SILVIS, IL. – Sungjae Im started his Sunday round in the John Deere Classic with five straight birdies, and Ben Griffin also was 5-under through the first five holes, making an eagle, three birdies and a par.
Those were extraordinary starts in the $8 million PGA Tour stop at TPC Deere Run, but not nearly enough. Third-round leader Davis Thompson was just too good.
He increased a two-stroke lead from the start of the day to six after making seven threes and two fours in a front nine 29. Thompson had more challengers on the back side but held off Michael Thorbjornsen, C.T. Pan and amateur Luke Clanton. They were were four strokes back in sharing second place.
Thompson, rarely smiling throughout the tournament, broke into tears when his wife Holly greeted him on the 18th green. Then all could appreciate his 28-under-par 256 total for the 72 holes, a tournament record and one better than Michael Kim had in an eight-stroke victory in 2018.
Clanton, who set a tournament record by an amateur, and Thorbjornsen both shot 63s on Sunday and Thompson had a 64.
Thompson added his name to a John Deere Classic tradition. The 53-year old tournament has been a friendly place for players who haven’t won on the PGA Tour. Thompson became its 24th first-time champion, joining the likes of TPC Deere Run designer D.A. Weibring, Scott Hoch, Payne Stewart, former Illinois Amateur and Open winner Mark Hensby, Jordan Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau. Thompson was the ninth first-time winner on the tour this season.
“I had the feeling when I turned at 6-under I had to have some cushion,’’ said Thompson. “Thankfully I was able to make some birdies early from some weird positions, and finally I hit some good tee shots coming down the stretch.’’
Low scores are nothing new in the JDC, but this staging was exceptional. All 77 players who qualified for the weekend rounds broke par for the 72 holes and the field combined for a 67.90 average on Sunday, the lowest in tournament history. The 68.60 average for the entire tournament was also a record.
There was other interesting footnotes:
Clanton, a junior at Florida State in the field on a sponsor exemption, became the first amateur to finish in the top 10 in back-to-back PGA Tour events since Billy Joe Patton in 1958.
Thorbjornsen was in only his third PGA tournament, having received playing privileges as the top player in the PGA University standings in 2024.
And, for the third straight year, the champion resided in the same Geneseo rental home during the tournament.
Thompson got his first victory in his 63rd career start on the PGA Tour. He had been second three times, beaten by Jon Rahm in last year’s American Express Classic last year, Chris Gotterup at Myrtle Beach in May and Australia’s Cam Davis last week in Detroit.
“My goal for this week was to kick the door down, and finally get a win,’’ said Thompson, who is now No. 22 in the FedEx Cup standings and on his way to the British Open in two weeks.
The 6-4 Thompson, 25, is a University of Georgia product and lives on Sea Island, Ga. His father Todd was a two-time golf captain for the Bulldogs and is a good friend of Zach Johnson, the JDC’s ambassador on the tour and the most recent U.S. Ryder Cup captain.
“They’re a great family,’’ said Johnson, who has played many practice rounds with Davis. “I’m not saying that just to be nice. I saw this (win) coming about two-three months ago. He did some changes in his golf bag and it started to click. If you know him it’s not surprising.’’
