John Deere Classic

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Tournament information
John Deere Classic

Location	Silvis, Illinois, USA
Established	1971
Course(s)	TPC at Deere Run
Par	71
Yardage	7,257
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Purse	$4,100,000
Month Played	July
Tournament record scores
Aggregate	259 David Frost (1993)
To-par	-22 J. P. Hayes (2002)
Current champion
Jonathan Byrd

The John Deere Classic is an American professional golf event which is on the PGA Tour schedule. It is played annually in July, the week before the British Open Championship, at the TPC at Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. Deere & Company, which is a sponsor of the PGA Tour, hosts this tournament.

In recent years, the tournament has been able to generate more television air time and press because of the sponsor's exemptions given to teenager Michelle Wie. In 2005, the tournament's storyline also revolved around young American golfer Sean O'Hair. His win qualified him to play in the British Open the following week and was a significant part of his PGA Rookie of the Year season.

From the event's inception in 1971 through 1974 it was played at Crow Valley Country Club in Davenport, Iowa. It then moved to Oakwood Country Club in Coal Valley, Illinois from 1975-1999. Since 2000, the event has been at the TPC at Deere Run in Silvis.

The John Deere Classic has received permission by the PGA Tour to remain a yearly tour stop through the year 2010. After the shuffling of tournament sponsors, it is possible that in that time the Classic could have its date moved. If its usual date (the week before the Open Championship) is changed, the tournament may attract stronger fields.

[edit] Sponsor's exemptions for Michelle Wie

Teenage golfing phenomenon Michelle Wie first received a sponsor's exemption to play in the John Deere Classic during the 2005 PGA Tour season, part of Wie's effort to make the cut in a men's professional golf event. She shot an overall -1, missing the cut by two strokes. The tournament attracted thousands of visitors as fans flocked to see Wie play. Wie received a sponsor's exemption again in 2006; it was her first men's event with a cut since making the cut in a men's tournament for the first time earlier that year in Korea. She finished the first round at 6 over par, well behind the projected cut line of -2. In the high heat of the second day, she fell two strokes further behind and eventually voluntarily withdrew from the tournament after the 9th hole, citing heat exhaustion.