PGA Championship Players Headed to John Deere Classic
More than 20 players who competed in last week’s PGA Championship have committed to play in next week’s $4.8 million John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run.
The latest commitments comes from PGA TOUR veteran Kevin Na, who finished T-22 at Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey, and European Ryder Cup star Jamie Donaldson of Wales, who finished T-42. Na and Donaldson join Ryan Moore and Australian Matt Jones, recent JDC commitments who also played in the season’s final major championship.
Eligible PGA TOUR players have until 5 p.m. Friday to commit.
Daniels Summerhays, who finished third Sunday at Baltusrol, and Robert Streb, who finished T-7, both have previously committed to the John Deere Classic. Summerhays, who also was T-8 at the U.S. Open earlier this summer, has two tops 10s at the John Deere Classic, having played every year since 2011.
Among other PGA competitors who have long planned to compete in the Quad Cities are former John Deere Classic champion John Senden; Billy Hurley III, winner of this year’s Quicken Loans National at Congressional CC; Kyle Reifers, Jon Curran, Vaughn Taylor, Patton Kizzire, Jason Kokrak, Freddie Jacobson and Brian Stuard. All made the cut at the PGA.
These players are in addition to John Deere Classic fan favorites and past champions Zach Johnson (2012) and three-peat winner Steve Stricker (2009-11), who finished T-33 and T-42, respectively, at the PGA. Johnson is a lock to be a member of this year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team – his fifth – where Stricker is an assistant to Captain Davis Love.
Other PGA participants committed to the John Deere are Zac Blair, Jason Bohn, Peter Malnati, Iowa native Troy Merritt and David Toms, who recorded his first PGA TOUR victory in the Quad Cities in 1997.
Next year, the John Deere Classic returns to its traditional dates, July 10-16, the week before the Open Championship.