– Let’s acknowledge that the whimsical golf sprites are being fair at the John Deere Classic: the playing conditions on the second day have been almost identical to those of the first, more favourable in the morning and a bit tougher in the afternoon, so we have a very tight leaderboard at the top and no one who has played really well can complain. The leader remains Doug Ghim (-12), who delivered an efficient round of 68 strokes, three under par for the day, in the afternoon session, but behind him, up to 35 players are within a five-stroke margin.
– The main protagonist of the day has been Davis Thompson (-11), who played in the morning session and is now one stroke off the lead after signing a 63, eight under par for the day. The 26-year-old player from Georgia, who is also the defending champion (his only victory on the PGA Tour), could have blown the course apart if he had one of those outstanding days on the greens. Not that he putted badly, of course, but he hit 17 greens in regulation and of the eight birdies he made, only one required him to sink a putt of more than three metres, leaving a good handful of reasonable chances on the table.
– With the world ranking in hand and considering that this is not a tournament where all the best players are present, it turns out that the favourites this week at TPC Deere Run (Silvis, Illinois) were, in this order, Ben Griffin, Sungjae Im, Jason Day, and J. T. Poston… Well, none of them made the cut, which went to -5. Could it be those same whimsical golf sprites at work? At the very least, it’s curious. Griffin is taking a break next week (he’s not playing the Scottish Open) before heading to the Open at Royal Portrush, where he is expected to try to secure his third consecutive top ten in Majors, following his eighth place at the PGA and tenth at the US Open.
– The young Jackson Koivun (-8), current World Number One amateur, not only made the cut, as he did earlier this year at the Farmers and the Arnold Palmer, but he’s in the mix. He’s twenty years old, has a fabulous university career, and is already proving himself at the elite professional golf level, so it’s impossible not to see a great star in him. Moreover, he seems like a serious and responsible guy: as you know, he earned his playing rights on the PGA Tour this year through the PGA Tour University Accelerated Program, but he will remain a university student for another year (his place is reserved) to continue his education as he believes he should.
