John Deere Classic
John Deere Classic is annually played at the par-71 TPC at Deera Run in Silvis, Illinois a week before the British Open Championship. Due to this schedule, the tournament has failed to attract the top golfers as they prefer to play in the Scottish Open or practice the link courses of Ireland.
The tournament has come to the limelight in recent times after it gave sponsorship exemptions to teenage female prodigy Michelle Wie, who has a huge fan following. She, however, failed to make the cut in both the occasions she had been given this benefit. In 2005, she missed the cut by two strikes and in 2006 she withdrew in the second round citing heat exhaustion. At that point of time she was eight shots off the cut mark. The 2005 PGA Rookie of the year Sean O'Hair won here qualifying for the British Open in the process.
The John Deere Classic will remain as an annual feature in the US PGA Tour till 2010 after which the sponsors will decide whether to renew their association with the Tour. It was first played in 1971 under the name of Quad Cities Open. It has had a number of changes in its name from that time.
- Quads Cities Open (1971-74; 1980-81)
- Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quads Cities Open (1975-79)
- Miller High Life QCO (1982-84)
- Lite Quads Cities Open (1985)
- Hardee's Golf Classic (1986-94)
- Quads Cities Classic (1995-98)
- John Deere Classic (1999- )
John Senden won the $4,000,000 2006 John Deere Classic beating JP Haynes by one stroke. He received a cheque of $720,000.
Tournament schedule and tickets :: John Deere will next be held from 9-15 July, 2007 at the par-71 TPC at Deera Run in Silvis, Illinois.Played in the final run-up to the British Open, the John Deere Classic has so far failed to attract the top golfers. As we continue on this tour we will learn about the other tournaments in the US PGA Tour.
