The PGA Tour heads to Illinois for the 53rd John Deere Classic (JDC). Established in 1971, the JDC is the longest running PGA Tour tournament in Illinois, and is the first of two stops in the mid-western state. The second event is the BMW Championship during the FedEx Cup playoff in August.
The event is hosted by TPC Deere Run and is one of the 11 courses to have had a 59 carded. At the 2010 JDC opening round, Paul Goydos finished with 12 birdies and six pars en route to a 59 on the par-71 course.
The JDC is not a designated event with one of the lower purses on the tour at $7.4 million but up slightly from $7.1 million in 2022.
The champion will take home $1.33 million and an exemption to the Open Championship to be played the following week in England. The exemption makes it attractive to the players not already qualified for the final major of the year. But the purse and lower status caused some of the higher ranked players to take the week off.
The 2017 JDC champion Bryson DeChambeau, was suspended by the PGA Tour after his defection to LIV Golf in 2022. However with the new PGA Tour – PIF – DP World Tour and the announcement of a possible path back to the PGA Tour for those that left for LIV Golf.
We may see Bryson at this event again.
Notables in the field
| Cam Young | Garrick Higgo | Sepp Straka |
| J.T. Poston | Webb Simpson | Nate Lashley |
| Jel Dahmen | Seamus Power | Adam Hadwin |
| Denny McCarthy | Ludvig Aberg | Brandt Snedeker |
Players to Watch
Joseph Bramlett
This will be Joseph’s fourth trip to TPC Deere Run. Joseph has failed to make the cut in his three previous appearances and is hoping for different fortunes this week.
In 24 events so far on the PGA Tour this season. Joseph have seven top-25 finishes which included three top-10 finishes. His best finish was a tie for seventh in February at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
His most recent result was a missed cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic (7/2/23)
Bramlett is currently ranked 80th in the FedEx Cup and 159th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Cam Champ
This will be Cam’s fourth trip to TPC Deere Run. On three previous trips, Cam made the cut just once. The made cut resulted in 11th place back in 2021.
In 20 events so far on the PGA Tour Cam has two top-25 finishes which were also his top-10s.
Both were for eighth place. The first was solo eighth at the Zozo Championship in November, and the second was a tie for eighth at the Mexico Open at Vidanta in April.
His most recent result was a missed cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic (7/2/23).
Champ is currently ranked 146th in the FedEx Cup, and 256th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Marcus Byrd
Marcus is in the field this week on a sponsors exemption. As a multiple time winner on the APGA Tour, Marcus has garnered the of attention PGA Tour Sponsors, which has lead to the invitation this week and previous opportunities he’s had to compete at PGA Tour events.
Marcus has been in the field for four PGA Tour event but has failed to play past Friday in each of the prior stops.
He’s appeared on the PGA Tour three times this season. At the Genesis Invitational and Honda Classic in February, and the Wells Fargo Championship in May. His best round of the year was a 69 at Honda on Friday, however it came after an 81 on Thursday. He’s averaging a little of seven over par in those events
Tee Times
Bramlett: Thursday – 2:49 PM; Friday – 9:24 AM
Champ: Thursday – 2:05 PM; Friday – 8:40 AM
Byrd: Thursday – 9:46 AM; Friday – 3:11 PM
How to watch
Thursday (7/6) & Friday (7/7): 4 – 7 PM (Golf)
Saturday (7/8) & Sunday (7/9): 1 – 3 PM (Golf); 3 – 6 PM (CBS)