{"id":696103,"date":"2026-06-10T18:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/696103\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T18:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:16:12","slug":"ode-to-the-john-deere-classic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/696103\/","title":{"rendered":"Ode to the John Deere Classic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever seen PGA Tour stars like Jordan Spieth or Sam Burns on a tractor? I have, at a golf tournament, no less! And to think we nearly lost that annual tradition. I\u2019ve been largely supportive of new CEO Brian Rolapp and his plans to reshape the PGA Tour<\/a> and its schedule, but a report last week<\/a> had me ready to serve a vote of no confidence:<\/p>\n

\u201cMultiple sources told Golfweek that the Tour has asked John Deere to shift its tournament from its longtime home in the Quad Cities, which is its corporate headquarters and site of TPC Deere Run, to Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n

The John Deere Classic moving from the Quad Cities to Chicago would have been an insult to both the Deere and Chicago. I say \u201cwould have\u201d because the initial report was quickly refuted<\/a> by both PGA Tour officials and John Deere Classic tournament director Andrew Lehman. What a relief.<\/p>\n

The Western Open was a historic event in Chicago for decades. It meant something to win. Ask Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, or Ben Hogan. Arnold Palmer. Jack Nicklaus. Tom Watson. Tiger Woods. You get the picture. You can\u2019t replace an event like that in the aggregate.<\/p>\n

More importantly, the John Deere Classic is best suited to stay both on the schedule and at its current location. Having spent a couple of July 4 weekends in Silvis, Illinois, covering the tournament, I\u2019ve seen the strong support from the local community and its volunteers. They take pride in their event. It\u2019s easy to poke fun at from afar, but players\u2019 families love the fun, quirky events like the Big Dig<\/a> throughout the week. The competition itself has become known for being an annual spotlight for the Tour\u2019s rising talent. In 2024, Davis Thompson became the 24th player to earn his first PGA Tour win at the Deere, joining the likes of Jordan Spieth and Bryson DeChambeau. The Deere\u2019s identity is baked into the Quad Cities, like a professional sports franchise. Imagine the Green Bay Packers moving to Milwaukee, or the Buffalo Bills moving to Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

Nobody is saying the John Deere Classic should be an elevated\/designated\/signature\/track one\/whatever the hell they\u2019re called now event. But anyone who has witnessed the Deere first hand or understands its importance is screaming for it to stay on the schedule in some capacity, and I\u2019m proud to join that chorus.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the understatement of the 2020s to say Rolapp and the Tour have some very important decisions to make regarding the future schedule. Change is necessary for growth, and we\u2019ve already seen the Tour scratch its Hawaii events to start the season and the summer stop at the Rocket Classic<\/a> in Detroit, but Rolapp and Co. inside the moat at HQ would be smart to remember the Tour\u2019s humble roots. Small towns with dedicated fans got the Tour off the ground in the early years and have helped keep it afloat ever since.<\/p>\n

Balancing the new world of professional golf with the traditions that define the Tour is a daunting task for Rolapp. So far, he\u2019s done well. So far.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Have you ever seen PGA Tour stars like Jordan Spieth or Sam Burns on a tractor? I have,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":696104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-696103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}