DeChambeau rallies to win John Deere Classic by 1 shot

SILVIS, Ill. — Third-round leader Patrick Rodgers knew that it would take a ton of birdies Sunday to win the John Deere Classic. Bryson DeChambeau took that advice to heart. DeChambeau overcame a four-stroke deficit to beat Rodgers by a stroke for his first PGA TOUR title — and a spot next week in the Open Championship. The 23-year-old DeChambeau birdied four of the final six holes at TPC Deere Run for a 6-under 65 and an 18-under 266 total. In 2015, the unconventional former SMU star became the fifth player to win the NCAA individual title and U.S. Amateur in the same year. The win punctuated a comeback of sorts for DeChambeau, who capped a string of missed cuts with a 6-over finish last month in the U.S. Open. “I show everybody that, `Look. There’s plenty of ways to do it.’ I do it my way and I feel comfortable doing it my way,” DeChambeau said. Rodgers closed with 70. DeChambeau made a 14-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to pull even with Rodgers. Rodgers then had a par putt on No. 17 lip out, and sent his tee shot on 18 into the rough. Wesley Bryan (64) and Rick Lamb (66) tied for third at 16 under, and past tournament champions Steve Stricker (64) and Zach Johnson (67) topped the group at 15 under. DeChambeau played the front nine in even par, then birdied six of the final nine holes to surge to the top of the leaderboard. Rodgers, on the other hand, had four bogeys — and his approach on No. 18 sailed past the green. Rodgers nearly chipped in from 50 feet to force a playoff, missing the cup by a foot. DeChambeau became the 10th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season. “Our tendency when you have the lead is to kind of hold on and play safe and guard against making mistakes. But I had guys coming at me with some really low rounds. Obviously Bryson shot a great one,” said Rodgers, who remained winless on the PGA TOUR. Bryan, who won the RBC Heritage for his first career victory in April, shot a 30 on the back nine. Lamb was 13 under for the final two rounds but was done in by pedestrian efforts in the first two rounds. Stricker, who won at TPC Deere Run from 2009-11, grabbed a share of the lead before Rodgers teed off Sunday. Stricker, 50, went 8-under par through 14 holes to jump all the way up from 34th place. But Stricker’s only bogey came on the 18th hole, when his par putt grazed the cup. “Realistically, if I could have made a couple more birdies there and could have got it to 18-under, who knows? Just couldn’t get it in there,” Stricker said. Johnson, who won the tournament in 2012 and has finished in the top three six times in his last eight appearances, challenged the leaders yet again before falling back. Johnson picked up bogeys on a pair of par 4s on the back nine, and he missed a 4-foot birdie putt on 14. “My goal was to birdie every hole and give myself a chance on every hole. Early on it looked like my game plan was being executed,” Johnson said. Bubba Watson shot a 68 to finish at 9 under.

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