SILVIS, Ill. (AP) – Lucas Glover kept another clean card Friday at the John Deere Classic with a 12-foot par putt on the final hole for a 6-under 65 and a two-shot lead.
Glover started the afternoon at No. 10 and did most of his damage on the back nine with five birdies, but just as important was getting through 36 holes without a bogey.
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At 14-under 128, he was two strokes ahead of Lee Hodges (66) and one stroke ahead of Zach Blair, who made a nice par on the final hole at TPC Deer Run for a 68.
Although the tournament was focused on youth, the focus shifted to some veterans. Glover, 46, first played on the PGA Tour before Jackson Koibun, NCAA champion Preston Stout and 18-year-old Blaze Brown were born.
And before teeing off for the second round, 50-year-old Zach Johnson shot a 70 to set an early goal. Deer has always been a local tournament for the Iowa native, who missed this week’s U.S. Senior Open and finished tied for 11th, six strokes back.
This could be a big week for Glover, as his three-year exemption from winning consecutive tournaments in late summer 2023 expires this year. Then again, he’s been in this world for too long and only cares about playing good golf.
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“To be fair, I’m too old to chase that kind of thing,” Glover said. “I just want to play. I want to play well again, and I’ve been struggling. When you have two days like this, you have a little bit of faith that it’s going to work out, right? We’ve been working hard and not really seeing much and we’ve been going for two days. Tomorrow doesn’t mean anything. Sunday doesn’t mean anything. But two days don’t mean anything.”
“But my work paid off for the first two days,” he said. “We have a few more days to keep fighting and keep going.”
Glover got off to a great start through five holes, hitting every shot 8 feet or closer to the green. He made three of them for birdie, hitting his tee shot on the par-3 16th to 2 feet.
Hodges made two 8-foot par putts on his final three holes to stay within range.
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Koibun, a top collegiate player and the No. 1 amateur in the world, missed out on a spot in his pro debut two weeks after splitting the amateur mark at the U.S. Open.
Stout and Brown were the top performers among the young players.
Stout, who took over as the No. 1 amateur in the world when Koibun turned pro, took a penalty drop on the 18th hole and shot a bogey 69, tied with Brown (66) at 7 under par for 135.
Brown, who turned pro while in high school and graduated in January, has already earned special temporary membership on the PGA Tour and is close to earning a tour card based on his performance on the Korn Ferry Tour. Brown also had a bogey-free weekend, shooting a 7-foot par on his final hole.
He made the cut at 3-under 141, leaving Jordan Spieth at that number. He was outside the lead by three strokes until he made three bogeys on the five holes of the back nine, posting a 69.
