Poston ahead of pack on Day 1
SILVIS, Ill. — J.T. Poston shot a 9-under 62 on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead in the first round of the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic.
Coming off a second-place tie last week in Connecticut, where he also opened with a 62, Poston eagled the par-5 second and had seven birdies in a bogey-free round at TPC Deere Run.
“Any time you can have those rounds where you really get it going low and mistake-free, bogey-free is a bonus,” Poston said. “It’s why you work at it and why you practice the way we do.”
Canadian Michael Gligic was in second place at 64, also playing bogey-free in the final group of the day off the first tee.
“It was nice,” Gligic said. “Just kind of hit ball where I was looking. Gave myself lots of looks. I think I only missed one green and was able to make a few putts.”
Vaughn Taylor and Christopher Gotterup followed at 65.
Ricky Barnes, Denny McCarthy, Chris Naegel and Dylan Frittelli each shot 66.
“Been struggling a little bit physically and haven’t been putting very well,” Taylor said. “But coming into here I told myself, ‘You know, I know this course, how to play it. Just go do it.’ ”
Poston won the 2019 Wyndham Championship for his lone PGA Tour title.
“I would say for the last few months, [my game has] been in a good spot,” he said. “Just hadn’t quite seen the results. Then, Hilton Head, I had a good week. Wells Fargo, good week. Last week, playing well. So I think it’s starting to kind of come together and see the results and see the shots and kind of building that confidence back into my ball- striking.”
Zach Johnson, the 2012 John Deere winner, opened with a 69 in his 20th straight start in the event.
“That’s as hard as I’ve seen this golf course play in a long time,” Johnson said. “Granted, you got some roll, so if you land it in the fairway, it was going to bounce, which is fun. But it was hard.”
Defending champion Lucas Glover shot a 74.