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By Joel Schuchmann
PGA TOUR staff

• John Deere Classic participants in the 2007 British Open (8): John Daly; Todd Hamilton; Zach Johnson; Pat Perez; Carl Pettersson; John Senden; Kevin Stadler; Duffy Waldorf.

• This week's John Deere Classic marks the last opportunity to earn a 2007 British Open exemption -- The leading player at the John Deere Classic inside the top-10, not otherwise exempt, will gain a spot in the British Open field. Ties will be decided by the better final-round score, and if players are still tied the better third-round score and better second-round score will be the determining factor.

Duffy Waldorf shot 65 on Thursday. (WireImage)

Duffy Waldorf in round 1 of

The John Deere Classic

STATS Rnd1 TOT RANK* EAGLES -- 0 N/A BIRDIES 8 8 T1 PARS 8 8 T146 BOGEYS 2 2 T70 DOUBLE BOGEYS -- 0 N/A OTHER -- 0 N/A DRIVING ACCURACY 79 78.6 T20 DRIVING DISTANCE 303.0 303.0 15 PUTTS PER ROUND 25 25.0 T4 PUTTS PER GIR 1.385 1.385 3 GREENS IN REG 72 72.2 T57 SAND SAVES 0 0.0 T82

• Playing in his 533rd career PGA TOUR this week, Neal Lancaster is searching for his second PGA TOUR victory. His lone win came at the 1994 GTE Byron Nelson Classic, know as the "Half Nelson" as the event was rain-shortened to 36 holes. Lancaster is making just his fourth start of the season --- he has made two cuts with a best finish of tie for 24th at the AT&T Classic.

• Neal Lancaster's 7-under-par 64 was one off his career low on the PGA TOUR, a second-round 63 at the Canon Greater Hartford Open in 1998, where he finished tied for 20th. The TPC Deere Run course record is 10-under-par 61 by J.P. Hayes en route to victory in 2002.

• Neal Lancaster has held one previous 18-hole lead on TOUR at the 1991 Southern Open where he posted a first-round 67 and eventually finished tied for 58th.

• Neal Lancaster has played in 14 previous John Deere Classics, with eight made cuts. He has one previous top-10 in the Quad Cities, a tie for eighth in 2000 where he posted four rounds in the 60s.

• Playing out of the 126-150 category in 2007, Duffy Waldorf (tied for second) sits at No. 144 on the FedExCup points list. He has made six cuts in 12 starts with a best finish of tie for 12th at the Stanford St. Jude Championship.

• Nine-time PGA TOUR winner Kenny Perry (T2) has rebounded from a difficult first half of the season. In his first 13 starts, Perry's best finish was tie for 19th at the PODS Championship. Since then, he has two top-10s in three starts including a tie for third at the Memorial Tournament where he shot a 63 in the final round. His other starts in that period were a tie for 15th at the Travelers Championship and tie for 10th at the Buick Open.

• Last year, Paul Stankowski (tied for second) was playing in the 14th and last tournament of his Major Medical Extension (due to a wrist injury) at the John Deere Classic. He had earned $168,437 of the $180,390 ($11,953 shy) he needed to be able to play out of that category for the remainder of the year. He finished the tournament in a tie for 57th and missed by $3,033. Stankowski finished the season outside the top 125 on the PGA TOUR money list but regained his TOUR card via the PGA TOUR Qualifying School. This season, Stankowski has made just five of 13 cuts and sits No. 161 on the FedExCup points list. His best finish was tie for 14th at the Shell Houston Open.

• On the strength of five birdies in six holes (Nos. 7-12), Scott Gutschewski sits tied for second through 18 holes. With just six weeks in the PGA TOUR Regular Season, Gutschewski sits No. 173 in the FedExCup standings. He needs to finish the season strong to earn a position in the top 144 to qualify for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

• Lucas Glover (T74) enters this week's John Deere Classic looking to improve his Presidents Cup position -- he is currently 12th in the United States team standings. The eligibility rankings are used to select 10 members for both squads. The 12-man teams are rounded out by two Captain's Choices per team -- Jack Nicklaus of the United States team and Gary Player of the International team. The seventh Presidents Cup will be contested at The Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Canada on Sept. 27-30, 2007. Members of the 2007 U.S. Team will be selected based on official earnings from the start of the 2006 season through the 2007 PGA Championship. International Team players for the 2007 Presidents Cup will be chosen on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking. The International team does not include players eligible for the European Ryder Cup Team.

• Thursday Eagles (3): Carlos Franco -- No. 2; Kent Jones -- No. 2; Troy Matteson -- No. 2.

• Bogey-free Rounds (10): Paul Stankowski; Kevin Sutherland; Jason Dufner; Briny Baird; Paul Goydos; Bob Heintz; Kris Cox; D.J. Brigman; Tim Clark; Jarrod Lyle.

• Sixteen-year-old Richard Lee is making his professional debut after earning a spot in this week's John Deere Classic via the Monday Qualifier. Lee, who turns 17 on October 29th, is a native of Canada and currently resides in Arizona. He shot 5-over 76 on Thursday and is tied for 145th. He finished second to Philip Francis (UCLA recruit also playing this week as an amateur) at the 2006 U.S. Junior Amateur.

• Dean Wilson withdrew after a first-round 6-over-par 77 due as he re-aggravated a wrist injury.