Doug Ghim Leads the John Deere Classic After a Standout Day
SILVIS, Ill. – Doug Ghim is at the top of the John Deere Classic after an impressive performance that included an eagle from the fairway for the second consecutive day. His performance earned him a 68 (-3) and a one-stroke lead at the end of the second round, marking his first time leading a tournament after 36 holes in his six years on the PGA Tour. The defending champion, Davis Thompson (63), and Max Homa (68) are among the five players closely pursuing the leader, placing themselves just one stroke away. Due to the rain forecast, the tee times for Saturday have been moved up. Ghim demonstrated his skill by holing out from the sixth par-4 hole in the opening round. On this occasion, he did it from 179 yards on the 15th hole, also a par 4.Holing two days in a row is a very good thing. It’s been a couple of years since I holed out from the fairway. Getting two days in a row is great.
Doug Ghim
Despite having a two-stroke lead on his final hole, Ghim made a bogey after his ball ended up in the trees and then on a cart path. With a chip to 18 feet, he missed the putt, leading to his second bogey of the round, finishing with a total of 12 under par, 130.
Brian Campbell (66), David Lipsky (67), and Emiliano Grillo (66) share second place. Ghim, although leading, is aware that there is still a long way to go to secure his first victory in a tournament that has historically seen many first-time winners since 1970.Homa, for his part, was tied with Ghim in the last hours of the afternoon, when the greens were drier. However, a bad tee shot on the 18th hole led him to a bunker, and then to miss a 12-foot putt for par, which relegated him to a stroke away from the leader. Thompson, who played in the morning, was the first to reach 11 under par, 131, in his attempt to become the first consecutive winner of the John Deere Classic since Steve Stricker, who achieved three straight victories between 2009 and 2011. The day was also marked by emotion in the final holes, which defined the cut at 5 under par, 137. Rikuya Hoshino and Jesper Svensson birdied their final hole, moving the cut line to 5-under par, only for Paul Peterson to bogey his final hole, returning it to 4-under par. In the final group, Brendan Valdes hit an excellent drive on the 18th hole, a par 4, bringing his shot to about 8 feet and sinking the putt for birdie, signing a 66. This raised the cut to 5 under par, leaving 14 players out of the weekend. Rickie Fowler and Jake Knapp made the cut by the minimum. Meanwhile, 12 players are separated by two strokes, including Camilo Villegas, Sam Stevens, and Si Woo Kim.The winner of this tournament will be in the area of 20 under par, so from what I saw I’m not there yet. I don’t feel like I’m leading and I’m glad to be able to go out and play tomorrow in the contest.
Doug Ghim
