new week. I’ve been playing well and will just try to keep it going. Hopefully I’ve got one more good one in me.’’
The last first-time winner at the JDC was Dylan Frittelli in 2019. In addition to Spieth other first-time winners here include TPC Deere Run designer D.A. Weibring, Scott Hoch, Payne Stewart, David Toms, ex-Illinois Amateur and Open champion Mark Hensby, reigning British Open champion Brian Harman and reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.
After three days of beautiful weather tournament officials are expecting a sudden change for the final round. Bad weather is expected early in the morning and late in the afternoon. To compensate the 77 survivors will again play in threesomes but play will begin off both the Nos. 1 and 10 tees beginning at 9:25 a.m. Last tee time is 11:37.
