14 of 25John Deere Classic Contestants Make the Cut at the British Open
Fourteen of the 25 players who competed in last week's John Deere Classic made the cut Friday at the British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.The group represents more than half of the 26 Americans who will be playing on the weekend at the great English links course.
At 2-under par, Steve Stricker has the best 36-hole score of the Deere constituency; he sits in a four-way tie for 11th following rounds of 67-71.
The former three-time John Deere Classic champion (2009-2011) trails leader Brandt Snedeker by eight shots going into the weekend. Snedeker shot 6-under 64 on Friday - a strong follow up to his opening round of 66. The Nashville native and former Vanderbilt player is at 10-under after two rounds, one stroke ahead of Australian Adam Scott, who has been impressive over the first two days.
Tiger Woods shot his second consecutive 67 Friday and is at 6-under for the tournament and in solo third place. Woods, Ernie Els (3-under), and Graeme McDowell (4-under) are the only players among the top 10 who have won major championship.
Meanwhile, 2012 John Deere Classic champion Zach Johnson slid 14 places down the leaderboard Friday after a round of 4-over 74. Johnson, who was tied for second after his brilliant opening round of 65, struggled with his putter on Friday. He was tied for 15th with 12 other players, including Carl Petterson and Kyle Stanley, who, like Zach, played in the John Deere Classic.
Others in the that category were Ted Potter, Jr. and Garth Mulroy, of South Africa, both of whom were even par and T-28. 2006 John Deere Classic champion John Senden and 2005 sponsor exemption Nick Watney were tied for 40th at 1-over par.
Troy Matteson, who battled Johnson in sudden death last Sunday, stood at 2-over and was tied for 51st. Charles Howell III, K.J. Choi, San Moon Bae, John Daly, and Chad Campbell also made the cut, which came in at 3-over.
John Deere Classic contestants who missed the cut were: Mark Wilson, Y.E. Yang, former Open champs David Duval (2001), Todd Hamilton (2004), Stewart Cink (2010), 2007 John Deere Classic champion Jonathan Byrd, Daniel Chopra, Troy Kelly, Chez Reavie, and Tim Clark.
They were in good company. Among the major champions who succumbed to Lytham this week were South Africa's Charl Swartzel, Germany's Martin Kaymer, defending champion Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, Lucas Glover, Justin Leonard, Ben Curtis, Trevor Immelman, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, and Phil Mickelson.
At 2-under par, Steve Stricker has the best 36-hole score of the Deere constituency; he sits in a four-way tie for 11th following rounds of 67-71.
The former three-time John Deere Classic champion (2009-2011) trails leader Brandt Snedeker by eight shots going into the weekend. Snedeker shot 6-under 64 on Friday - a strong follow up to his opening round of 66. The Nashville native and former Vanderbilt player is at 10-under after two rounds, one stroke ahead of Australian Adam Scott, who has been impressive over the first two days.
Tiger Woods shot his second consecutive 67 Friday and is at 6-under for the tournament and in solo third place. Woods, Ernie Els (3-under), and Graeme McDowell (4-under) are the only players among the top 10 who have won major championship.
Meanwhile, 2012 John Deere Classic champion Zach Johnson slid 14 places down the leaderboard Friday after a round of 4-over 74. Johnson, who was tied for second after his brilliant opening round of 65, struggled with his putter on Friday. He was tied for 15th with 12 other players, including Carl Petterson and Kyle Stanley, who, like Zach, played in the John Deere Classic.
Others in the that category were Ted Potter, Jr. and Garth Mulroy, of South Africa, both of whom were even par and T-28. 2006 John Deere Classic champion John Senden and 2005 sponsor exemption Nick Watney were tied for 40th at 1-over par.
Troy Matteson, who battled Johnson in sudden death last Sunday, stood at 2-over and was tied for 51st. Charles Howell III, K.J. Choi, San Moon Bae, John Daly, and Chad Campbell also made the cut, which came in at 3-over.
John Deere Classic contestants who missed the cut were: Mark Wilson, Y.E. Yang, former Open champs David Duval (2001), Todd Hamilton (2004), Stewart Cink (2010), 2007 John Deere Classic champion Jonathan Byrd, Daniel Chopra, Troy Kelly, Chez Reavie, and Tim Clark.
They were in good company. Among the major champions who succumbed to Lytham this week were South Africa's Charl Swartzel, Germany's Martin Kaymer, defending champion Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, Lucas Glover, Justin Leonard, Ben Curtis, Trevor Immelman, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, and Phil Mickelson.
Stricker tees off at 8:20 a.m. CDT Saturday and will be paired with James Morrison. Zach goes off at 7:15 CDT and will be playing alongside of Thomas Bjorn, the veteran European Tour player from Denmark.
The last player to play the John Deere Classic and win the British Open the following week was Todd Hamilton, of Galesburg, Ill., in 2004. He defeated Ernie Els in a playoff.