Davis Thompson wins John Deere Classic with record score. Ewen Ferguson wins in Germany
SILVIS, Ill. (AP) — Davis Thompson won his first PGA Tour title Sunday with a a 7-under 64 to set the 72-hole scoring record at the John Deere Classic and leave all the drama to second place.
Staked to a two-shot lead, Thompson made a 45-foot birdie putt on the opening hole and no one got any closer to him the rest of the way. He opened with five birdies in six holes, stretched his lead to six shots and ended up winning by four strokes,
Thompson finished at 28-under 256 to break by one the John Deere Classic record set by Michael Kim in 2018. The victory gets him into the next three majors, starting with the British Open in two weeks at Royal Troon. He also will make his Masters debut next April.
C.T. Pan birdied the 16th and 17th holes and shot 64 to tie for second with Florida State sophomore Luke Clanton and Michael Thorbjornsen, the No. 1 player in the PGA Tour University ranking. Each shot 63. Pan got the British Open spot based on his better world ranking.
Clanton became the first amateur since Billy Joe Patton in 1958 to finish in the top 10 in consecutive PGA Tour starts.
European tour
MUNICH (AP) — Ewen Ferguson closed with a 4-under 68 and won the BMW International Open by two shots for his third European tour title. He also earned a spot in the British Open taking place in his native Scotland this month.
Ferguson chose not to go through British Open qualifying at the start of the week. The victory moved him from No. 61 to No. 16 in the Race to Dubai, and he narrowly became the last player to get one of five spots available to those in the top 20 in the standings not already exempt.
The other players who get Open spots were Jesper Svensson, Laurie Canter, Nacho Elvira and Matteo Manassero.
Ferguson, whose two other European tour victories came in 2022, was tied with Jordan Smith going into the final round. Smith shot 70 and tied for second with David Micheluzzi (68).
Other tours
Ben Campbell of New Zealand made up a three-shot deficit against John Catlin with two holes to play with an eagle-birdie finish for a 2-under 71, and then he won the playoff with a birdie to capture the International Series Morocco on the Asian Tour. … Yuta Sugiura held on with an even-par 72 for a one-shot victory over Taiga Semikawa (71) and Yuki Inamori (67) in the Japan PGA Championship on the Japan Golf Tour. The 22-year-old Sugiura, who won the Dunlop Phoenix last year as an amateur, picked up his first title as a pro. … Leona Maguire tuned up for next major by closing with an even-par 73 for a one-shot victory in the Aramco Team Series-London. The Ladies European Tour event ended Friday.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf