Troy Matteson is holding on at the John Deere Classic -- barely. Matteson recovered with a birdie 2 at the seventh, but then bogeyed the ninth after failing to get up-and-down from the greenside bunker. He was at 18 under through nine holes. Steve Stricker turned in 2 under on his round, and was one shot back at 17 under. Stricker just missed his 23-foot birdie putt on the ninth. Stricker birdied the second and third holes, and missed just one fairway and two greens on the front nine. Matteson does have one big thing going for him right now -- he's No. 1 this week in Strokes Gained-Putting. Meanwhile, Zach Johnson has birdied three of his past four holes to move into a tie for second place at 17 under. Scott Piercy and Luke Guthrie are at 16 under.