Lucas Glover dropped in a 12-foot par putt on his last hole Friday to post a 6-under 65 and move two shots in front at the John Deere Classic, leaving him bogey-free through 36 holes at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.
His 14-under 128 represents the best 36-hole score of his career in 582 PGA Tour starts, surpassing a 129 he posted at the 2010 Wyndham Championship. At 46 years, 7 months, and 21 days, he also became the oldest player to hold or share the 36-hole lead in John Deere Classic history, passing Fred Funk’s mark from 2002.
Lee Hodges sat two back at 12-under after a 66, with Zac Blair a further shot behind at 11-under following a 68.
How the Round Was Built
Glover teed off on No. 10 in the afternoon wave and did most of his work on the back side with five birdies. On his first five holes, every approach finished 8 feet or closer, and he turned three of those looks into birdies. He also sent his tee shot on the par-3 16th to 2 feet for another birdie.
The numbers backed up the scorecard. Glover led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green at 8.654 and Strokes Gained: Approach The Green at 7.471. He built the lead on ball-striking control.
The closing par save from 12 feet preserved his clean card and kept him as one of only two players without a bogey through two rounds, the other being 18-year-old Blades Brown.
Season Stakes
Glover’s three-year exemption from winning back-to-back tournaments in August 2023, the Wyndham Championship followed by the FedEx St. Jude Championship, is set to expire this year. A strong result at a course where he won in 2021 would carry real weight.
Glover said he is focused on his form.
“I’m too old to chase that stuff, to be fair,” Glover said. “I just want to play. I just wanted to play well again, and I’ve struggled. Having two days like this just gives me a little belief that it’s in there, you know? Been working hard at it and hadn’t seen many results and have for two days. Doesn’t mean anything tomorrow. Doesn’t mean anything Sunday.
“But for these first two days my work has been paying off. I got a couple more days to keep fighting and keep doing it.”
This is Glover’s 11th time holding or sharing a 36-hole lead on the PGA Tour. His conversion record from that position stands at 1-for-10, with the lone win coming at the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship. He owns six career Tour titles, including the 2009 US Open.
Who’s Chasing
Hodges kept himself within striking distance by making a pair of 8-foot par putts over his closing three holes. His 130 is one stroke off his career-best 36-hole position, which came when he led the 2023 3M Open en route to victory.
Blair, who co-led after the opening round, saved par on his final hole to stay at 11-under. His best finish in eight starts this season is a tie for eighth at the Puerto Rico Open.
Six players were tied at 10-under, four shots back. Among them, Jackson Suber posted a bogey-free 64 in the second round. Suber has two top-10 finishes in 14 starts this season.
Max Homa finished the day at 9-under, while Chris Gotterup, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 14 in the Official World Golf Ranking, was tied for 11th at 8-under.
Veterans and Youth
The tournament had drawn attention for younger names, but several veterans were prominent Friday. Before Glover teed off, 50-year-old Zach Johnson posted a 70 to reach 8-under and a share of 11th. Johnson, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa native, skipped the US Senior Open to play a tournament he considers a local event.
Glover first joined the PGA Tour before several players in this week’s field were born, including Jackson Koivun and Preston Stout.
Koivun, once the world’s No. 1 amateur, failed to make the cut in his pro debut two weeks after sharing low amateur honors at the US Open.
Stout fared better. Now ranked No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking after Koivun turned pro, Stout made his first career cut on Tour in his fourth start. He finished at 7-under 135 after a 69 that included a penalty drop and bogey on 18.
Brown, who turned professional while still in high school and graduated in January, matched Stout at 7-under after a 66. He has already secured special temporary PGA Tour membership through his Korn Ferry Tour standing.
Cut Line
The cut line landed at 3-under 141. Jordan Spieth, a two-time John Deere Classic winner, got in on the number after a 69. Three of his bogeys came in a five-hole stretch on the back nine. Eric Cole posted the low round of the day with a 63 and also finished at 3-under.
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| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucas Glover | -14 | 63 | 65 | 128 |
| 2 | Lee Hodges | -12 | 64 | 66 | 130 |
| 3 | Zac Blair | -11 | 63 | 68 | 131 |
| T4 | Jackson Suber | -10 | 68 | 64 | 132 |
| T4 | Tyler Duncan | -10 | 66 | 66 | 132 |
| T4 | Troy Merritt | -10 | 66 | 66 | 132 |
| T4 | David Lipsky | -10 | 67 | 65 | 132 |
| T4 | Ryo Hisatsune | -10 | 67 | 65 | 132 |
| T4 | Ben Kohles | -10 | 65 | 67 | 132 |
| 10 | Max Homa | -9 | 67 | 66 | 133 |
| T11 | Zach Johnson | -8 | 64 | 70 | 134 |
| T11 | Chris Gotterup | -8 | 66 | 68 | 134 |
| T11 | Pontus Nyholm | -8 | 68 | 66 | 134 |
| T11 | William Mouw | -8 | 66 | 68 | 134 |
| T11 | Ben Griffin | -8 | 69 | 65 | 134 |
| T11 | Michael Brennan | -8 | 66 | 68 | 134 |
| T11 | Doug Ghim | -8 | 69 | 65 | 134 |
| T11 | Hayden Springer | -8 | 66 | 68 | 134 |
| T19 | Harry Higgs | -7 | 67 | 68 | 135 |
| T19 | Tom Kim | -7 | 67 | 68 | 135 |
| T19 | Davis Chatfield | -7 | 69 | 66 | 135 |
| T19 | Andrew Putnam | -7 | 67 | 68 | 135 |
| T19 | Austin Smotherman | -7 | 66 | 69 | 135 |
| T19 | Aaron Wise | -7 | 66 | 69 | 135 |
| T19 | Blades Brown | -7 | 69 | 66 | 135 |
| T19 | Preston Stout(a) | -7 | 66 | 69 | 135 |
| T19 | Chan Kim | -7 | 68 | 67 | 135 |
| T19 | Luke Gutschewski | -7 | 67 | 68 | 135 |
| T29 | Steven Fisk | -6 | 68 | 68 | 136 |
| T29 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | -6 | 68 | 68 | 136 |
| T29 | Emiliano Grillo | -6 | 70 | 66 | 136 |
| T29 | Chandler Phillips | -6 | 69 | 67 | 136 |
| T29 | Zecheng Dou | -6 | 67 | 69 | 136 |
| T29 | Gordon Sargent | -6 | 67 | 69 | 136 |
| T29 | Stephan Jaeger | -6 | 64 | 72 | 136 |
| T29 | Patrick Fishburn | -6 | 65 | 71 | 136 |
| T37 | Sungjae Im | -5 | 68 | 69 | 137 |
| T37 | Karl Vilips | -5 | 72 | 65 | 137 |
| T37 | Peter Malnati | -5 | 71 | 66 | 137 |
| T37 | Mac Meissner | -5 | 67 | 70 | 137 |
| T37 | Nicholas Lindheim | -5 | 69 | 68 | 137 |
| T37 | Rafael Campos | -5 | 66 | 71 | 137 |
| T37 | Ryan Brehm | -5 | 68 | 69 | 137 |
| T37 | Beau Hossler | -5 | 70 | 67 | 137 |
| T37 | Pierceson Coody | -5 | 69 | 68 | 137 |
| T37 | J.T. Poston | -5 | 68 | 69 | 137 |
| T37 | Jacob Bridgeman | -5 | 67 | 70 | 137 |
| T37 | Davis Riley | -5 | 65 | 72 | 137 |
| T37 | Joel Dahmen | -5 | 66 | 71 | 137 |
| T37 | Tom Hoge | -5 | 73 | 64 | 137 |
| T51 | Austin Eckroat | -4 | 71 | 67 | 138 |
| T51 | Tony Finau | -4 | 70 | 68 | 138 |
| T51 | Kevin Yu | -4 | 66 | 72 | 138 |
| T51 | Matt Kuchar | -4 | 72 | 66 | 138 |
| T51 | Ryan Voois | -4 | 68 | 70 | 138 |
| T51 | Davis Thompson | -4 | 69 | 69 | 138 |
| T51 | Matt Wallace | -4 | 67 | 71 | 138 |
| T51 | Camilo Villegas | -4 | 71 | 67 | 138 |
| T51 | Trace Crowe | -4 | 69 | 69 | 138 |
| T60 | Lanto Griffin | -3 | 67 | 72 | 139 |
| T60 | Jonathan Byrd | -3 | 69 | 70 | 139 |
| T60 | Rickie Fowler | -3 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T60 | Keith Mitchell | -3 | 73 | 66 | 139 |
| T60 | Will Gordon | -3 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T60 | Keegan Bradley | -3 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T60 | David Skinns | -3 | 72 | 67 | 139 |
| T60 | Zach Bauchou | -3 | 69 | 70 | 139 |
| T60 | Keita Nakajima | -3 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T60 | Fabián Gómez | -3 | 72 | 67 | 139 |
| T60 | Mark Hubbard | -3 | 72 | 67 | 139 |
| T60 | Nick Dunlap | -3 | 67 | 72 | 139 |
| T60 | Eric Cole | -3 | 76 | 63 | 139 |
| T60 | Jordan Spieth | -3 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T60 | Mackenzie Hughes | -3 | 72 | 67 | 139 |
| T60 | Erik van Rooyen | -3 | 70 | 69 | 139 |
| T60 | Max McGreevy | -3 | 71 | 68 | 139 |
| T60 | A.J. Ewart | -3 | 67 | 72 | 139 |
| T60 | Michael Feagles | -3 | 69 | 70 | 139 |
| T60 | Adrien Dumont de Chassart | -3 | 72 | 67 | 139 |
| CUT | Austin Cook | -2 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| CUT | Takumi Kanaya | -2 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| CUT | Adam Svensson | -2 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| CUT | Max Greyserman | -2 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| CUT | Sudarshan Yellamaraju | -2 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| CUT | Michael Thorbjornsen | -2 | 68 | 72 | 140 |
| CUT | Jimmy Stanger | -2 | 72 | 68 | 140 |
| CUT | Daniel Berger | -2 | 68 | 72 | 140 |
| CUT | Webb Simpson | -2 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| CUT | Rico Hoey | -2 | 68 | 72 | 140 |
| CUT | Nick Hardy | -2 | 74 | 66 | 140 |
| CUT | Kevin Streelman | -2 | 70 | 70 | 140 |
| CUT | Johnny Keefer | -2 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| CUT | Neal Shipley | -2 | 72 | 68 | 140 |
| CUT | Jeffrey Kang | -2 | 71 | 69 | 140 |
| CUT | Dylan Wu | -1 | 72 | 69 | 141 |
| CUT | Brice Garnett | -1 | 72 | 69 | 141 |
| CUT | Hank Lebioda | -1 | 71 | 70 | 141 |
| CUT | Taylor Moore | -1 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| CUT | Joe Highsmith | -1 | 74 | 67 | 141 |
| CUT | Kensei Hirata | -1 | 68 | 73 | 141 |
| CUT | Dylan Frittelli | -1 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| CUT | Paul Peterson | -1 | 72 | 69 | 141 |
| CUT | Luke Clanton | -1 | 69 | 72 | 141 |
| CUT | Patrick Adler | -1 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| CUT | Brendon Todd | -1 | 70 | 71 | 141 |
| CUT | Haotong Li | -1 | 67 | 74 | 141 |
| CUT | Denny McCarthy | Par | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| CUT | Michael Kim | Par | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| CUT | Carson Young | Par | 73 | 69 | 142 |
| CUT | Aldrich Potgieter | Par | 74 | 68 | 142 |
| CUT | Garrick Higgo | Par | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| CUT | Ben Martin | Par | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| CUT | Justin Lower | Par | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| CUT | Martin Laird | Par | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| CUT | Matthieu Pavon | Par | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| CUT | Robert Streb | Par | 71 | 71 | 142 |
| CUT | Brian Campbell | Par | 70 | 72 | 142 |
| CUT | Kevin Roy | Par | 69 | 73 | 142 |
| CUT | Vince Whaley | Par | 75 | 67 | 142 |
| CUT | Marcelo Rozo | Par | 72 | 70 | 142 |
| CUT | Patton Kizzire | +1 | 71 | 72 | 143 |
| CUT | Andrew Novak | +1 | 72 | 71 | 143 |
| CUT | Noah Goodwin | +1 | 68 | 75 | 143 |
| CUT | Taylor Pendrith | +1 | 68 | 75 | 143 |
| CUT | Jackson Koivun | +1 | 73 | 70 | 143 |
| CUT | Kris Ventura | +1 | 69 | 74 | 143 |
| CUT | Ben Silverman | +2 | 73 | 71 | 144 |
| CUT | Adam Schenk | +2 | 71 | 73 | 144 |
| CUT | Adam Hadwin | +2 | 73 | 71 | 144 |
| CUT | John VanDerLaan | +2 | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| CUT | Cameron Champ | +2 | 72 | 72 | 144 |
| CUT | Alejandro Tosti | +2 | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| CUT | Augusto Núñez | +2 | 73 | 71 | 144 |
| CUT | Luke List | +2 | 74 | 70 | 144 |
| CUT | Chad Ramey | +4 | 73 | 73 | 146 |
| CUT | Thorbjørn Olesen | +4 | 75 | 71 | 146 |
| CUT | S.Y. Noh | +4 | 74 | 72 | 146 |
| CUT | Mason Howell(a) | +5 | 72 | 75 | 147 |
| CUT | Chandler Blanchet | +5 | 70 | 77 | 147 |
| CUT | Jeremy Paul | +7 | 72 | 77 | 149 |
| CUT | Christo Lamprecht | +7 | 77 | 72 | 149 |
| CUT | Danny Walker | +11 | 81 | 72 | 153 |
| CUT | Darin Fisher | +14 | 78 | 78 | 156 |
| W/D | Seamus Power | - | 77 | - | 77 |
Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.