Jordan Spieth described the TPC Deere Run as “a bottom-half easier” golf course - and the scores at the John Deere Classic heading into the final day would suggest the American is right .
Spieth certainly has fond memories of the tournament. Back in 2013, the John Deere Classic was the site of Spieth’s first PGA Tour win, and the three-time major champion claimed the title again two years later.
While he appreciates the event, Spieth made no secret regarding how easy he finds the course. After shooting a 67-second round on Friday, the 30-year-old said: “It’s one of the probably bottom-half easier golf courses. It’s a great golf course. When it’s soft it’s one of the easiest ones we play. Yeah, I can make a move, but everyone is going to make a move. So I will try and beat the field average by four or five shots, but that is going to take shooting 8- or 9-under.
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“So it’s not like it’s a walk in the park. You still have to hit nice shots.” On Saturday, Spieth flew out the blocks to fire a stellar 63. Thanks to his best round of the 2024 PGA Tour season, he sits 14-under-par following a run of five successive birdies on the front nine.
“I would like to just improve on my back nine score tomorrow from today’s,” Spieth told reporters. “You know, so that’s certainly something as I make the turn regardless what I do on the front I’ll be sitting there going, man, I want to shoot the 4-under I felt like I should have shot yesterday.”
Spieth’s third round wasn’t even the best showing of the day. Davis Thompson shot a nine-under 62 to sit at 20-under heading into the final day in possession of a two-shot lead atop the leaderboard.
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Ultimately, this weekend was a welcome return to form on a familiar stomping ground for Spieth. In his past nine events, Spieth has missed three cuts and finished inside the top 40 just three times, but he’s always thrived in links golf; his Saturday performance pushed him up 46 spots and he briefly held a share of the lead before the bogey on 13.
When asked about his struggles on the back nine, Spieth played it down and insisted: “So really the lull was just those two holes, right? If I par there and birdie 14 from the position I was in I shoot 32 on the back and a 61. So anything is probably going to be a lull from a 29.
“It was just those two that I wish I played over, but 14 just - both have to do with how soft the greens are. They made the shots somehow harder because the greens are softer from where I was. It’s a great golf course. The only downfall sometimes here is sometimes you hit some nice shots that just - someone can hit from a harder position and is end up being in a better spot. That’s golf. That kind of happens everywhere.”
Spieth will be desperate to see his form transition to for the Scottish Open and The Open at The Renaissance Club and Royal Liverpool respectively later this month.
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