Davis Thompson secures first career PGA Tour victory at John Deere Classic
Former Georgia golfer Davis Thompson secured his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday, winning the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. With an overall score of 28-under-par, 256 including 16-under-par on the weekend, Thompson sets a new tournament scoring record and beats out Florida State amateur Luke Clanton, C.T. Pan and Michael Thorbjornsen by four strokes for the title.
After shooting a nine-under par 62 on Saturday, Thompson birdied five of his first six holes to start Saturday. It was part of his front-nine 29, the Tour’s lowest front-nine score in the final round by a 54-hole leader since Rory McIlroy at the 2022 RBC Canadian Open. Thompson made just two birdies on the back nine after pouring in four in the final seven holes during the third round. Still, the consistent play down the stretch was enough to win the tournament.
The victory by Thompson is the 44th on the PGA Tour from a former player of Georgia head coach Chris Haack. Bubba Watson leads the way with 12 following by Chris Kirk, who has six to his name including one earlier this season. other winners include Harris English, Russell Henley, Kevin Kisner, Brian Harman, Hudson Swafford, Brendon Todd, Sepp Straka, Ryuji Imada and Keith Mitchell. Thompson is also the second straight Bulldog to win at the John Deere Classic, following in the footsteps of Straka last year. Harman also won the event in 2014.
Thompson completed his collegiate career at Georgia in 2021. During his time in Athens, Thompson was chosen as SEC Player of the Year (2020-21) and earned some sort of All-American status each of his final three seasons. As a freshman, he matched a school record with a 9-under 63. He won the NCAA Athens Regional as a sophomore for his first collegiate victory before winning the Jim Rivers Invitational individually to help the Bulldogs take home the team title during his junior season. In 2020-21, Thompson won two different tournaments including the NCAA Tallahassee Regional with a career-best 14-under 202 to help Georgia qualify for the NCAA Championships. He was a semifinalist for the Byron Nelson Award and a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award all while twice ascending to No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
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Outside of UGA, Thompson played for the United States on the Arnold Palmer Cup team twice, helped the U.S. the retain the Walker Cup against Great Britain and Ireland in 2021 and played in multiple PGA Tour events including the 2020 U.S. Open Championship. He turned pro in 2021 and won the REX Hospital Open on the Korn Ferry Tour during his first season. That helped him secure status on the PGA Tour for 2022.
Thompson’s best career finishes prior to Sunday’s win were a trio of runner-ups, once in 2023 at The American Express one stroke behind Jon Rahm before a pair of T2s this season at the Myrtle Beach Classic and at the Rocket Mortgage Classic just last week. Thompson also finished top-10 at the US Open just last month and will have a chance to play in his first Masters next spring as a result of the win at the John Deere.
The victory also secures one of the final spots for players in The Open Championship, the final major of the season. He’ll be joined by fellow former Georgia golfers Harris English, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Sepp Straka, Brendon Todd and of course defending champion Brian Harman July 18-21 at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland. Thompson is also in the field at the prestigious Genesis Scottish Open that starts Thursday at The Renaissance Club.
