Wheatcroft sets early pace at John Deere Classic

SILVIS, Ill. Steve Wheatcroft shot a career-best 9-under 62 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead in the John Deere Classic.

Wheatcroft birdied seven of the last nine holes to finish a shot ahead of Michael Kim.

Canadian Nick Taylor, Johnson Wagner, Andres Romero and Joel Dahmen shot opening-round 64s. Francesco Molinari, who won the Quicken Loans National two weeks ago, was among a group of players three strokes back.

Zach Johnson shot 69 and three-time John Deere winner Steve Stricker finished at 1under 70.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, the highest-ranked player in the field, withdrew because of a right shoulder injury.

DeChambeau, who won the Memorial Tournament earlier this season, first tweaked his shoulder on a shot out of the rough on the second hole. He pulled out after an awkward tee shot on No. 16.

“Look, I’m 24. I’m not that old. But I’ve used my body quite a bit. I’ve hit a lot of golf balls,” DeChambeau said. “I’ve just got to take care of my body a little better.”

Wheatcroft hasn’t had a top10 finish this season, and he’s 209th in the FedEx Cup standings. But Wheatcroft caught fire on the back nine, finishing with six straight birdies — including a 13-foot putt on the par-4 18th — for just his third round in the 60s this season.

Wheatcroft’s previous best scores on the PGA Tour were 64s at the 2012 Greenbrier Classic and the 2016 Canadian Open.

“I tried to keep the round going. I asked if we could just go to the first tee and start round two,” Wheatcroft said. “No, I don’t know if I’ve ever done that to finish a round. It was great. Yeah, I would just try to keep doing what I’m doing.”