Davis Thompson makes late birdie to break out of a logjam and lead John Deere

SILVIS Ill AP Davis Thompson made a -foot birdie putt on the th hole Saturday to break out of a logjam that at one point featured players tied for the lead giving him a -under on a much tougher golf curriculum and a one-shot lead in the John Deere Classic Thompson was among five players tied for the lead when he stood over his final putt after Brian Campbell had just holed a -foot birdie putt His final birdie put him at -under one shot ahead of Campbell Max Homa Emiliano Grillo and David Lipsky each of whom had a About the only player not in the mix was -hole leader Doug Ghim who played his last holes with two bogeys and no birdies and shot pushing him outside the top Thompson had a birdie-birdie finish though he missed an -foot eagle attempt on the par- th hole He will try to become the first contestant to win back-to-back at the John Deere Classic since Steve Stricker won three in a row from through Also at stake for Thompson is a chance to get into the British Open as a supremacy would move him to the top of the alternate list determined by the next world ranking But the final holes feels a lot longer off considering how various players are very much in the mix going into Sunday Nice to have various momentum going into the next day Thompson noted Camilo Villegas and Austin Eckroat were among four players three shots behind Matt Kuchar and Auburn junior Jackson Koivun were in the group four back Thirteen players were within four shots of the lead Of the top players only Lipsky Koivun and Kevin Roy have yet to win on the PGA Tour Homa is the most of proven of the lot though he has been trying to pull himself out of a deep slump that has left him on the outside of just trying to make the PGA Tour playoffs this year Homa was steady again even after one of his rare misses He was several yards left of the green at the par- th even going across the road but managed to escape with par and then took advantage of the scoring holes on the back nine for his Homa last won on the PGA Tour in January at Torrey Pines He has been under scrutiny this year for his poor form more than a year since his last top while changing coaches equipment and twice changing caddies Golf has just been very boring for me this year I haven t had a whole lot of stress and you want to be stressed out So I look forward to the butterflies in the morning I look forward to the first tee shot Homa reported It s just nice to get to feel that again It s been a while This was not the same TPC Deere Run that yielded low scores over the opening two rounds The starting times were moved up to avoid afternoon thunderstorms and hot weather and wind combined to make the greens firmer and fasters Plus several of the pins were tucked along the edges punishing misses on the wrong side No one shot lower than in the third round There were scores of or better over the opening two rounds Certainly makes for a fun Sunday when a bunch of guys have a chance Kuchar reported One of them is Koivun still four shots back but with a chance to make it two years in a row with an amateur winning on the PGA Tour Nick Dunlap won The American Express last year in January and left Alabama to turn pro having million signature events to play Koivun already is assured a PGA Tour card through the PGA Tour University accelerated scheme but is deferring that to return to Auburn It s obviously very inspiring to see what he did about a year ago now Koivun stated Obviously to be one of the meager amateurs to win a professional event would be great At the end of the day I just got to go give it my best shot and be happy with the conclusion AP golf https apnews com hub golf Source