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Celebrating 40 Years – The John Deere Classic

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Set on what used to be the home to Friendship Farms, where champion Arabian horses were bred and groomed to perfection, a different kind of thoroughbred will be on display this week at the TPC Deere Run.

With a charter flight made available to whisk them off of to next week’s Open Championship once the trophy has been awarded Sunday, a strong contingent of players has committed to the 40th playing of the John Deere Classic (JDC). The highest John Deere finisher not already qualified will also get a surprise seat on that plane. It provides the basis for what could be another incredible week in the Quad Cities area. 

In 2009 Wisconsin native Steve Stricker took down the trophy at the John Deere and he returns to defend and lead a quality field that includes the likes of Rickie Fowler, K.J. Choi, recent Travelers Champion winner Bubba Watson and two quality former N.C. State WolfPack players – Tim Clark and Carl Pettersson. Pettersson is coming off a 6th place finish at the AT&T National.

Finishing just behind Stricker last year, in a tie for second, was Zach Johnson who warmed up for the tournament this week by playing in his nearby hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa with some friends and family. Johnson, the 2007 Masters Champion, has almost become the unofficial face of the tournament with his local ties. “There is not anything I don’t like about this golf tournament,” said Johnson on Tuesday. He also mentions that often finds himself recruiting players to play in the John Deere Classic. “I brag it up all the time,” he commented on the subject while citing the ease for players to transition from the John Deere to the Open Championship with the courtesy jet on hand and the hosting job done by John Deere and the community.  “It’s become a family oriented event. It’s not a hard place for a family to come during the week of the golf tournament.”

Yes, in four decades, even when many new tournaments came to the forefront, The John Deere Classic (still referred to as the Quad Cities by many people for its pre-sponsor name) has thrived by taking an endearing community approach. At the same time they have stepped up to compete with other events with a growing purse ($4.4 million this year) and a quality golf course that players have grown to admire in just a few short years of its use.

Johnson says the turf is always perfect at Deere Run and that when the conditions are right it tests every facet of your game. “It matures every year,”   said Johnson when asked about the layout. He comments that even when it is wet you still have to execute and the finishing holes all have a lot of character. “Everybody likes the course that plays here; I haven’t heard a negative comment. Is it the best course in the world? No. Is it the best course on the tour? No. But it’s a good test,” he stated with sincerity.

Much of the kudos for the success of the JDC falls on the shoulders of Tournament Director Clair Peterson. The silver-haired man receives great respect from the players. At the Transitions Championship this March, when Peterson was working the range looking for tournament commitments, I can’t say I have ever heard more heartfelt apologies by players who would not able to make it this week. The JDC is the little tournament that could and the players respect that. Of course, the 767 charter to Scotland does not hurt either and it was a brilliant idea for the JDC and RBC Canadian Open to share the cost of the plane for the over and back journey. The result is a stronger field for both events, especially among the domestic crowd which is especially important for the JDC, held in the heartland of America.

"We're very happy that so many of today's top American players are choosing to compete in the John Deere Classic," Peterson said. "They love TPC Deere Run and really enjoy the way they're treated by the fans and in the community.”

CBS picks up the weekend television coverage this week with The Golf Channel, as usual, with the broadcast for the opening rounds.

This report provided to GolfWRX.com courtesy of Flagstick Golf Magazine (www.flagstick.com)

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Photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship

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GolfWRX is live this week at the Wells Fargo Championship as a field of the world’s best golfers descend upon Charlotte, North Carolina, hoping to tame the beast that is Quail Hollow Club in this Signature Event — only Scottie Scheffler, who is home awaiting the birth of his first child, is absent.

From the grounds at Quail Hollow, we have our usual assortment of general galleries and WITBs — including a look at left-hander Akshay Bhatia’s setup. Among the pullout albums, we have a look inside Cobra’s impressive new tour truck for you to check out. Also featured is a special look at Quail Hollow king, Rory McIlroy.

Be sure to check back throughout the week as we add more galleries.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying about our Wells Fargo Championship photos in the forums.

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SuperStroke acquires Lamkin Grips

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SuperStroke announced today its purchase of 100-year-old grip maker Lamkin Grips, citing the company’s “heritage of innovation and quality.”

“It is with pride and great gratitude that we announce Lamkin, a golf club grip brand with a 100-year history of breakthrough design and trusted products, is now a part of the SuperStroke brand,” says SuperStroke CEO Dean Dingman. “We have always had the utmost respect for how the Lamkin family has put the needs and benefits of the golfer first in their grip designs. If there is a grip company that is most aligned with SuperStroke’s commitment to uncompromised research, design, and development to put the most useful performance tools in the hands of golfers, Lamkin has been that brand. It is an honor to bring Lamkin’s wealth of product innovation into the SuperStroke family.”

Elver B. Lamkin founded the company in 1925 and produced golf’s first leather grips. The company had been family-owned and operated since that point, producing a wide array of styles, such as the iconic Crossline.

According to a press release, “The acquisition of Lamkin grows and diversifies SuperStroke’s proven and popular array of grip offerings with technology grounded in providing golfers optimal feel and performance through cutting-edge design and use of materials, surface texture and shape.”

CEO Bob Lamkin will stay on as a board member and will continue to be involved with the company.

“SuperStroke has become one of the most proven, well-operated, and pioneering brands in golf grips and we could not be more confident that the Lamkin legacy, brand, and technology is in the best of hands to continue to innovate and lead under the guidance of Dean Dingman and his remarkably capable team,” Lamkin said.

Related: Check out our 2014 conversation with Bob Lamkin, here: Bob Lamkin on the wrap grip reborn, 90 years of history

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Tour Rundown: Pendrith, Otaegui, Longbella, and Dunlap soar

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Take it from a fellow who coaches high school golf in metro Toronto: there’s plenty of great golf played in the land of the maple leaf. All the greats have designed courses over the USA border: Colt, Whitman, Ross, Coore, Mackenzie, Doak, as well as the greatest of the land, Stanley Thompson. I’m partial to him, because he wore my middle name with grandeur. Enough about the architecture, because this week’s Tour Rundown begins with a newly-minted, Canadian champion on the PGA Tour. Something else that the great white north is known for, is weather. It impacted play on three of the world’s tours, forcing final-round cancellations on two of them.

It was an odd week in the golf world. The LPGA and the Korn Ferry were on a break, and only 13/15 of the rounds slated, were played. In the end, we have four champions to recognize, so let’s not delay any longer with minutiae about the game that we love. Let’s run it all down with this week’s Tour Rundown.

PGA Tour: TP takes TS at Byron’s place

The 1980s was a decade when a Canadian emergence was anticipated on the PGA Tour. It failed to materialize, but a path was carved for the next generation. Mike Weir captured the Masters in 2003, but no other countrymen joined him in his quest for PGA Tour conquest. 2024 may herald the long-awaited arrival of a Canadian squad of tour winners. Over the past few years, we’ve seen Nick Taylor break the fifty-plus year dearth of homebred champions at the Canadian Open, and players like Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Adam Svennson, and Mackenzie Hughes have etched their names into the PGA Tour’s annals of winners.

This week, Taylor Pendrith joined his mates with a one-shot win at TPC Craig Ranch, the home of the Byron Nelson Classic. Pendrith took a lead into the final round and, while the USA’s Jake Knapp faltered, held on for the slimmest of victories. Sweden’s Alex Noren posted six-under 65 on Sunday to move into third position, at 21-under par. Ben Kohles, a Texan, looked to break through for his first win in his home state. He took the lead from Pendrith at the 71st hole, on the strength of a second-consecutive birdie.

With victory in site, Kohles found a way to make bogey at the last, without submerging in the fronting water. His second shot was greenside, but he could not move his third to the putting surface. His fourth was five feet from par and a playoff, but his fifth failed to drop. Meanwhile, Pendrith was on the froghair in two, and calmly took two putts from 40 feet, for birdie. When Kohles missed for par, Pendrith had, at last, a PGA Tour title.

DP World Tour: China Open in Otaegui’s hands after canceled day four

It wasn’t the fourth round that was canceled in Shenzhen, but the third. Rains came on Saturday to Hidden Grace Golf Club, ensuring that momentum would cease. Sunday would instead be akin to a motorsports restart, with no sense of who might claim victory. Sebastian Soderberg, the hottest golfer on the Asian Swing, held the lead, but he would slip to a 72 on Sunday, and tie for third with Paul Waring and Joel Girrbach. Italy’s Guido Migliozzi completed play in 67 strokes on day three, moving one shot past the triumvirate, to 17-under par.

It was Spain’s Adrian Otaegui who persevered the best and played the purest. Otaegui was clean on the day, with seven birdies for 65. Even when Migliozzi ceased the lead at the 10th, Otaegui remained calm. With everything on the line, Migliozzi made bogey at the par-five 17th, as his principal competitor finished in birdie. To the Italian’s credit, he bounced back with birdie at the last, to claim solo second. The victory was Otaegui’s fifth on the DP World Tour, and first since October of 2022.

PGA Tour Americas: Quito’s rains gift title to Longbella

Across the world, superintendents and their staffs will do anything to prepare a course for play. Even after fierce, nightime rains, the Quito TG Club greeted the first four groups on Sunday. The rains worsened after 7 am, however, and the tour was forced to abort the final round of play. With scores reverting to Saturday’s numbers, Thomas Longbella’s one-shot advantage over Gunn Yang turned into a Tour Americas victory.

64 held the opening-day lead, and Longbella was not far off, with 66. Yang jumped to the top on day two, following a67 with 66. He posted 68 on day three, and anticipated a fierce, final-round duel for the title. As for Longbella, he fought off a ninth-hole bogey on Saturday with six birdies and a 17th-hole eagle. That rare bird proved to be the winning stroke, allowing Longbella to edge past Yang, and secure ultimate victory.

PGA Tour Champions: Dunlap survives Saturday stumble for win

Scott Dunlap did not finish Saturday as well as he might have liked. After beginning play near Houston with 65, Dunlap made two bogeys in his final found holes on day two, to finish at nine-under par. Hot on his heels was Joe Durant, owner of a March 2024 win on PGA Tour Champions. Just behind Durant was Stuart Appleby, perhaps vibing from his Sunday 59 at Greenbrier on this day in 2010. Neither would have a chance to track Dunlap down.

The rains that have forced emergency responders into action, to save hundreds of lives in the metro Houston area, ended hopes for a third day of play at The Woodlands. Dunlap had won once previously on Tour Champions, in 2014 in Washington state. Ten years later, Dunlap was the fortunate recipient of a canceled final round, and his two days of play were enough to earn him TC victory number two.

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