STRICKER DEFENDS TITLE AT 2010 JOHN DEERE CLASSIC
Steve Stricker broke the tournament scoring record by a whopping four shots en route to successfully defending his John Deere Classic title Sunday, July 11, at TPC Deere Run.
Now he's looking forward to a three-peat.
"Anytime you can win three times in a row would be great," Stricker said. "You know, it's a long ways away. We've got a year to go, but it would be fun to come back and try."
Stricker's 26-under par total was enough to defeat fellow PGA TOUR veteran Paul Goydos, who finished two shots back at 24-under.
Goydos made golf history in the first round when he became only the fourth player in TOUR history to shoot 59.
Like Stricker, Goydos' final score also broke the previous tournament record of 22-under set by J.P. Hayes in 2002. Hayes won that tournament.
Goydos, 46, accepted the exemption to the British Open that is extended annually to the leading player, not otherwise exempt, among the top five finishers and ties at the John Deere Classic. Stricker already was exempt.
Both men flew direct to Edinburgh from Quad City International Airport via the John Deere Classic charter and were expected to be practicing at St. Andrews sometime Monday.
Stricker, 43, shot a final round 1-under par on Sunday. He birdied his first two holes to take a seven-stroke lead over Goydos, who shot a 5-under 66.
Stricker's victory was the first successful defense at the Quad Cities-based tournament since David Frost posted back-to-back wins in 1992-93. It was Stricker's second victory this year and his ninth on the PGA TOUR.
The native and resident of Wisconsin and University of Illinois alumnus shot rounds of 60-66-62-70 en route to the 26-under total of 258. Stricker recorded 31 birdies, which ties him for second on the all-time list for birdies in a 72-hole event with John Huston and Phil Mickelson.
Stricker set the PGA TOUR's 54-hole scoring record with a 188.
Goydos shot 59-68-67-66 - 260 after missing the cut in his two previous events and never finishing better than 10th at the John Deere Classic.