Wide-open field set to tee off at John Deere Classic

Before the golfing world heads overseas in the lead-up to The Open Championship, the PGA Tour has one more long-running tournament to stage: the John Deere Classic, beginning Thursday at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.

Most of the top players on tour are taking the week off to prepare for the final major of the year, giving those in the field a wide-open shot at some FedEx Cup points before the season winds down.

Only three of the top 40 players in the Official World Golf Ranking will tee it up at the John Deere Classic. The highest-ranked is Cameron Young (No. 19), who, after a strong rookie year, has had a quieter 2022-23 as he hunts for his first win on tour.

The John Deere Classic is an ideal backdrop to do just that. Five of the past nine champions there made the John Deere their first career PGA Tour win. That list includes Bryson DeChambeau, Brian Harman and a 19-year-old Jordan Spieth in 2013.

The list of favorites this week includes several players who've yet to win on tour, including Denny McCarthy -- who has five top-10 finishes this season and lost in a playoff at the Memorial Tournament -- and Swedish rookie Ludvig Aberg.

A former Texas Tech golf star, Aberg earned his tour card via PGA Tour University and has finished T25, T24 and T40 in his first three starts as a professional.

"I've been close to the lead now for a few tournaments, and it's a lot of fun," Aberg said this week. "All I can do is try to put myself in that position again."

J.T. Poston will seek to defend his 2022 title, when he parlayed an opening-round 62 into a three-stroke victory over Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa and Emiliano Grillo of Argentina.

"It's just hard to win anywhere, but I think here any time you have a place where there's going to be some low scores, if you are the guy with the lead, it can be kind of a tricky spot," Poston said.

"I remember that last year. That was kind of the first time for me or one of the few times for me playing with a lead and trying to get it done and close it out. It's walking that fine line of still staying aggressive and trying to extend your lead and also trying not to give any back because you know guys are going to be making birdies."

Some top amateurs received invites to the tournament, including college stars Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt) and Michael Thorbjornsen (Stanford).

The field also includes Canada's Nick Taylor, who won the RBC Canadian Open last month, and Zach Johnson, the U.S. captain for this fall's Ryder Cup. Johnson, 47, is a native of nearby Iowa and won the John Deere in 2012.