East Moline, Illinois, United States: Consistent with its tradition of offering promising young players the opportunity to compete against the best, the John Deere Classic has awarded sponsor exemptions to four of the game’s most accomplished amateurs, including two from the University of Illinois.
Those who follow amateur golf will be familiar with the names: Wyndham Clark, Nick Hardy, Dylan Meyer and Maverick McNealy. They will be included in a field of 156 players at TPC Deere Run in Silvis from July 13-16.
Meyer and Hardy are key members of an Illini team that made it to the quarter-finals of the NCAA Championship and are ranked the number one and number 15 amateurs in the world, respectively, according to Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings.
McNealy, who equalled Tiger Woods and Patrick Rodgers as the winner of 11 tournaments during his career at Stanford, won both the Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson Awards this year.
Clark won the individual Pac 12 championship for Oregon and helped the Ducks make it to the NCAA Finals at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois, outside Chicago.
“The John Deere Classic is very proud to welcome Wyndham Clark, Nick Hardy, Dylan Meyer, and Maverick McNealy to compete against the best players in the world at TPC Deere Run,” said Tournament Director Clair Peterson. “Not only are all four of them accomplished in the game of golf but they are outstanding young men off the course as well.”
They will compete against John Deere Classic defending champion Ryan Moore, who had one of the most prolific amateur careers in golf history, winning the US Amateur, Western Amateur, US Public Links, and the NCAA individual championship in 2004.
Moore will be joined by John Deere Classic icons and past champions Zach Johnson (2012), Steve Stricker (2009-2011) and 2014 champion Brian Harman.
The 2016 John Deere Classic was recognised as the PGA Tour’s Tournament of the Year for overall excellence. The Quad Cities-based event will feature its highest-ever purse: US$5.6 million, with US$1 million going to the winner.
The PGA Tour began its run in the Quad Cities in 1971. John Deere, whose world headquarters is in Moline, assumed title sponsorship of the tournament in 1998. The tournament moved to TPC Deere Run in 2000.
The tournament generated US$10.5 million for some 500 participating local charities in 2016, ranking it first among regular PGA Tour events overall in per capita contributions at US$28 for each of the 375,000 residents of the Quad City area. The tournament’s charity contributions consistently rank among the top four overall on the PGA Tour.
Since its founding in 1971, the tournament has helped raise US$81 million for charity.
John Deere is an Executive Member of the Asian Golf Industry Federation.