All aboard the tractor.
The PGA Tour is making its annual stop in the Quad Cities for the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run. A 156-player field in Silvis, Ill, will vie for part of the $8,400,000 purse, with the winner collecting $1,512,000, 500 FedExCup points and a two-year exemption on Tour.
From its field, course, history, tee times and how to watch, here’s everything you need to know for the 2025 John Deere Classic.
The field
The signature event model is working.
With those tournaments having limited fields, lower-tier events, like the John Deere Classic, benefit. Players need to add starts to their schedule in order to improve their standing in the FedExCup rankings.
According to the X account, Nosferatu, the John Deere went from the weakest strength of field for a regular Tour event (in 2022) to its strongest in the Official World Golf Ranking era.
The highest-ranked player in the field is Ben Griffin at No. 17. He’s followed by Sungjae Im (25), Jason Day (28), J.T. Poston (43), Lucas Glover (46) and last week’s Rocket Classic champion Aldrich Potgieter (49).
Other notables include Max Homa, Rickie Fowler, Nick Dunlap, Joel Dahmen, Tom Kim, Jake Knapp, Hayden Springer, who shot 59 at last year’s tournament, and defending champion Davis Thompson.
The John Deere is known for jumpstarting the careers of future stars. Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Payne Stewart earned their maiden Tour victories in the event, and Tiger Woods held his first 54-hole lead in 1996, but finished fifth as Ed Fiori won.
This year, the John Deere has a bevy of potential stars teeing it up: Luke Clanton, NCAA champ Michael La Sasso, Haskins Award winner David Ford, Gordon Sargent, Jackson Koivun, Brendan Valdes, Preston Summerhays and 18-year-old Blades Brown.
A victory would earn someone a spot in the British Open, if not already qualified.
The course
In the tournament’s 54-year history, it’s been played at TPC Deere Run since 2000.
The track is a prime opportunity for players to go low, but players enjoy the reprieve, a few weeks after the U.S. Open and two weeks ahead of the British Open.
“It’s a phenomenal golf course,” Spieth said in 2024. “The only shame at all is when it plays really soft it takes a little bit of the character away, because you can miss it in the rough or get away with flying a ball too far into the green because it’ll stick.
“I played it yesterday and it was the firmest I remember seeing it. I was like, man, this is a different track. You got to really—but the shape of the holes, the shape of the greens, it’s a great golf course.”
In 2024, the 7,289-yard par 71, which has water in play on three holes, 76 bunkers and 5,500 square feet greens, was the 11th easiest course on Tour out of 50, yielding a scoring average of 68.781 (2.219 strokes under par).
Its hardest hole is the 503-yard par-4 9th, ranking as the 77th hardest hole on Tour last year (out of 900), playing 0.213 strokes over par. Its easiest hole, meanwhile, is the 561-yard par-5 2nd, which played 0.535 strokes under par in 2024.
Wanna sneak a peek? pic.twitter.com/GnFZEJgHk1
— John Deere Classic (@JDCLASSIC) June 29, 2025
History: Grand introduction
At the 2013 John Deere Classic, Spieth made history.
By notching his maiden win, the 19-year-old became the first teenager to win on Tour since Ralph Guldahl at the 1931 Santa Monica Open.
And it came in dramatic fashion.
Spieth began the final round six strokes back of the lead—and then bogeyed the first hole Sunday. However, he made a spirited run and caught the lead with three straight birdies to cap his round. On his last hole, he improbably holed a 44 bunker shot that looked destined for the water on the other side of the green when it came off the clubface.
“The shot on 18 was the luckiest shot I ever hit in my life,” Spieth said. “The fact that it bounced right and hit the pin and dropped down to the cup, it’s just extremely fortunate.”
That got him into a playoff with hometown favorite Zach Johnson, who bogeyed the last, and David Hearn.
They each made pars on the first four bonus holes, but Spieth sealed the deal on their fifth go-round, scrambling out of the rough to make par.
“Congrats to Jordan,” said Hearn, who was also searching for his first Tour win. “He’s going to have an amazing career, obviously. He’s an incredible talent to come on tour at his age and have as much success as quickly as he has. So hat’s off to him.”
Those words proved to be true. Spieth is now a three-time major champion. Oh, and he also won the John Deere again in 2015.
We're back at the John Deere Classic, remembering the win that started it all for Jordan Spieth. 🏆🦌
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) June 30, 2025
🎥 @PGATOUR pic.twitter.com/EmkQs9POZ5
How to watch (all times EST)
- Thursday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
- Friday: 4-7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
- Saturday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel); 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
- Sunday: 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel); 3-6 p.m. (CBS)
ESPN+ will also have featured coverage during each round.
Round 1 and 2 tee times
Groupings and starting times for the first and second rounds of the John Deere Classic pic.twitter.com/VCHG9aveFc
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) July 1, 2025
This article was originally published on www.si.com as John Deere Classic Preview: Field, Course, History, Tee Times, How to Watch.
