Golf

John Deere Classic 2014 results: Zach Johnson shoots 63, tied for the lead

Zach Johnson has had success at the John Deere, including a win in 2012. He’s off to another good start, following an opening round of 63.

by Mark Sandritter

Jul 11, 2014, 12:38 AM UTC

Gregory Shamus

The John Deere Classic has been very kind to Zach Johnson in recent years. He won the event in 2012 and nearly repeated as champion last year, losing to Jordan Spieth in a playoff. It may be a new year, but once again Johnson is in contention. He shot an opening-round 63 on Thursday and is tied for the lead at 8-under with Rory Sabbatini and Brian Harman.

Early in his round, it appeared Johnson was going post an even lower number. He birdied his first hole and four of his first five. Following two more birdies on his opening nine, Johnson made the turn in 30. He stayed hot early on his second nine with back-to-back birdies on his 10th and 11th holes. At 8-under through 11, Johnson was threatening to shoot a 59. He didn’t have to do much work with his putter either, with a series of excellent approach shots setting up easy birdies, several in tap in range. He wasn’t able to keep the pace going, however, and finished his round with seven pars.

Like Johnson, Sabbatini turned in a clean card with no dropped shots and eight birdies. Harman surged on the back nine with six birdies on his final eight holes to move to eight under. Neither Sabbatini or Harman is currently qualified for the British Open, and with a bid on the line this week, a good showing could send them to Royal Liverpool.

Scores typically go low at the John Deere Classic and that was again the case. A total of 16 players shot 66 or better with 80 of the 155 players in the field carding a round in the red. Brendon de Jonge at 6-under, Ryan Moore at 5-under and Harris English at 4-under are among the players who got off to a good start. The first round didn’t go as well for everyone. David Duval, who is playing a final tuneup before the British Open next week, is 10-over following a round of 81.

Here is a complete look at the leaderboard through 18 holes:

Place	Player	Score	1st Round
T1	Zach Johnson	-8	63
T1	Rory Sabbatini	-8	63
T1	Brian Harman	-8	63
T4	Todd Hamilton	-7	64
T4	Steven Bowditch	-7	64
T4	William McGirt	-7	64
T7	Brendon de Jonge	-6	65
T7	Kevin Tway	-6	65
T7	David Toms	-6	65
T7	Robert Streb	-6	65
T11	Charles Howell III	-5	66
T11	Ryan Moore	-5	66
T11	Johnson Wagner	-5	66
T11	Jerry Kelly	-5	66
T11	Trevor Immelman	-5	66
T11	Justin Hicks	-5	66
T17	Harris English	-4	67
T17	Bo Van Pelt	-4	67
T17	Nicholas Thompson	-4	67
T17	Wes Roach	-4	67
T17	Bud Cauley	-4	67
T17	Scott Brown	-4	67
T17	Sean O'Hair	-4	67
T24	Brice Garnett	-3	68
T24	Kevin Na	-3	68
T24	John Senden	-3	68
T24	J.J. Henry	-3	68
T24	Kevin Kisner	-3	68
T24	Alex Prugh	-3	68
T24	Ricky Barnes	-3	68
T24	Troy Merritt	-3	68
T24	John Huh	-3	68
T24	Steve Stricker	-3	68
T24	Brian Stuard	-3	68
T24	Kevin Chappell	-3	68
T36	Cameron Beckman	-2	69
T36	Scott Langley	-2	69
T36	Morgan Hoffmann	-2	69
T36	Chris Stroud	-2	69
T36	Michael Thompson	-2	69
T36	Ben Crane	-2	69
T36	Derek Ernst	-2	69
T36	Joe Ogilvie	-2	69
T36	Chad Campbell	-2	69
T36	Nathan Green	-2	69
T36	Justin Bolli	-2	69
T36	Bobby Wyatt	-2	69
T36	Bronson La'Cassie	-2	69
T36	Daniel Summerhays	-2	69
T36	Chad Collins	-2	69
T36	Charlie Wi	-2	69
T36	Tag Ridings	-2	69
T36	Luke Guthrie	-2	69
T36	Heath Slocum	-2	69
T36	Stewart Cink	-2	69
T36	Davis Love III	-2	69
T36	Sang-Moon Bae	-2	69
T36	Jhonattan Vegas	-2	69
T36	Paul Goydos	-2	69
T36	Will Wilcox	-2	69
T36	Jamie Lovemark	-2	69
T36	Marc Turnesa	-2	69
T63	Tim Herron	-1	70
T63	Richard Lee	-1	70
T63	Russell Henley	-1	70
T63	Tommy Gainey	-1	70
T63	Arjun Atwal	-1	70
T63	Ted Potter, Jr.	-1	70
T63	Billy Mayfair	-1	70
T63	Roberto Castro	-1	70
T63	Dicky Pride	-1	70
T63	Camilo Villegas	-1	70
T63	Brad Fritsch	-1	70
T63	Jim Renner	-1	70
T63	Guy Boros	-1	70
T63	Robert Garrigus	-1	70
T63	Greg Chalmers	-1	70
T63	Tyrone van Aswegen	-1	70
T63	Jim Herman	-1	70
T63	Edward Loar	-1	70
T81	Andres Romero	E	71
T81	Pat Perez	E	71
T81	Matt Bettencourt	E	71
T81	David Hearn	E	71
T81	Charlie Beljan	E	71
T81	Billy Hurley III	E	71
T81	Ben Martin	E	71
T81	Alex Aragon	E	71
T81	Jordan Niebrugge	E	71
T81	D.J. Trahan	E	71
T81	Gonzalo Fdez-Castano	E	71
T81	Jordan Spieth	E	71
T81	Retief Goosen	E	71
T81	Chris Kirk	E	71
T81	Kyle Stanley	E	71
T81	D.A. Points	E	71
T81	John Merrick	E	71
T81	Mark Wilson	E	71
T81	John Peterson	E	71
T81	Andrew Loupe	E	71
T101	Tim Petrovic	1	72
T101	Boo Weekley	1	72
T101	Robert Allenby	1	72
T101	Jason Bohn	1	72
T101	Glen Day	1	72
T101	Hudson Swafford	1	72
T101	Kevin Foley	1	72
T101	Andrew Svoboda	1	72
T101	Brian Davis	1	72
T101	Tim Clark	1	72
T101	D.H. Lee	1	72
T101	John Rollins	1	72
T101	David Lingmerth	1	72
T101	Martin Flores	1	72
T101	Scott McCarron	1	72
T101	Doug LaBelle II	1	72
T101	Andrew Ruthkoski	1	72
T101	Patrick Rodgers	1	72
T119	Josh Teater	2	73
T119	Will MacKenzie	2	73
T119	Ryuji Imada	2	73
T119	Bryce Molder	2	73
T119	Ken Duke	2	73
T119	Lucas Glover	2	73
T119	Kent Jones	2	73
T119	Armando Villarreal	2	73
T119	Miguel Angel Carballo	2	73
T119	Troy Kelly	2	73
T119	Kevin Streelman	2	73
T119	Shawn Stefani	2	73
T119	Danny Lee	2	73
T119	Lee Janzen	2	73
T119	Chris Smith	2	73
T119	Cameron Wilson	2	73
T119	Steven Ihm	2	73
T136	Steve Marino	3	74
T136	Jonathan Byrd	3	74
T136	Len Mattiace	3	74
T136	Aaron Krueger	3	74
T136	Jason Allred	3	74
T136	Ryan Lenahan	3	74
T136	Troy Matteson	3	74
T136	Daniel Chopra	3	74
T136	Scott Stallings	3	74
T136	Tim Wilkinson	3	74
T136	Frank Lickliter II	3	74
T136	Eric Axley	3	74
T136	Raymond Knoll	3	74
149	James Driscoll	4	75
T150	Peter Malnati	7	78
T150	Scott Gardiner	7	78
152	David Gossett	9	80
T153	Paul Stankowski	10	81
T153	David Duval	10	81
155	Michael Bradley	13	84