John Deere Classic: Davis Thompson’s sensational, historic first PGA Tour victory brings out the emotions

An unemotional Thompson won his first PGA Tour event at the John Deere Classic. Once it was official, he let those emotions fly.

In his 63rd start, Davis Thompson can officially call himself a PGA Tour winner.

He carded a final round 7-under 64 to post a 28-under total and win the John Deere Classic by four shots over Michael Thorbjornsen, amateur Luke Clanton and C.T. Pan, who tied for second place at 24-under.

Thompson became the 24th first-time tournament winner at this event. He did it in grand fashion by setting the John Deere Classic’s 72-hole scoring record. Michael Kim initially set it at 27-under in 2018.

He stayed stoic all week long, but Thompson let the emotions flow once he saw his wife.

“Just seeing my wife means a lot,” Thompson said to CBS Sports analyst Amanda Balionis after his win. “I love her so much and so thankful she was able to make it. I tried to stay present all day. When that putt finally went in, it was a big sigh of relief.”

Throughout his interview with Balionis, Thompson could not hold back the tears. He wiped them away multiple times.

All that hard work finally paid off for the 25-year-old.

“I’ve been working hard this year. It was okay for a while then I got going this last month and played well last week,” he said. “Tried to keep it rolling this week; was able to get the win.”

The former Georgia Bulldog set the tone from his opening tee shot. He went five-under through his first six holes and added his sixth birdie on the ninth to go out in 29 shots. Through nine holes, Thompson made 120 feet of putts, and by the end of the round, he recorded 139 feet of putts.

His first birdie was over 44 feet, and at the par-4 5th, he made a 29-footer. The flat stick was on fire for him, as Thompson could not miss.

The Sea Island resident made an 8-footer on 10 for his seventh birdie. His one hiccup came at the 12th when he bogeyed the hole. However, that slip-up would not stay with the youngster. Thompson returned to 7-under at 14 when he made his final birdie and came home with four straight pars.

Throughout four days of play, he gained +18.694 in strokes gained total. He picked up at least two strokes on the field in all five main categories. Thompson led the field with 30 birdies.

In short, the former Bulldog put on a clinic.

He replaced the 2023 John Deere Classic champion Sepp Straka’s place in the Champions House and became the third straight player to win the event while staying there.

J.T. Poston won while staying there in 2022, Straka won last year and Thompson has now been added to the lore.

“No, definitely not,” Thompson said about not letting the tradition go, “I think I have to pay for the whole house now, which is unfortunate, but I’ll gladly write the check for that.”

Thompson became the 12th Georgia golfer coached under head coach Chris Haack and the 17th in the program’s history to win on the PGA Tour. This victory also gets him into the Open Championship later this month and next year’s Masters Tournament at Augusta National. It also vaulted him from No. 51 to No. 22 in the FedEx Cup standings.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.