SILVIS, Ill. — Lucas Glover made his third straight birdie and knew winning the John Deere Classic was in reach with a one-shot lead and four holes to go.
But this was not the time to be thinking about ending 10 years without a PGA Tour trophy. Conditions were too soft and pure. There were too many birdies to be made, and too many players behind him.
“Push, push, push,” Glover said. “And I think that kept me from getting complacent, kept me from getting too nervy, because I knew it was going to take a bunch more under par.”
He finished with five birdies over his last seven holes for a 7-under 64 and a two-shot victory Sunday, ending 244 consecutive starts since he last won at Quail Hollow in May 2011.
“I felt good golf coming,” Glover said. “I didn’t know how good.”
Glover finished his run with a 12-foot birdie on the par-5 17th, and a 6-foot putt to save par from the bunker on the 18th that he figured would come in handy.
It never got to that. No one could catch him. He finished at 19-under 265 for his fourth career PGA Tour victory.
The victory at the 50th edition of the John Deere Classic makes Glover exempt on the PGA Tour through 2023, significant for a 41-year-old who had to go through the Web.com Tour Finals in 2015 just to get his full card back.
“It’s been a long 10 years. There’s been some struggles,” Glover said. “I knew it was in there. I had to clean up my brain a little bit and just hit some shots, just play golf. I never lost sight of believing I could do this and win again. It’s always nice to prove yourself right.”
Glover already was in the British Open from having reached the Tour Championship in 2019 (the 2020 British Open was canceled by the pandemic). Moore earned the lone spot at Royal St. George’s, though it was unclear he was going to take it.
