Two-time John Deere Classic (JDC) winner and three-time major champion Jordan Spieth has decided to spend the Fourth of July weekend in the Quad Cities competing with 143 other players at TPC Deere Run.
The 55th edition of the Quad Cities’ PGA Tour event will be played this week – Wednesday, July 1, through Sunday, July 5 – at the Silvis golf course for an $8.8 million purse with Brian Campbell as defending champion.
Mr. Spieth will be among the eight players in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) who are eligible for this year’s John Deere Classic. Others are: Chris Gotterup (13), Ben Griffin (18), Jacob Bridgeman (25), J.T. Poston (32), Keegan Bradley (38), Rickie Fowler (42) and Daniel Berger (50). Spieth is 49th.
Mr. Spieth won his first PGA Tour title at the John Deere Classic in 2013 at the age of 19 and won again in 2015 after having won both the Masters and U.S. Open earlier that year. With the British Open falling the week after the JDC, record crowds created an electric atmosphere at Deere Run, especially with the result being decided in a two-hole sudden death playoff. Still an extremely popular figure in the Quad Cities, Mr. Spieth was followed by large crowds when he returned in 2024.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled than to have Jordan Spieth join our excellent field next week,” JDC Tournament Director Andrew Lehman said. “Jordan’s first victory here helped ignite his career and his second was even more thrilling. He is a tournament legend and remains extremely popular with golf fans in the region.
“We are proud to welcome a bevy of other outstanding players, including those in the world’s top 50,” Mr. Lehman added. “They’re outstanding players and names our fans will recognize and want to come out and follow.”
Former University of Illinois star Mr. Campbell will defend his title and country music megastar Carrie Underwood will help the Quad Cities celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with her July 4 Concert on the Course.
Many familiar PGA names
The composition of the tournament field continues to benefit from increased competition, as players vie to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and to secure their 2027 PGA Tour playing privileges by accumulating FedEx Cup points.
Among that group are many players familiar to golf fans, including Eric Cole, Keith Mitchell, Tom Kim, Aldrich Potgieter, Max Homa and Tony Finau, among others. Last year’s playoff runner up, Emiliano Grillo, also is in the field. This year, players are trying to qualify for 70 FedEx Cup Playoff spots and 100 PGA Tour cards for 2027.
Mr. Poston and Mr. Mitchell finished T-4 at the U.S. Open and Griffin was T-17 at Shinnecock Hills.
Jackson Koivun, who was co-low amateur at the Open – finishing T-23 – will be playing in his first event as a professional at the JDC, where he finished T-11 last year playing on a sponsor exemption.
In addition to Mr. Spieth, past champions in the field include Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native and fan favorite Zach Johnson (2012), Michael Kim (2018), Dylan Fritelli (2019), Lucas Glover (2021), Poston (2022), Davis Thompson (2024) and Mr. Campbell.
Three natives of the Chicago suburbs will be competing, namely, Kevin Streelman of Winfield, who is playing on a medical exemption, Doug Ghim of Des Plaines, and Nick Hardy of Northbrook.
Ms. Underwood, the leading lady of country music for the last two decades, will thrill fans with a Saturday evening concert on the 18th hole at Deere Run, as part of the tournament’s wildly popular Concerts on the Course program. On Sunday, country rockers Old Dominion will bring their upbeat brand of country to the stage, making for a formidable one-two punch following play.
The John Deere Classic, which includes Birdies for Charity, is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization located at 15623 Coaltown Road, East Moline, near TPC. Since its 1971 founding, the tournament has helped raise more than $200 million for charity — more than 99% of it since Moline-based Deere & Co. assumed the sponsorship in 1998.
