The PGA Tour leaderboard is live at the John Deere Classic golf tournament and heading into the second round from the first round on Thursday, Zach Johnson is the leader along with Rory Sabbatini and Bran Harman and things pick up on Friday from Illinois with TV coverage on CBS and the Golf Channel through the weekend as Jordan Spieth tries to defend his title at the tourney, which doesn't have Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson playing.
Johnson had a great day and ended up with a 63 score along with Sabbatini and they are in the lead over a group that includes Todd Hamilton and Steven Bowditch. Johnson is looking to finish among the top 20 for the first time since May and he is looking strong to start things off and he has been having a very good season overall, finishing in the top 10 four times in the 18 events he has played in this year. Johnson is ranked in the top 10 and he had a great day in the tournament, putting up six birdies in his first eight holes and he ended up with eight in his first 11 and now he is eight under.
Johnson now has some momentum heading into Friday and he comes in looking good and he has had success here in the past, winning the tournament two years ago and playing a playoff with Spieth to lose last year. Johnson also has finished in second and third in past years and he now is putting himself in position with another solid round on Friday. This was the lowest score for him at the tournament in an opening round and he ended up without any bogeys on the day and so did Sabbatini, who is looking to win the tourney after some past success here as well.
Sabbatini ended up with the best round of the year for him personally and he also finished strong, putting in a birdie on all but one of his last four holes. Johnson was also impressive throughout the day and Harman ended up with nine birdies on the day and one bogey. Spieth had a solid day as well after getting to even par and he was at two over at one point before putting in birdies on two of his last three holes and now he is setting himself up for a nice run after the win last year. Spieth has been one of the best players on tour this year and he is someone people think has the skills to win a major.
The leaderboard also has a group of players at six under and two back with Brendon de Jonge, Kevin Tway, David Toms and Robert Streb and now things pick up in the morning in Illinois. On the other side of the pond, Rory McIlroy is leading the Scottish Open and he now has the chance to win ahead of the British Open Championships next week.
Check here for the PGA Tour Leaderboard and live coverage for the John Deere Classic.
