SILVIS, Illinois – Doug Gimm drilled a hole in the Eagle on the sixth hole in the par-4, leaving the bogey off the card on Thursday’s low-scoring day. He opened at 9 under 62 to become the latest and first PGA Tour winner at the John Deere Classic.
Ghim was one shot leading Max Homa and Austin Eckroat on TPC Deer Run. This score has been 20 under par or a low of 12 over the past 15 years.
He has been around for a long time enough – six years on the PGA Tour, the 160 Tour starts professionally – to know that it’s just a start. The conditions were very ideal. GHIM wasn’t sure his 62 would hold up as a lead by the end of the day.
There was a little more wind in the afternoon, so 65 players could be the best they could, including Cameron Champion and Mexican Open Winner Brian Campbell.
“To be honest, whenever you can reach under the age of 20, you’ll have a chance,” Ghim said. “It’s still golf. It’s still a challenge. You have to hit the fairway. I hit a lot of them today. So I’m just trying to shoot six people in the front every day and see where it puts me.”
The 20-year-old South African Aldrich Podgiter, who won his first PGA Tour in Detroit last week, challenged the lead until he stalled at the end of the round, snatching a bogey on the par 5 17th and had to settle for 67.
John Deere Classic has produced 24 first winners, most of the PGA Tour events since 1970. Here is a list that includes last year’s Davis Thompson, 2017’s Bryson Dechambeau, and 2013’s Jordan Spieth.
Homa and Eckroat have won previously, and both are about to rediscover the game. Homa is the most attention, especially as he played in the final Ryder Cup and reached eighth place in the world until he entered a slump that included new equipment, new coaches and new caddies.
Eckroat won twice in 2024, but has been struggling this year. He finished at No. 35 of the world last year and is now No. 75, leaving him out of the last two majors. He has yet to finish in the top 10 in the 19th start of this year.
Homa ran off four straight birdies early and missed the final green to the bunker on No. 9, and was tied with Ghim for the lead until he couldn’t escape up and down, the only bogey of the round. Eckroat had one me. One shot up to 12 feet in par 5 seconds, and the other was a gap wedge from 137 yards on the par 4 fifth hole.
The scores were so low that 18 players were over 65 years old and over half of the 156 field defeated the 70.
Michael Kim and Sam Stevens were part of the 64-year-old group. Kim was one of the first winners in 2018 when he won by eight shots at 25 under 257. And he retreated in the worst way, returning to the Corn Ferry Tour, connecting with swing coach Sean Foley, turning the game around.
Kim and Stevens are among the players who can use good tournaments to improve their world rankings, and will be used next week as an alternative list for the British Open. Kim is number 55 in the world and appears to be in a reasonable form.
It’s probably the first time Kim has played all four majors in the same year.
