Golf

2024 PGA Tour: Davis Thompson Triumphs at John Deere Classic

Published

4m ago

Jul 13, 2024 / 3317 Views

Evan Walker

Life or golf, Davis Thompson, the 2024 John Deere Classic champion, has taken time to embrace change. Playing the back tees in junior golf or balancing academics while turning out for the golf team in University of Georgia colours were vital cogs alright, but Thompson did not get hassled by the initial jolts. He waited for his time, and once comfortable, getting into the groove wasn’t tough.

Graduating to the PGA Tour last season has been a similar experience. The often-chastening lessons on Tour were not out of the ordinary, and Thompson, 25, had his share of learnings. Coming out on Tour, he was like any other rookie, bursting with energy and expecting to win every week. Soon, he learned that wasn’t feasible.

2024 PGA Tour: Davis Thompson wins the John Deere Classic

Building on belief

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour)

So, once he had the affirmation that he belonged on the PGA Tour, hard work and patience were the time-tested tools to shape the breakthrough moment. As the 2024 season wore on, the belief got stronger, and reflected in the results. The T2s at the Myrtle Beach Classic in May and Rocket Mortgage Classic the week before the USD 8 million John Deere Classic were in sync with Thompson “getting more and comfortable”.

The biggest validation was the US Open this June, especially after missing cut at the last edition along with his maiden Major appearance at the PGA Championship. The top-10 at Pinehurst Resort in just his third Major appearance was a step towards the goal of making the season-ending FedExCup playoffs.

Expectations grew as buoyed by the recent run, Thompson’s aim was to “kick the door down and win”, which he did with a tournament record of 28-under 256 (63, 67, 62, 64) and a four-shot win over the chasing pack.

Better awareness

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour)

Going into the Sunday of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Thompson wasn’t aware of what it would take to win the title. Playing solid golf was one of the factors, which he did and hence the runner-up finish to Cam Davis, but there were other aspects that Thompson learnt in that Sunday chase and were put to use at the TPC Deere Run.

Amid the disappointment, he knew the John Deere Classic was a new week, and he had to keep going and get the job done. Faith in God is a critical component of Thompson’s belief and after the customary prayer before the first tee shot, he kept “stacking the good shots on top of each other” to run away with the tournament.

The stats read much better. After 63 starts, Thompson had filled the ‘wins’ column to go with the 3 runner-ups, 4 top-5s and 6 top-10s on Tour thus far.

The outburst of emotion on the 18th green, the tears, and holding wife Holly Grace in a tight embrace pointed to the couple’s faith and the behind-the-scenes work. Through the week, Thompson stayed in the present by continuously adding to the good work, but when that final putt for par rolled in on the 18th, the sight of Holly by the green and the relief of getting the job done opened the floodgates.

“I’ve been working hard this year. It was okay for a while then I kind of got going the last month and played well last week. Just tried to keep it rolling this week; was able to get the win,” said the champion while fighting off tears.

Cascading effect

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour)

Call it an athlete’s instinct, Thompson had confided in his wife at the start of the week that he would qualify for the Open Championship, the season’s final Major, as well by bagging one of the two spots up for grabs. Now, there is a cascading effect as not only the Open, Thompson has qualified for two more Majors starting with the 2025 Masters.

As it has been since his early days, Thompson will take time to soak it in before setting his goals. The immediate ones are to comPete regularly at the Majors, but he feels the work has just begun. It is often said that winning is easier than maintaining high standards, and Thompson is aware. “The goal is to play this Game for 20 plus years and have a great career.”

As the ninth first-time winner on Tour this season, Thompson’s improvement has many hues, and among them are his charge on the John Deere Classic leaderboard over time. From T31 here last year, Thompson is just the second player after Xander Schauffele this season to win the week after finishing runner-up.

Then there is the climb from No. 70 to 38 on the Official World Golf Ranking and move to No 22 on the FedExCup standings with the 500 points on offer for the winner.

Ideal Olympic buildup

CT Pan is known to deliver when the gun is on him. The FedExCup Playoffs loom, and the Chinese Taipei player was aware that he needed a lot more than the lone T3 (Mexico Open in February) to line up for the big-money, limited-field season-enders.

Finishing T3 at 24-under 260 (65, 63, 68, 64) doesn’t just strengthen his case by lifting him from 116th to 83rd on the FedExCup standings — the top-70 qualify for the playoffs next month, more importantly, the return to form is a good omen ahead of the Olympic Games in early August.

“I feel great about my Game. It’s just one of the weeks like if everything clicks. I felt I putted just the same; probably hit it closer last week (Rocket Mortgage Classic) but missed cut, and this week I made everything. A good week to have,” said the one-time winner on Tour.

As bronze medalist from the last edition in Tokyo, Pan will aim to step up in Paris, and at the Open Championship as well. Bagging the other ticket on offer to Royal Troon this week, Pan is relishing the prospect of making a difference this time after missing cut in 2014, 2019 and 2021.

“The Open is always on the top list of my want-to-do list. I’ve been there three times. I feel if fits my game, but somehow in the past I haven’t played well. Hopefully, this trip will be different,” said Pan.

No pushovers

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour)

Through the week, Michael Thorbjornsen kept proving why he’s rated so highly. Just the second player to earn his PGA Tour stripes through the PGA Tour University top ranking, the 22-year-old Stanford University pass-out posted his fledgling career’s best finish with the T2 in only his third pro start.

The fuel for Sunday’s jaw-dropping 8-under 63 was the ticket to the Open, and though he fell agonisingly short, Thorbjornsen can take pride in counting the positives.

In 11 Tour starts, he has made cut five times, and apart from the runner-up, has 2 top-5s and 2 top-10s.

Another rookie to make a mark was Hayden Springer. After opening the week with a 12-under 59 to become the 13th player to shoot a sub-60 round on Tour, Springer recorded his third top-10 finish in 15 starts (T3/Puerto Rico Open, T10/Rocket Mortgage Classic) with a T7.

No let-up in intensity

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PGA TOUR (@pgatour)

Luke Clanton broke a few records on way to the T2 on Sunday. It came on the back of the top-10 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, and Clanton, playing on a sponsor exemption, became the first amateur in 66 years to finish top-10 in back-to-back starts since Billy J Patton in 1957-58 (T8/1957 US Open, T8/1958 Masters).

To finish the best amateur at the John Deere Classic till date, an emotional Clanton dedicated it to his parents to help him be where he is.

Accompanying the gratitude was the desire to keep striving for the win. “This kind of proves again to me that I can win out here. I don’t want to sound cocky but I wanted to prove to myself I can do it. After last week, being up there and in contention and this week being in second place, it just shows me if I keep grinding and doing my thing, I’ll be all right,” said Clanton.

(Main and Featured Image: PGA Tour/Instagram)