Zach Johnson, Andrew Landry share 54-hole lead

SILVIS, Ill. – Notes and observations from Friday’s second round of the John Deere Classic, where Patrick Rodgers blitzed his way to a two-shot lead after a 7-under 64. Rodgers will start the weekend at 13-under par, two clear of Bryson DeChambeau (65) and three ahead of former champion Zach Johnson (67) and overnight co-leader Charles Howell III (69). For more from TPC Deere Run check out the Daily Wrap. REAL RODGERS REEMERGES The first occasion Patrick Rodgers joined the lead at the John Deere Classic came back in 2013, and it was such a shock his father took a screenshot of the moment and had it framed. He was a 20-year-old amateur at the time ,and while highly touted as a future star, the moment still meant plenty to the Rogers clan. The fact he faded to T15 was of little consequence. Fast forward four years, and Rodgers is back in the lead at TPC Deere Run again. This time, it is not as much of a shock. Although, the now 24-year-old certainly hasn’t been setting the world on fire of late. Earlier this season, Rodgers had a T4 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, and it felt like the beginning of what could be a stellar season. Instead he missed nine cuts in his next 15 starts, with a best finish of T22 in that span. “I’ve struggled tee-to-green this year. The way I swung it my best in my career, I got pretty far off from that,â€� he admitted as he takes a two-shot lead to the weekend. “Most of my work the last two, three months is trying to get back to how I know I swing it my best, especially off the tee. Credit to my coach for putting in the time with me, because we’ve got it back to a place where I can contend and hopefully win a golf tournament.â€� Rodgers admitted frustration was building as each week passed without success, but he was determined to work his way out of the slump. He sits 107th in the FedExCup standings, but currently projects all the way to 31st if he can close the deal. “The only way I know how to handle it is just to put my head down and keep working,â€� he adds. “I’ve worked harder than I ever have and I’m more motivated.â€� HADLEY DREAMS OF WIN DOUBLE Chesson Hadley is nothing if not confident. A winner last week on the Web.Com Tour at the LECOM Health Challenge, the rangy North Carolina native is heading back to the PGA TOUR next season. But now, he has a chance to boost his status after a beautiful 7-under 64 Friday left him at 9-under par and tied fifth, just four back at the John Deere Classic. No stranger to winning on the big stage, Hadley feels relaxed as he tries to repeat his 2014 win at the Puerto Rico Open. He’s even packed his passport as he chases a spot in next week’s Open Championship. The John Deere Classic rewards a spot at Royal Birkdale for the highest finisher in the top 5 not already exempt. “You feel like you’re playing on house money a little bit but at the same time, there is still some work to be done,â€� Hadley said after securing his future last week. “There is a spot for the British this week. I did bring my passport. We got a long way to go before we start thinking about that. “I’ve put myself in a great position. Made some putts today, and I’m excited.â€� Hadley credited an attitude adjustment and something “secretâ€� with his swing to his form turnaround. “I’ve been heading in the right direction for a while, and I think it kind of starts with your attitude, how you think about and handle things,â€� he said. “I kind of finally got that right, and then everything came together last week obviously with the win on the Web. “Honestly I don’t really want to tell anybody (specifics). I found out what it was I’m doing, and I got on TrackMan and just checked the number and did a little bit of an experiment with ten balls, and liked the way it felt and certainly liked the way it was moving. “That’s the reason why I shot 7-under. I did hit some great shots, but would like to keep doing what I’m doing. Just not forget.â€� KISNER WANTS MORE FROM PUTTER Kevin Kisner walked off after a lovely 6-under 65 on Friday and was far from pleased. He was happy with the score on the board, which moved him to 8-under and tied for ninth. But he couldn’t shake his disappointment with his putting over the opening two rounds. As such, this year’s DEAN & DELUCA Invitational champion was headed right out to practice with his flat stick before he fires up for the weekend challenge ahead. While he’s been perfect inside 5 feet at TPC Deer Run, Kisner is just 2 of 6 from 5-10 feet, and hasn’t made the usual plethora of bombs he’s used to as the 20th-best putter on TOUR so far this season (Strokes Gained: Putting). This week, he sits 72nd in the field with the putter. “The ball striking has been pretty phenomenal. Keeping the ball in the fairway and on the greens and not really sweating too much out there. But I am really not that happy with the way I’m putting it, so I’m going to go work on that a little bit and hopefully get it rolling on the weekend,â€� Kisner said. “I think it always comes down to the guys that make putts. I hadn’t putted my best yet, so I am going to have to keep working on that. I know I am going to have to make some 15-, 20-footers on the weekend.â€� Kisner was happy to provide some highlights in the company of Presidents Cup captain Steve Stricker, his playing partner, as he heads towards making his first appearance for Team USA. LOCAL BOY LAPS IT UP Local Moline man David Lawrence was a late call-up as a sponsor invite this week, and boy did he enjoy the opportunity. Lawrence, known by his healthy gallery as “D-Lawâ€�, has been a mini-tour battler for some time, winning 21 times. But this was what he called “his majorâ€� as he got to showcase his skills on the PGA TOUR for the first time. He spent most of his round walking the rope lines rather than down the middle of the fairways, high fiving fans and volunteers and interacting with the estimated 200-300 people who followed his every move. After an opening round 73, the 27-year-old was facing an uphill battle to make the weekend, but he rebounded with three birdies in his opening five holes on Friday to give himself a chance. Sadly a pair of bogeys around the turn left him fighting once more, but birdies on 13 and 15 left him with three holes to find one more for a trip to the weekend. By the time he faced his approach on the 18th hole from the right rough, he was still searching, and as his approach made a beeline for the hole his heart was in his mouth. The pitch mark scared the hole but ultimately rolled past 23-feet and his birdie attempt just slid past leaving him one shot short. Still, he found the positives, and was hopeful this wouldn’t be the last time he would be seen on TOUR. In fact, in the second round he led the entire field in Strokes Gained: Putting, showing he can match it with the big guns. “I know that I am going to be playing hopefully a lot of these. I just can’t thank the support enough. I heard so many awesome cheers and roars, it’s emotional right now,â€� Lawrence said post round with tears in his eyes. “I love these people, it’s my home. It’s my community. My family and friends. I met so many awesome people. So many volunteers came up to me and said we are rooting for you, I hope it is the same for years to come. Lawrence said his efforts have given him renewed confidence to keep chasing his dreams. “We’ve got the game. I love that. I knew it but now I really know it. So that’s a huge confidence boost.â€� Fellow local Kurt Slattery, who eagled his last hole in Monday qualifying, did it again in a playoff to make the field, settled for a 71-75 to also miss the cut. ODDS AND ENDS Kevin Tway sat outside the cutline after he opened his second round with six straight pars. Then, he rattled off a career-record seven straight birdies. In a 10-hole stretch, he carded nine birdies before eventually signing for an 8-under 63. At 9-under, he is just four shots back. For the record, father Bob also once had seven straight birdies. “I was kind of hoping it would never stop,â€� he said. “I’m in good position going into the weekend. You’ve got to make a lot of birdies around here, so I’ll just keep trying to do that.â€� Bryson DeChambeau ranks 195th on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Putting, but he surged to second place through 36 holes after gaining 6.344 strokes on the field through two rounds with the flat stick (ranked third). The former U.S. Amateur champion made 140 feet, 10 inches worth of putts in Round 2. Jonathan Byrd, the 2007 John Deere Classic champion, casually moved himself into the mix with a second round 65. At 7-under, Byrd is looking for a sixth PGA TOUR win to get himself back off the Web.com Tour. His performances on the secondary tour thus far should be enough to secure a berth in the upcoming Web.com Tour Playoffs at very least. Presidents Cup captain and three-time John Deere Classic winner Steve Stricker fought back from his poor opening round with a 4-under 67 to make the cut on the 2-under number. Defending champion Ryan Moore was unable to repeat last season’s heroics, missing the cut after rounds of 74-71. Troy Merritt sits at 7-under and in the mix thanks to a pair of chip ins and an eagle hole out from 105-yards on the par-5 10th. Overnight co-leader Ollie Schniederjans struggled to a 3-over 74 to drop to 5-under.  SHOT OF THE DAY CALL OF THE DAY BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

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Mark Hensby’s second PGA TOUR event in three and a half years, the Palmetto Championship at Congaree, was going OK through eight holes of Round 1 until he noticed something askew on his golf ball. It was a small dot on his Titleist ProV1 he hadn’t seen before. After rebounding from an early triple bogey with birdies on each of the front nine par-3s, he had just made a par on the eighth hole and was 2 over when he noticed the discrepancy. “I asked my caddie, ‘Hey what’s this dot on the ball? I’ve never noticed this before; did they do something with the new pro V1?’” Hensby told PGATOUR.COM. “And he didn’t know, so I asked my playing partners and they were like, ‘That’s a low spin ball.’ Now I don’t use this ball, so there was a lot of confusion where it came from – none of my others had the dot – but we knew I had played the wrong ball.” The 49-year-old Australian, who before February’s Puerto Rico Open hadn’t played since the 2017 Sanderson Farms Championship, called in Senior Tournament Referee Mike Peterson and was assessed a two-stroke penalty for each hole in which he used the ball under the Model Local Rule G-4 – sometimes known as the One Ball Rule. Hensby had unknowingly dropped the ball into play after hitting his third shot into the water at the fourth hole, meaning his bogey-birdie-par-birdie-par run became a triple bogey-bogey-double bogey-bogey-double bogey annihilation, pushing him to 12 over. Despite being rattled by the news, he shot a respectable 1-over 36 on the back, leaving him with a 13-over 84. While unaware at the time, Hensby would later find out the ball in question belonged to Pat Perez and had been inadvertently switched while the two warmed up on the putting green. “Somehow I picked up one of Pat’s balls and he ended up with one of mine,” he said. “I only found this out because Titleist wanted to get to the bottom of it. I thought they had a wrong ball in the sleeve that I had. “If you look at both balls it’s hard to know the difference,” he continued. “It’s not like one is black and one is red. They’re both black, but one has a small dot on it and one doesn’t. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice that. I’m glad he didn’t use mine.” Prior to rule changes in 2019, this type of infraction carried a maximum penalty of four strokes but now is two-shots per hole. The purpose of the rule is to prevent a player from using balls with different playing characteristics depending on the nature of the hole or shot to be played. Russell Henley unknowingly violated the One Ball Rule in the second round at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in 2019. He realized the infraction while signing autographs after the round, and after adding eight shots to his score went from being in contention to missing the cut. Similarly, Hensby had no chance to play on to the weekend after the violation. “For Mark to call that on himself speaks volumes about him and the integrity of the game,” PGA TOUR Senior Tournament Director Ken Tackett said. The 2004 John Deere Classic winner was a late call up off the alternate list. “I only got into the field on Tuesday,” Hensby said, “and I’d driven a moving truck from Scottsdale to San Antonio 14 hours straight on Sunday so I was a little stiff. I flew in Wednesday night, had to COVID test prior to my tee time, and there was a chance if the results were delayed, I’d be playing as a single at the back of the pack but thankfully those came through. “I was actually playing pretty decent,” he added. “I didn’t get off to the greatest start, but I birdied the par 3’s during that stretch and made some good pars. I was just 2 over at that point and feeling pretty good about my rebound. But after I got the penalty obviously it was tough from that point on, and it was a shame because I knew my tournament was over.” Hensby turns 50 on June 29 and as such has been looking to sharpen his game for PGA TOUR Champions, where he hopes to play alongside fellow Australians of his generation like Rod Pampling, John Senden, Robert Allenby and Stuart Appleby. Hensby has qualified for the Senior U.S. Open at the Omaha Country Club, July 7-11. “I’m working hard to get my game back up there,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the Senior U.S. Open and the Senior British Open and hopefully getting status on PGA TOUR Champions so I can get some more regular playing time again.” Additional reporting by Cameron Morfit at Congaree.

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