Week 27 Approach Shots: John Deere Classic

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A tight race through 54 holes at the 2008 John Deere Classic remained that way through the final round, as Kenny Perry, Brad Adamonis and Jay Williamson battled back and forth at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. The trio eventually ended in a playoff, with Perry winning on the first extra hole. The victory denied both Adamonis and Williamson their first TOUR victory but helped make up for the close call Perry had in 1994 when he finished second at this event behind Mark McCumber.

Quick Facts

WHAT: 29th of 37 regular-season PGA TOUR events WHEN: July 9-12 WHERE: Silvis, Ill. COURSE: TPC Deere Run TV: 3 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., GOLF; 3-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun., CBS RADIO: 12 -8 p.m. ET Thurs.-Sun., PGA TOUR Network (XM 146/SIRIUS 209) FEDEXCUP POINTS: 500 for winner KEY LINKS: Tee times | Leaderboard | Tournament page VIDEO: Opening Shot

Perry comes into the tournament on a hot streak, winning in his most recent start at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago. He also won the FBR Open earlier this season and now sits second in the FedExCup standings.

This is the 10th year the John Deere Classic has been held at TPC Deere Run. Besides Perry, three other players currently in the top 10 of the FedExCup standings are in the field. Zach Johnson is third, Steve Stricker is fifth and U.S. Open champ Lucas Glover is seventh.

THE GOLDEN YEARS: With his win at the 2008 John Deere Classic, Kenny Perry became the first player age 45 and over since Julius Boros in 1967 to win three PGA TOUR tournaments in a year. Boros was 47 years, 3 months, 8 days when he won the 1967 Buick Open Invitational, his third win of that season.

OPEN SUCCESS STORY: Despite the playoff loss to Kenny Perry in 2008, Jay Williamson earned and accepted a spot in the British Open as the top-five finisher in the event not previously exempt for the British Open. Since Williamson (69) and Adamonis (70) tied for second place, the players' final-round scores were used to determine who would get the invitation. It marked the fourth major championship of Williamson's career and his first since the 2003 U.S. Open. He tied for 39th at Royal Birkdale.

DOUBLE DIGIT STREAK: Last year, for the 33rd consecutive time, the winning score at the John Deere Classic was in double digits (16-under 268). The winning score has failed to reach double digits only three times in the event's 38-year history. It happened in 1975 when Roger Maltbie finished at 5 under. Deane Beman was also 5 under in 1972, a year after the former PGA TOUR commissioner won an unofficial event with a 7-under score.

PLAYER NOTES: The John Deere Classic has featured 18 first-time winners in the tournament's history, the last being John Senden (2006). Since 2000, there have been five first-time winners: Michael Clark II (2000), David Gossett (2001), Mark Hensby (2004), Sean O'Hair (2005) and Senden (2006).

J.P. Hayes, the 2002 John Deere Classic champion, was the only past champion of the John Deere Classic to post a top-10 finish in 2008. Hayes tied for ninth.

Defending champion Perry has his work cut out for him in 2009. David Frost (1992-93) and Beman (1971-72) are the only players to successfully defend their John Deere Classic titles.

Perry became just the fourth player to hold or share the third-round lead and go on to victory since the John Deere Classic moved to the TPC Deere Run in 2000. He was the first to do it since Senden held the lead in 2006 on the way to his win. Gossett (2001) and Hayes (2002) are the other two players to do so.

ON-COURSE OBSERVATIONS: PGA TOUR Network correspondent Brett Wright is on the scene in Silvis, Ill.., for this week's satellite radio coverage (XM 146/SIRIUS 209). Reports Wright:

The John Deere Classic this week will be played on a saturated TPC Deere Run layout. Kenny Perry is back to defend his title, which he won in a playoff in 2008 against Brad Adamonis and Jay Williamson. Kenny, propelled by the momentum of winning the Travelers Championship, says he loves this golf course and feels like this is a home-course advantage for him.

David Duval is in this very strong field fresh off his tie for second at the U.S. Open, along with Lucas Glover, who won at Bethpage.

On a sad note, Jonathan Byrd's father passed away Tuesday after a long battle with cancer, and Jonathan has withdrawm from the tournament. On Thursday, after their rounds, Glover, Charles Warren, D.J. Trahan and Davis Love III are flying a charter to Columbia, S.C., for the memorial for Jonathan's father and then flying back to Illinois for the second round.

Look for long hitters like Steve Marino, Robert Garrigus, Davis Love III and even journeyman Tommy Gainey to have the advantage with their long ball flight off the tee on a golf course that will be surrendering very little roll. But don't count out Perry, who is certainly long enough to run like a "Deere."

Weather forecast for the John Deere Classic

THURSDAY, Rd. 1 FRIDAY, Rd. 2 SATURDAY, Rd. 3 SUNDAY, Rd. 4 Partly cloudy Temp: 84 high/70 low Scattered t-storms Temp: 85 high/71 low Scattered t-storms Temp: 87 high/67 low Isolated t-storms Temp: 81 high/65 low

DTN/Meteorlogix is the official weather provider of the PGA TOUR. For more information, click here

John Deere Classic snippets

LEAD CHANGES: For the fourth consecutive week, there's a new leader in the FedExCup standings. Tiger Woods now sits on top following his victory last week at the AT&T National. Woods replaces Kenny Perry atop the standings. Prior to Perry, Phil Mickelson held the lead after replacing Zach Johnson. TAKING TIGER'S SPOT? Perry enters this week's John Deere Classic in the No. 2 spot in the FedExCup standings and, given his track record in the event, he could regain the lead this week. Perry has made the cut in 8 of 9 starts in the John Deere Classic with five top-10s. BIRDIE FEST: Look for lots of birdies and eagles this week at the TPC Deere Run. Last year, 1714 birdies and 53 eagles were recorded during the tournament. Only two courses yielded more during 2008. HE LIKES THIS PLACE: There are only three players who have made the cut at the last four playings of a PGA TOUR event at Congressional Country Club: Jim Furyk, Stuart Appleby and Maryland native Fred Funk. All three players are in the field this year.

In the spotlight

This week: David Duval

Each week during the 2009 season, PGATOUR.COM will spotlight one key player in the field. For this week's John Deere Classic, it's 13-time PGA TOUR winner David Duval. Learn more about Jim

A victory this week earns you ...

• Fully Exempt for the remainder of 2009 and all of 2010-11 • 500 FedExCup points: Almost anyone in the field would reach the top 50 and create additional opportunities to play in the 2009 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and for the World Golf Championship-CA Championship in 2010 • A spot in the following events in order of play: 2009 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, 2009 PGA Championship, 2010 SBS Championship, 2010 PLAYERS Championship, 2010 Masters • If a U.S. player, 1,548,000 points towards making the 2009 Presidents Cup team.

This week's Kodak Challenge hole

HOLE: The par-5, 557-yard 17th at TPC Deere Run LAST YEAR: The 17th played to a stroke average of 4.579, with players recording 15 eagle, 205 birdies, 207 pars, 32 bogeys and 4 double bogeys. DESCRIPTION: It's reachable in two for big hitters, but they will have to perfectly place a tee ball on this slight dogleg left to do it. The fairway is tight, tree-lined and canted in the landing area. The green is guarded in front by bunkers, some quite short of the green to throw off your perspective. The green is elevated slightly with Pinehurst No. 2-style bentgrass collection areas all around. Miss the green, and you will have a very tough up-and-down. (Click here for tour)