Davis Thompson storms to first PGA Tour title at John Deere Classic

Davis Thompson captured his maiden PGA Tour title with a record performance at the John Deere Classic. 

Thompson, 25, fired a brilliant 64 in the final round to seal an emphatic four-shot victory on a tournament record 28-under par at TPC Deere Run.

The previous John Deere Classic scoring record had been set by Michael Kim (27-under par) during his eight-shot victory in 2018. 

Rising American stars Luke Clanton (a) and Michael Thorbjornsen both fired rounds of 8-under 63 to finish tied second with CT Pan (64) on 24-under par.

Clanton incredibly becomes the first amateur to finish in the top 10 in back to back weeks (T10 at Rocket Mortgage Classic) on the PGA Tour since Billy Patton in 1958.

Thompson started the final round with a two-shot lead but immediately pulled clear of the chasing pack with five birdies on his first six holes. 

After tucking away a clutch eight-footer for par on the 8th, the red-hot American then added a sixth birdie of the round from seven feet at the tricky par-4 9th to go out in 29 shots.

Another birdie then followed from similar distance at the par-5 10th, but he would hand it back with his first bogey of the day on the par-3 12th.

Understandably nervous as he went in search of his maiden PGA Tour title, Thompson's lead was briefly cut to three shots as the chasing pack closed in, but a stunning pitch shot from right of the short par-4 14th set up a simple birdie to restore his four-shot cushion with four holes to play. 

Thompson would keep his cool and par in to see out a commanding four-shot victory on a record tournament score of 28-under par.

An emotional Thompson hugged his wife Holly Grace Robinson Thompson on the 18th green.

"I love my wife so much," Thompson said to CBS' Amanda Balionis.

"I just tried to stay present all day, big sigh of relief when that last putt went in."

He added: "I've been working hard this year, it was okay for a while but then kind of got going this past month, tried to keep it rolling this week and was able to get the win."

Thompson had already been knocking on the door for his first PGA Tour title with three runner-up finishes on the circuit, including two T2s this season at the Myrtle Beach Classic in May and Rocket Mortgage Classic last week. 

He also finished a respectable T9 at the US Open in this third last start, marking his best result in four major appearances.

But Thompson finally banged down the door in his 63rd start on the PGA Tour with a commanding display in Illinois. 

He becomes the 24th first-time PGA Tour winner at the John Deere Classic. 

The win pushes Thompson up into the world's top 40 for the first time in his career. 

The victory also punches Thompson's ticket into the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon in two weeks' time.

On qualifying for The Open, he said: "It was an added incentive this week."

Pan joins Thompson in qualifying for The Open via the John Deere Classic.

Although Pan tied for second with Clanton and Thorbjornsen, he takes the invite as a result of his OWGR position being better.

Pan was 144th in the world rankings prior to this week, while Clanton was 599th and Thorbjornsen was 670th.

Thompson, who turned pro in 2021 and then earned his PGA Tour card in 2022, picks up $1.44m for winning the John Deere Classic.

CBS analyst and former Open champion Ian Baker-Finch likened Thompson's early PGA Tour career during the final-round broadcast to that of current runaway World No.1 Scottie Scheffler when he first burst on the scene at the same age several years ago. 

Aaron Rai trailed Thompson by just two starting the final round, but the Englishman came up shy once again in his pursuit of a first PGA Tour title.

Rai has been knocking on the door for his maiden win on the circuit but he could only close with 69 and it led to a T7 on 21-under par.

He does have two DP World Tour wins to his name, one of which is the Scottish Open at Renaissance Club in North Berwick. But unfortunately for Rai, the Scottish Open was solely a DP World Tour event in 2020. 

Jordan Spieth, a two-time winner of the John Deere Classic, hit a miraculous shot from the trees down the 18th to three feet, but he could only manage a 70 to finish outside the top 20. 

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