After two days of low scores, the John Deere Classic has cut its field in half. This week is a birdie marathon to see who can go the lowest.
Plenty of players found success, but many did not. They could not make enough birdies drop to stay in the hunt.
The lead is 14-under through 36 holes as C.T. Pan and Aaron Rai fired off 8-under 63s on Friday to follow up their 65s from Thursday.
Leaderboard heading into the weekend @JDClassic
T1. C.T. Pan (-14)
T1. Aaron Rai
3. Harry Hall (-13)
T4. Eric Cole (-12)
T4. Davis Thompson
T4. Denny McCarthy
T4. Luke Clanton (a)
T4. Sungjae Im
T4. Hayden Springer— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 6, 2024
Among the most popular names to play this weekend are two-time John Deere Classic winner Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Joel Dahmen, Keith Mitchell and Sungjae Im.
There are 24 players within four shots of Pan and Rai, which means the marathon will continue through the next 36 holes. Who will be able to prevent mistakes and make the most birdies?
Defending champion Sepp Straka made the cut on the number at 5-under. It does not seem like he will win back-to-back titles.
The cut line was 5-under, so anyone with 4-under or higher went home early. It is odd to see a cut that low, but that is how TPC Deere Run is playing this week.
Let’s take a look at the most popular names headed home.
The most popular name to MC at John Deere Classic
— Daniel Berger (-4; 68-70)
— Harry Higgs (-3; 72-67)
— Matt Kuchar: (-3; 69-70)
— Nick Dunlap: (-3; 69-70)
— Kevin Kisner: (-2; 68-72)
— Patton Kizzire: (-1; 71-70)
— Maverick McNealy: (E; 67-75)
— Nick Hardy: (E; 70-72)
— Neal Shipley: (+2; 70-74)
Higgs has been on quite the run on the Korn Ferry Tour and is on track to secure his PGA Tour card again. Most of the time, a 3-under total after 36 holes would see a guy play the weekend, but not this one.
The John Deere Classic has seen 1,352 birdies in two days of play. A 4-under and higher will not get a golfer paid. Many of these guys played well Thursday, but Friday’s wind caused problems for them and ultimately sent them home.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.