Writing from Silvis (a.k.a. Birdieville), Illinois
Thursday, July 11, 2013
There was something cool about the John Deere Classic on Thursday.
It was cool, literally, especially in the morning. Whereas TPC Deere Run, and the Quad Cities in general, is usually the summer home of stifling heat and suffocating humidity, on Thursday, the sun was out but the breeze was up, and in the morning shade, long sleeves were the order of the day.
That was different. What was not different was the scoring. As is the tradition here, the field tore par to shreds. Ninety-one of the 156 players cavorting on Deere Run broke par, and another 16 matched the number of 71. The red-number brigade was led by two faces familiar to victory on courses near the mighty Mississippi: Zach Johnson, who triumphed here last year, and Camilo Villegas, who scored a victory in the 2008 Western Open / BMW Championship at Bellerive Country Club, near St. Louis, each scored 7-under-par 64 in the first round.
At many tournaments, that would mean they had opened daylight on the field. At the Deere, it means a one-stroke lead over a trio of players. Brendon de Jonge, Matt Bettencourt and Daniel Summerhays opened with 6-under 65s. Another quintet of players, including Winfield’s own Kevin Streelman, are at 5-under 66 after one lap of this 7,268-yard course.
None of this came as a surprise to anyone, least of all Streelman, who has played in three previous Deeres, and finished tied for eighth last year by virtue of a final round 65. He knows it’s imperative to go low.
“You had to go after it,” Streelman said. “I hit it good and didn’t make any mistakes.”
Asked if 20-under is again the number that could prove victorious, Streelman alluded an assent in saying, “One five (-under) down. This is fun for the fans, and for us too.”
There have been some tough scoring weeks for Streelman in recent outings. He won in Tampa and chased the title in the Players Championship, a combination which moved him into the top-50 in the world rankings, plus promoted a recalibration of his goals for the year.
“Maybe it’s time to shoot for the top 20,” Streelman said.
Or better. Johnson’s been there and done that, and played like the major champion he is on Thursday, opening on the back nine in 3-under 33 and closing on the front in 4-under 31. All told, there were nine 3s on his card. Bingo, instant 64, for his 17th straight round in the 60s at the Deere.
“I was striking it well on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday,” Johnson said. “I thought today, ‘Just don’t stop.’ I want to stay in the present.”
Villegas wants to relive the past. He followed up his win at Bellerive in 2008 with a triumph in the Tour Championship. That 1-2 punch is the highlight of his career, which, aside from a title in Tahoe in 2010, has been in a slide, all the way down to having conditional status on the PGA Tour. But why?
“I wish I knew,” said Villegas, with two top 10s this season, after matching his best round of the year. “It’s the game of golf. It’s a messed-up game. Sometimes there’s no answer. There are so many things that can go one way or the other.
“Sometimes you overanalyze this game. It’s not rocket science when you tee it up on the first tee. I’m not a guy with too many thoughts in my head. It’s always baby steps and little thoughts to get there.”
The last time Villegas fired a 64 was the first round at the Honda Classic. He followed that up with a 77, so don’t fly to Las Vegas to place a bet.
The thought of Villegas and others is to keep it going, of course, for the Deere is the non-U.S. Open. Deere Run looks difficult to the layman, and may play difficult for the 20-handicapper, but the majority of the pros roll up the driveway and lick their chops.
Bettencourt did that after his circuitous route to the Quad Cities. He left his home in Greenville, S.C. on Wednesday morning headed for the web.com Tour fiesta in Salt Lake City. As the connecting flight for him and his caddie was pulling away from the gate at Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta, his phone rang – and so much for turning his phone off.
“The flight attendant was cool with it; he’s a golfer,” Bettencourt said.
It was a PGA Tour official letting him know Neal Lancaster had pulled out and he was in. That made the flight to Salt Lake City a planning session. Two tickets to Chicago and a two-hour wait to board later, he was on the way to O’Hare. A car rental and three-hour drive down Interstate 88 later, he was in town.
About eight hours after that, he was on the tee and en route to his 65. Who needs a practice round?
“I was excited,” Bettencourt said. “My caddie hadn’t been here before, but I went through the course on the way here for him, so there were no surprises.”
His bogey-free 65 couldn’t have been smoother, with 16 greens hit in regulation, no adventures in the sand or elsewhere, and many a putt holed, all that on a course that played faster, thanks to lower humidity than usual and dry weather following a Tuesday morning shower.
“I had different lines to take and different clubs,” Bettencourt said. “I was hitting three woods on some tees. The ball was bouncing 50 yards down some fairways. It was awesome to see.”
The key, of course, is repeating the feat. The greats do that with monotonous regularity. Even Bettencourt noted the presence of Johnson and three-time winner Steve Stricker, who opened with a 4-under 67 and is tied for 16th, among the leaders.
“It’s an up-and-down game,” Bettencourt said. “It’s tough. Only a few guys in the world play good every week. But the highs are high.”
Around Deere Run
A deer – the non-motorized kind – gamboled over the fourth fairway in the afternoon. ... John Deere fan Louis Oosthuizen may not be around to inspect tractors over the weekend. Five birdies were not enough to offset a bogey, a double-bogey at the 18th, and a triple-bogey at the par-4 11th, where he hooked his tee shot into a jungle-infested gulch on the left, hit a tree with his second shot, was still in trouble on his third, was bunkered on his fourth, and two-putted for an unseemly 7 after hitting the green. Same hole, same group, and Jonas Blixt made a 6, losing his second ball in the high stuff to the right. Oosthuizen scored 1-over 72 and is tied for 108th, Blixt a 3-over 74 and is tied for 134th. The cut to the low 70 and ties is invariably in the vicinity of 3-under-par. ... The opening 64s were five off the course and championship record of 12-under 59, posted by Paul Goydos in 2010’s first round. ... Among other Illinoisans, Pekin’s D.A. Points also has to step on it; he opened with 1-over 72, but Joe Affrunti started with a 2-under 69 and is tied for 41st, while former Illini standout Luke Guthrie fired a 5-over 76. ... Bobby Gates fired a 5-over 76 and withdrew, citing an injury. He was five over on his last seven holes. ... The winner gets $828,000 of the $4.6 million purse.
– Tim Cronin