John Deere Classic: Round One Check-In and Highlights

Round One of the John Deere Classic is complete. Time to look at what happened, and some highlights from Day One.

The John Deere Classic is underway, and Round Two has gotten started already. Before too much happens today, let’s look at some of the highlights from Round One, like the incredible day Roberto Diaz had.

Diaz came into the John Deere Classic ranked 430th in the world, with odds of 200/1 to win. If anyone took a flyer on him, congrats to you. He took the solo lead after day one, shooting a -9 62, good enough for a two-stroke lead over Adam Long and Russell Henley. His day was mistake-free as well, as he carded seven birdies and one eagle.

Henley and Long both had great days on their own, each carding eight birdies and one bogey. They sit T-2nd. Henley sunk a long putt to help himself out.

There was a lot of good golf played on Thursday. All of those who predicted low scores this week for the John Deere Classic have been proven right so far, as there were 40 golfers within five strokes of Diaz after one round.

J.J. Henry may be a bit further down the leaderboard, as he only played the first round at -2. He is probably happier with his day than any other golfer out there though, in large part to who his caddie was.

There were only 33 golfers who shot over par yesterday, and a hot round on day two could get any of them back near the cut line. With scoring possible, a round in the low to mid 60’s could help them flirt with the line.

Two of the players that were expected to play well here were some of those above par. Zach Johnson, a local favorite, shot over par for the first time in 40 rounds at the John Deere Classic, carding a 72.

The other was defending champion Michael Kim. After tearing it up last year, winning by eight strokes and shooting -27, Kim is nowhere near the top of the leaderboard. This year, Kim had two birdies and four bogeys during his first round for a 73. This is a far cry from his first round last year. He shot an impressive -8 last year, with nine birdies and only one bogey.

For those on eagle watches during day one, holes 14 and 2 were the ones to watch. 14 was a short par 4 at only 361 yards, and a lot of golfers went aggressive at it. it ended up being the second easiest hole of the day, with four eagles, 74 birdies, and a +/- of -.47.

The 2nd hole was the easiest, and 13 players ended up carding an eagle here. with only 15 bogeys, no doubles, and one other, the +/- here was -.55.

Players needed to take advantage of that 2nd hole, as the one following ended up being the toughest of the day. The 3rd hole played with a +/- of +.21. There were only 13 birdies here, to go along with 40 bogeys and three doubles.

Day Two is already well underway. Best of luck continues to go out to all those playing at the John Deere Classic this week.