SILVIS, Ill. — Davis Thompson had been working toward a moment like this, and he wasn’t about to let anything stop him — not a soft golf course that produced the best scores of the week, not the pressure of trying to win for the first time on the PGA Tour.
He started with a two-shot lead. Six holes into the final round Sunday, Thompson had five birdies and had stretched his lead to six shots and was on his way to a four-shot victory, a spot in the next three majors and the lowest 72-hole score in the John Deere Classic.
“I’m just thankful it worked out. I got off to a great start today and was able to just kind of cruise on the back nine,” Thompson said after closing with a 7-under 64. “Getting off to a good start was crucial, and I was just able to ride the momentum coming in.”
Thompson made a 45-foot birdie putt on the first hole for a three-shot lead, and no one got closer to him the rest of the way.
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The 25-year-old from Georgia finished at 28-under 256 to break by one the John Deere Classic record set by Michael Kim in 2018.
“I just wanted to stay aggressive,” Thompson said. “I knew there would be low scores out there today because the wind kind of died down and the conditions were a little soft. So I knew I was going to have to go play well. “
The victory gets him into the next three majors, starting with the British Open in two weeks at Royal Troon. He also will make his Masters debut next April.
