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SILVIS, Ill. — Lucas Glover and Zac Blair each fired scores of bogey-free, 8-under 63 to take the early lead Thursday in the opening round of the 2026 John Deere Classic.
Glover, the 2021 JDC champion, picked up shots at Nos. 2 and 4 to get off to a hot start, and he never looked back, rattling off three straight birdies on holes 6-8 to make the turn in 5-under 30. That momentum carried over to the second nine, where he made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 and added one more for good measure at the par-5 17th.
It's a welcome sight for Glover, who has struggled this season, making just eight cuts in 15 starts with only one top-20 finish. That prompted him to make some small changes to his swing.
"You know that old saying, 'Old habits die hard.' Nothing more true than in this game," Glover said after the round. "Tour players talk a lot about the fundamentals and making sure those are good. This is one of the few times it's actually been something wasn't fundamental with me. My back swing, I was getting a little lifty. Stopping my turn, club was going up, two-way miss. Not a good combo."
He finished nearly dead last in the Travelers Championship a week ago, but that actually might have served him well.
"I hit some shots in Hartford last week that kind of experience and knowing my swing told me that's probably what it was," Glover said. "When you are in last on Sunday morning, you can try some things on the course that you might not usually do. I was able to do that Sunday. Then I got here Monday. My teacher, Jason Baile, was here, and we worked on it and confirmed some things with video and what he was seeing. Just worked really hard on it."
Glover held the clubhouse lead for a cup of coffee until Zac Blair joined him at the top of the leaderboard thanks to a strong finish. Blair started on the back nine and opened with birdies at Nos. 10 and 11, eventually making the turn in 3-under 33 after another birdie at the 14th. His second nine started even better than his first one did, as he birdied No. 1 and made eagle at the par-5 second to get to 6 under. He added two more birdies on holes 6 and 7 to finish the day with a 63 and a clean scorecard.
"Hit it pretty good and made a few putts and didn't do anything stupid," Blair said. "Just trying not to chase every flag maybe and do dumb things and just get a lot of looks. Felt like I did a pretty good job with that."
Blair has spent all season bouncing back and forth from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour, even recording a top-10 finish on each circuit. He's yet to find the PGA Tour winner's circle in his 12-year pro career, but if there's one place to do it, it's the John Deere Classic, which has yielded 24 first-time winners in its history — the most of any stop on Tour.
"Playing golf professionally is pretty stressful," Blair said. "You know, especially for me, I've kind of always been right in that 125 to 150 spot my whole career. So every start is important. Just trying to do a good job of playing well, whichever kind of tour I'm playing on. It's still golf at the end of the day, which is fun."
While Glover and Blair are at the top for now, there are plenty of players who are hot on their heels after the early wave of tee times Thursday. Lee Hodges and Stephan Jaeger both shot 7-under 64, while there was a three-way tie for fifth at 6 under between Ben Kohles, Patrick Fishburn and Davis Riley, who made his first ace on the PGA Tour at the par-3 16th.
Hodges is another player who has struggled this season but managed to post a great score in the first round at TPC Deere Run. He opened the season with a T-6 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, but since then, he's missed the cut in 5 of 12 starts and has only one top-20 finish. After his round Thursday, he offered some thought-provoking perspective on the mental battle that pro golfers face.
"I really just wasn't enjoying bad golf, you know," Hodges said. "I don't think anybody enjoys bad golf, but you kind of have to sometimes. You kind of have to get through the bad to see the good. It's a game of failure. We play a game of failure. So if you let it beat you down, it will beat you down.
"I had done a bad job of just letting it pile on and pile on and beat me down. This week, I've kind of done the opposite of that and just tried to be more free out there. I mean, I guess it worked today, so I'll just do the same thing tomorrow."
Nick Stavas is a digital producer and commerce writer for Golfweek. Follow him on X/Twitter (@nickstavas).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Lucas Glover, Zac Blair share early lead at John Deere Classic with dueling 63s
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Glover, the 2021 JDC champion, picked up shots at Nos. 2 and 4 to get off to a hot start, and he never looked back, rattling off three straight birdies on holes 6-8 to make the turn in 5-under 30. That momentum carried over to the second nine, where he made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 and added one more for good measure at the par-5 17th.
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It's a welcome sight for Glover, who has struggled this season, making just eight cuts in 15 starts with only one top-20 finish. That prompted him to make some small changes to his swing.
"You know that old saying, 'Old habits die hard.' Nothing more true than in this game," Glover said after the round. "Tour players talk a lot about the fundamentals and making sure those are good. This is one of the few times it's actually been something wasn't fundamental with me. My back swing, I was getting a little lifty. Stopping my turn, club was going up, two-way miss. Not a good combo."
He finished nearly dead last in the Travelers Championship a week ago, but that actually might have served him well.
"I hit some shots in Hartford last week that kind of experience and knowing my swing told me that's probably what it was," Glover said. "When you are in last on Sunday morning, you can try some things on the course that you might not usually do. I was able to do that Sunday. Then I got here Monday. My teacher, Jason Baile, was here, and we worked on it and confirmed some things with video and what he was seeing. Just worked really hard on it."
Glover held the clubhouse lead for a cup of coffee until Zac Blair joined him at the top of the leaderboard thanks to a strong finish. Blair started on the back nine and opened with birdies at Nos. 10 and 11, eventually making the turn in 3-under 33 after another birdie at the 14th. His second nine started even better than his first one did, as he birdied No. 1 and made eagle at the par-5 second to get to 6 under. He added two more birdies on holes 6 and 7 to finish the day with a 63 and a clean scorecard.
"Hit it pretty good and made a few putts and didn't do anything stupid," Blair said. "Just trying not to chase every flag maybe and do dumb things and just get a lot of looks. Felt like I did a pretty good job with that."
You must be registered for see images
Blair has spent all season bouncing back and forth from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour, even recording a top-10 finish on each circuit. He's yet to find the PGA Tour winner's circle in his 12-year pro career, but if there's one place to do it, it's the John Deere Classic, which has yielded 24 first-time winners in its history — the most of any stop on Tour.
"Playing golf professionally is pretty stressful," Blair said. "You know, especially for me, I've kind of always been right in that 125 to 150 spot my whole career. So every start is important. Just trying to do a good job of playing well, whichever kind of tour I'm playing on. It's still golf at the end of the day, which is fun."
While Glover and Blair are at the top for now, there are plenty of players who are hot on their heels after the early wave of tee times Thursday. Lee Hodges and Stephan Jaeger both shot 7-under 64, while there was a three-way tie for fifth at 6 under between Ben Kohles, Patrick Fishburn and Davis Riley, who made his first ace on the PGA Tour at the par-3 16th.
Hodges is another player who has struggled this season but managed to post a great score in the first round at TPC Deere Run. He opened the season with a T-6 at the Sony Open in Hawaii, but since then, he's missed the cut in 5 of 12 starts and has only one top-20 finish. After his round Thursday, he offered some thought-provoking perspective on the mental battle that pro golfers face.
"I really just wasn't enjoying bad golf, you know," Hodges said. "I don't think anybody enjoys bad golf, but you kind of have to sometimes. You kind of have to get through the bad to see the good. It's a game of failure. We play a game of failure. So if you let it beat you down, it will beat you down.
"I had done a bad job of just letting it pile on and pile on and beat me down. This week, I've kind of done the opposite of that and just tried to be more free out there. I mean, I guess it worked today, so I'll just do the same thing tomorrow."
Nick Stavas is a digital producer and commerce writer for Golfweek. Follow him on X/Twitter (@nickstavas).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Lucas Glover, Zac Blair share early lead at John Deere Classic with dueling 63s
Continue reading...
