Round 4: John Deere Classic
July 10 2011
7:51 pm
Stricker’s thoughts: The 18th
It’s been a long time since a player ever snatched victory out of the jaws of defeat like Steve Stricker did Sunday at TPC Deere Run. His birdie-birdie finish to beat rookie Kyle Stanley — which included putts of 14 and 24 feet — came after his ballstriking fell apart on the closing holes. Here’s how Stricker described it:
On the possibility of a two-shot swing on the 18th:
"We felt like the tournament was still within reach at that point. A guy can make a birdie and the other guy make a bogey and it’s a two shot swing really quick. At that point after making birdie at 17, we were still thinking we had a chance to win."
On his fairway bunker shot from a bad lie on the 18th:
"My footing was pretty good, and I took an extra club thinking that I could get it all the way back to the pin, to tell you the truth. And I had to hook it the way I had to take my stance. So I almost thought if I could get a hook in off that slope there, I could run it back toward the back of the green, and that’s what ended up happening."
On the final putt from the fringe:
"I was thinking about making it. I really was. I was thinking about making it, you know, and I hadn’t you know, the putt at 17 was a real good putt, so I got some confidence from that. And I felt good about the read, you know, on the back of the green, and I had a little bit of fringe to go through, but it wasn’t that bad. The grain of the fringe was kind of going with me, so I knew it wasn’t really going to throw it one way or the other.
But I was trying to make it. Yeah, for sure I was trying to make it, and you don’t expect that to go in, but I’m sure glad it did."
7:10 pm
Stricker joins three-peat club
Stricker is just the 17th different player to win a PGA TOUR event three straight years. Here is a look at those
with three or more consecutive wins at the same tournament:
| Consecutive wins | Player | Tournament | Years |
| 4 | Tom Morris Jr. | British Open | 1868-70, 1872 |
| 4 | Walter Hagen | PGA Championship | 1924-1927 |
| 4 | Gene Sarazen | Miami Open | 1926, 1928-30 |
| 4 | Tiger Woods | Bay Hill Invitational | 2000-2003 |
| 4 | Tiger Woods | Buick Invitational | 2005-2008 |
| 3 | Jamie Anderson | British Open | 1877-1879 |
| 3 | Robert Ferguson | British Open | 1880-1882 |
| 3 | Willie Anderson | U.S. Open | 1903-1905 |
| 3 | Walter Hagen | Metropolitan Open | 1916, 1919-1920 |
| 3 | Gene Sarazen | Miami Beach Open | 1927-1929 |
| 3 | Henry Picard | Tournament of the Gardens | 1935-37 |
| 3 | Ralph Guldahl | Western Open | 1936-1938 |
| 3 | Ben Hogan | Asheville Land of the Sky Open | 1940-1942 |
| 3 | Gene Littler | Tournament of Champions | 1955-1957 |
| 3 | Billy Casper | Portland Open | 1959-1961 |
| 3 | Arnold Palmer | Texas Open | 1960-1962 |
| 3 | Arnold Palmer | Phoenix Open | 1961-1963 |
| 3 | Jack Nicklaus | Disney World Golf Classic | 1971-1973 |
| 3 | Johnny Miller | Tucson Open | 1974-1976 |
| 3 | Tom Watson | Byron Nelson Classic | 1978-1980 |
| 3 | Tiger Woods | Memorial Tournament | 1999-2001 |
| 3 | Tiger Woods | WGC-NEC Invitational | 1999-2001 |
| 3 | Stuart Appleby | Mercedes Championships | 2004-2006 |
| 3 | Tiger Woods | WGC-Bridgestone Invitational | 2005-2007 |
| 3 | Tiger Woods | WGC-CA Championship | 2005-2007 |
| 3 | Steve Stricker | John Deere Classic | 2009-2011 |
6:48 pm
Stanley on loss: ‘We’ll be back’
Kyle Stanley kept rolling in birdie putts on the back nine at the John Deere Classic, but he had no idea he was leading until he saw that he had a two-shot cushion over Steve Stricker after 71 holes.
But one painful bogey on the tree-lined 18th ended that.
Stanley found himself in the lead earlier in the year at The Honda Classic, but this was a different animal. His goal on the par-4 18th: Find the fairway. He reached for his 2-iron to hit the low stinger that had been perfect all week, but the shot found the trees.
"I’d been hitting 2‑iron [there] all week. So I didn’t really adjust my game plan there," Stanley said. "Hitting that fairway is a must. I was fortunate enough to kind of have a gap in the trees, and you know, it was a tough bunker shot. I hit a pretty good one to leave myself a good putt."
The par putt, which Stanley missed, left him with a second place finish — his highest ever as a professional — but also left him wondering what could have been. Steve Stricker birdied the final two holes to beat him by a shot after draining 14 and 24-footers to win at TPC Deere Run for the third year in a row, and Stanley heard the roar of Stricker’s final putt from the scoring trailer.
"Gotta give [Stricker] credit," Stanley said. "That’s a great birdie from where he was."
Stanley is just one of a slew of ex-Nationwide Tour players that has dominated the 2011 PGA TOUR season. Stanley would have become the fifth player with at least 14 Nationwide Tour starts in 2010 to win this season.
"I probably made about 24, 25 birdies, which is good," Stanley said. "So I just gotta continue to work hard on that. And we’ll be back.
You know, it’s tough. I mean I’m very, very proud of myself for how I handled today, and you know, the biggest thing is I’m doing a good job of learning from my past experiences, and I’m obviously working on the right things."
Ironically, even with the missed fairways on the last two holes, Stanley still led the field in driving accuracy for the week. He hit 87 percent of the fairways even though he averaged 316 yards off the tee.
Right now, Stanley is on a plane heading to the British Open for the first time. His solo second place finish gave him the final spot at Royal St. George’s.
"I’m very excited to go over there and play. but I’m still trying to calm down from that round," Stanley said.
6:15 pm
Congratulate Stricker on the win
Want to leave a message for Steve Stricker after his third consecutive John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run? Leave your comments in the space below.
6:08 pm
Stricker stuns Stanley at 18
It was, to put it mildly, one of the better birdies ever made on the PGA TOUR. After facing a nearly impossible lie in the bunker on 18, Steve Stricker expertly drew a 6-iron to the fringe, then drained a 30-footer to stun rookie Kyle Stanley, who saw a two-shot lead disappear when Stricker closed birdie-birdie.
"I really thought I could pull that shot off," Stricker told CBS. "To make the putt is a bonus."
The win is Stricker’s third in a row at this event and sends him to second in the FedExCup standings. Stay tuned for much more from TPC Deere Run.
5:59 pm
Stanley bogeys, playoff next?
Steve Stricker can earn a spot in a playoff if he pars the 18th, because Kyle Stanley bogeyed the final hole after missing a 10-foot putt that would have sealed it.
Stricker is in trouble himself on the 18th. He bunkered his tee shot left and has an awkward lie for his approach, but he nailed a perfect recovery just off the 18th green. He will have a putt from the fringe for the outright win.
5:50 pm
Stricker guts out birdie on 17
So much for Kyle Stanley’s two-shot lead. Steve Stricker rolled in a gritty 20-footer for birdie to close within a shot of Stanley, who was in the tees on the 18th hole. Stanley will have to get up and down for par on the 18th, but even a par wouldn’t ensure victory.
5:40 pm
Stanley maintains two-shot lead
Kyle Stanley made a mess out of the par-5 17th … and somehow made it through a pushed drive and a bunkered recovery shot to make a par and stay at 22 under.
Stanley is trying to become the fifth rookie to win on TOUR this year (Jhonattan Vegas, Charl Schwartzel Brendan Steele, Keegan Bradley).
5:18 pm
New leader: Kyle Stanley
He missed a makeable birdie putt on the 16th, but Kyle Stanley has the lead by himself after Steve Stricker bogeyed the 15th. Stricker then dumped his tee shot on the 148-yard 16th in the bunker.
Next up for Stanley: The short par-5 17th, which Stanley has birdied all three days this week.
5:15 pm
McQuillan wraps up career week
Matt McQuillan has his passport, but he will also need a lot of luck to secure a spot in next week’s British Open.
He shot a final-round 64 and is the low man in the clubhouse at 17 under. Although he has a great chance to finish in the top five, he still finds himself five shots behind co-leader Kyle Stanley, who is also not exempt for next week’s major championship.
McQuillan said playing in the British Open hasn’t entered his mind, but if he qualified he would “be on the first plane over.”
The former Canadian Tour player took two years away from the game and worked as a bartended before returning to professional golf.
“It’s been a long time coming, but I convinced myself I was working on the right things and it was going to click any day, and just happened to be this tournament,” McQuillan said.
Coming up in a couple of weeks for the Canadian? The RBC Canadian Open, held this year at Shaughnessy G&CC in Vancouver.
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