John Deere Classic 2012: Zach Johnson Tops Troy Matteson In Playoff

Troy Matteson essentially led the 2012 John Deere Classic wire-to-wire until Zach Johnson birdied three of his final six holes to force a playoff. Johnson then hit an unbelievable second shot on the second hole of the playoff, nearly holing a 192-yard approach shot from the bunker before tapping in for the birdie and the trophy. Johnson’s win ended a three-year winning streak for Steve Stricker in the John Deere. Stricker finished tied for fifth.

On the first playoff hole, Johnson’s tee shot went into a fairway bunker 200 yards from the hole. While Matteson didn’t get his on the fairway, he was in a better position from the rough right of the fairway. Everything evened out, though, because both golfers hit their second shot into the water. Remember, these guys shot 20-under par in 72 holes on this very course, and didn’t bogey the first hole once in four tries prior.

Troy Matteson has pretty much been leading the John Deere Classic wire-to-wire, but Zach Johnson finds himself in the clubhouse and tied with Matteson at -20 for the lead after finishing his round with three birdies in his last six holes.

Matteson started the tournament with a 10-under 61 on Thursday and has never wavered, but couldn’t close out Johnson. Matteson double-bogeyed the 15th hole, only to recover with a clutch eagle on 17 before sinking a par putt on 18 to clinch the playoff.

Troy Matteson still leads at the 2012 John Deere Classic at 19-under overall, shooting 1-under through 11 holes Sunday. Steve Stricker has virtually erased a three-stroke deficit, however, and now sits just one stroke back on the leaderboard following a birdie on hole No. 11.

Stricker is 3-under on the day, setting up what could be an exciting finish Sunday. The Wisconsin native and winner of the last three years at the event has shot very well down the stretch at TPC Deere Run, going 8-under on the back nine through the first three days of the tournament.

Troy Matteson, the leader at the 2012 John Deere Classic, has barely begun his day, but already he is feeling a bit of heat. Chris DiMarco has shot 3-under through his first five holes Sunday and is now four strokes off the lead with Brian Harman. DiMarco made eagle on the Par 5 hole No. 2, making it to the green in two strokes before sinking a 23-foot putt.

Matteson (19-under overall) made birdie on No. 2 to hold DiMarco at bay. Steve Stricker, the winner the last three John Deere Classics, also made birdie on the hole to take sole possession of second place, three strokes behind Matteson.

As the 2012 John Deere Classic heads into the final day of play on Sunday, there are some players making a charge for the top of the leaderboard. Troy Matteson has yet to tee off for the final round, but his score of 18-under might be surpassed by the day’s end if he doesn’t turn in another great round.

Rory Sabbatini made a massive charge on Sunday, as Sabbatini is shooting 7-under through 16 holes on the day, bringing his tournament total to 13-under. Brendon de Jonge is also primed to make a run at the top of the leaderboard with a nice start with 2-under through three holes, sitting at 12-under through the tournament so far.

While the leaders will not tee off until the lunch hour, play of the final round of the 2012 John Deere Classic has begun and players are going low in hopes of increasing their weekend earnings.

Already, American Dicky Pride is looking to capitalize on a stress-free morning before television coverage starts, as he’s -4 on the day and moved into a tie for 27th place, 33 slots ahead of where he began the day.

The 2012 John Deere classic wraps up Sunday with the final round from the TPC Deere Run. There is plenty of red ink on the scoreboard with 76 players under-par through three rounds. Troy Matteson has led after every round and heads into Sunday at 18-under with a three stroke lead.

Matteson will be paired with Steve Stricker on Sunday. Stricker, the winner of the last three John Deere Classics, moved into second place at 15-under with a third round 66. Zach Johnson and Brian Harman will form a group Sunday, both players are tied for third place at 14-under.

Troy Matteson leads the John Deere Classic by three strokes at 18-under after three rounds of play. He is in excellent position to capture his third career PGA title. A number of players put up fantastic scores on Saturday, but Matteson was able to hold on to the lead that he held at daybreak.

Unfortunately for Matteson, his lead probably should have been a bit bigger. He closed the day with a bogey on the 18th hole, his second on the back nine. His 5-under 66 was exactly the same score as the ones recorded by Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson, who will chase him on Saturday. Stricker sits at 15-under, while Johnson is 14-under. Brian Harmon is also 14-under par, while Billy Hurley, John Sendon and J.J. Henry remain in contention at 13-under.

Despite a number of players posting low scores, Troy Matteson remains in the lead at the 2012 John Deere Classic as the third round begins to wrap up. Matteson is currently 17-under for the tournament including 4-under through 13 holes on Saturday.

He has a two-stroke lead over Brian Harman who is 15-under for the tournament and 3-under through 13 holes in the third round. Zach Johnson moved into a tie for third place with a 5-under 66 on Saturday. Johnson is tied at 14-under with Steve Stricker. Stricker is 4-under through 15 holes on Saturday as he attempts to win his fourth straight John Deere Classic.

Troy Matteson shot a 10-under 61 on Thursday at the 2012 John Deere Classic and a three-under 68 on Friday, but despite the fact that he doesn’t have a Top 25 finish to his name on the PGA Tour this year, he has continued to lead the field in the early going on Saturday, with two birdies through his first four holes. He’s still alone on top of the leaderboard, but he’s got plenty of company breathing down his neck.

Brian Harman is alone in second place after two birdies in his first holes. He’s paired with Matteson, and that group has stayed hot. Tour rookie Billy Hurley III, who finished fourth at the AT&T National a few weeks ago, is tied for third place two strokes behind Matteson at -13 with John Senden. Hurley has fired seven birdies and no bogeys in his sterling round, which he’s one hole from completing. There are eight golfers — including Jamie Lovemark, who’s in the clubhouse, and Chris DiMarco (remember him?) — tied at -12, three strokes behind Matteson.

Troy Matteson and the leaders of the 2012 John Deere Classic have yet to tee off Saturday, but some of the golfers who were in the middle of the pack have started to make the charge up the board to challenge the top of the heap.

The scores have been low all weekend, and Billy Horschel, who’s had just one Top 25 this year, added a low score of his own, firing a six-under 65 early Saturday morning to move to -10 on the tournament and three strokes behind Matteson, who’s alone in the lead.

The 2012 John Deere Classic continues Saturday with the third round from the TPC Deere Run course. First-round leader Troy Matteson maintained his lead in the second round and will open play Saturday with a one-stroke lead.

Matteson will be paired with Jeff Maggert on Saturday. Maggert played his way into a tie for second place at 12-under with a second-round 62, the lowest score of the round. Steve Stricker, who is attempting to win his fourth-straight John Deere Classic, begins the third round in a tie for eighth place at 10-under. He will be paired with Robert Garrigus, who is tied for fourth place at 11-under.

With play in the second round of the 2012 John Deere Classic concluded on Friday evening, Troy Matteson finishes up the day as your clubhouse leader with a 13-under after the first two rounds, shooting a 3-under on the day. Jeff Maggert is right on Matteson’s heels, however, as he had an outstanding round of golf, shooting a 9-under to bring him to 12-under through the tournament thus far.

Brian Harman finished up the day tied for second place with a 12-under, charging late to finish with a 6-under on the day. J.J. Henry find himself in third place with the second-best round of the day, shooting a 7-under and pulling himself to 11-under through the first two rounds.

As the 2012 John Deer Classic in Silvis, Ill. continues on Friday afternoon, Troy Matterson is the leader in the clubhouse with a 13-under, but Brian Harman is making a charge on the day shooting carding a 5-under roundto get to 11-under through the first two days with three holes left to play.

Chris DiMarco has also made up some ground on Friday, as he’s 4-under through 16 holes and 9-under for the tournament as a whole. Will Claxton climbed 49 spots up the leaderboard and is 5-under through 15 holes on Friday, bringing him nearly to even at 1-over for the tournament through the first two days of play.

Troy Matteson needed all of the three-stroke cushion he built on Thursday for Friday at the 2012 John Deere Classic. Matteson shot three-under to drop his score 13-under through two days, and is now just one stroke ahead of Ricky Barnes, and two strokes ahead of J.J. Henry, Gary Christian, Jeff Maggert and Robert Garrigus.

Nobody approached Matteson’s 10-under par from Thursday, not even Matteson himself. He seemed to be well on his way after notching back-to-back birdies on his first two holes at TPC Deere Run. He made seven straight pars before making his next birdie on No. 10, however. He followed up a birdie with a bogey on No. 15.

The second round of the 2012 John Deere Classic is underway, and first-round leader Troy Matteson has continued his strong play on Friday by going to 2-under on his round through four holes. Matteson now has a five-shot lead over the field at 12-under par.

Matteson put himself atop the leaderboard during Thursday’s first round thanks to a stellar 10-under-par 61 on a day when many golfers scored in the low red numbers. He appears to be continuing that trend today in Silvas, Ill., thanks to perfect scoring conditions aided by a morning tee-time.

Troy Matteson shot a blistering 61 in his first round at the John Deere Classic to stay three clear of the pack with a 10-under. He’ll look to ignore all those horrible blisters caused by his ridiculously low score and keep up his play in the second round, which tees off today at about 8 a.m. ET.

TV coverage will be available on the Golf Channel from 3-6 p.m. Unfortunately, Matteson’s day will likely be done -- he tees off at 8:20 a.m. -- but others near the top of the leaderboard will start later, such as Ricky Barnes, who is currently in second place and tees off at 1:25 p.m.

A lot of players scored well in the first round of the John Deere Classic, but nobody played as well as Troy Matteson. The 32-year-old shot a 10-under 61 to put him three strokes ahead of the field.

Matteson -- whose only two PGA Tour wins came in the 2006 and 2009 Frys.com Opens -- started hot with five birdies on the front nine and kept it going by repeating the feat on the back nine. That was good for a 61 on the day, and not many golfers are going to be able to keep up with a 61, so Matteson has a pretty significant advantage on the field after one round.

The John Deere Classic opened on Thursday in Silvis, Ill., with Steve Stricker looking for his fourth straight win at the historic British Open tune-up. Like most of the field at TPC Deere Run, Stricker is under par as he wraps up his first round. The Wisconsin native is 5-under through 15 holes, buoyed by an eagle at the par-4 14th hole. It was an incredible hole-out on his approach shot, adding to his lengthy highlight reel at a course he’s owned.

But Stricker is still four shots back of leader Troy Matteson, who is setting a blistering pace at 9-under through his first 16 holes. This event always yields some of the lowest scores of the season. Paul Goydos became just the fourth player in PGA Tour history to card a 59 when he lit it up here on Thursday’s first round in 2010. Matteson looked like he might make a run at 60, but is now running out of holes on the back side. He went out in 31 and has yet to make a bogey, good enough for a two-shot lead over Ben Crane and Ricky Barnes.

The 2012 John Deere Classic begins Thursday with first-round action from the TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. Steve Stricker will try to make history as he looks to win his fourth straight John Deere Classic. If Stricker wins, he will join Tiger Woods as the only players to win the same tournament four straight years since 1931.

Stricker will begin his quest for a four-peat on Thursday in a group with Kyle Stanley and Camilo Villegas. Zach Johnson, who finished in a tie for third at the 2011 John Deere Classic will play with Ted Potter Jr. and Nick Watney on Thursday.

With a chance to join a fraternity of just four golfers who have won the same tournament four years in a row, Steve Stricker asked one of them for advice on how to wrap up another John Deere Classic.

“He told me to get it done,” Stricker told reporters Wednesday about the words of wisdom that Tiger Woods shared with him when the two played together in the first two rounds of last week’s Greenbrier Classic. “He said some nice things, but he also ... threw me a jab, saying, ‘Only one of us has won four tournaments in a row.’”

The 2012 John Deere Classic begins on Thursday with three-time defending champion Steve Stricker looking for his fourth straight victory at TPC Deere Run. In 2010, Stricker set the four-round course record for the tournament when he finished at a 26-under 258. Last year, he fell four strokes short of tying his record and finished at 22-under, which tied him with J.P. Hayes (2002) for the second-best finish at Deere Run.

Stricker enters this tournament as the world’s No. 13-ranked golfer, the highest-placed golfer in Silvis, Ill. Zach Johnson, ranked No. 17, is also playing in this tournament. Both are in the top 20 of the FedEx Cup standings, too. Stricker enters this tournament having shot 8-under at the Greenbrier last week while Johnson has been off for a few weeks since the Travelers Championship.