Ryan Moore wins John Deere Classic

The 33-year-old finished two clear of his fellow American Ben Martin

Ryan Moore wins John Deere Classic
Ryan Moore wins John Deere Classic
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Ryan Moore played his final 46 holes at the John Deere Classic without a bogey to finish two clear of fellow American Ben Martin. It was Moore’s first PGA Tour victory since 2014.

Ryan Moore began the final round at Deere Run one stroke ahead of Morgan Hoffman and Ben Martin. He moved two clear early in the round with birdies at the 2nd and 4th holes and he made a further gain at the 9th to turn in 32.

The 33-year-old maintained the pressure on his pursuers with another birdie at the 10th and he kept them at bay with eight straight closing pars.

Moore found 14 of 18 greens in regulation during the final round and suffered just one bogey all week at TPC Deere Run. Although Martin got within two shots, after birdies at the 12th and 14th holes, he was unable to close the gap and Moore had his fifth PGA Tour title. It was his first victory on the circuit since he defended the CIMB Classic in Malaysia back in 2014.

"Every win is a little different," Moore said. "I like how steady this was, with no bogeys on the weekend."

See if the GM tipster had picked Ryan Moore before this week here...

3 Talking points from the John Deere Classic

1 – Ryan Moore was bogey free on the weekend to claim his fifth PGA Tour title, in fact he played the last 46 holes without a dropped shot. In his early attempts at TPC Deere Run, Moore enjoyed little success and he dropped the event from his schedule in 2009. He came back to the tournament in 2012 and had never finished outside the top-25 since then. Moore has climbed to 50th on the Official World Golf Ranking and 23rd on the FedEx Cup standings. He now has a good chance of making the Tour Championship for the first time since 2012. “I want to keep getting better,” he said. “I think I can accomplish great things in this game.”

2 – With the top 125 on the FedEx Cup standings advancing to the first playoff event, The Barclays, the battle for places is intensifying – just one more event, the Wyndham Championship, remains before the start of the playoffs. Johnson Wagner has moved to 109th in the standings and Keegan Bradley is up to 105th – both should make it to Bethpage Black. Scott Stallings at 126th has work to do and Nick Taylor, who missed the cut at TPC Deere Run, dropped from 120th to 128th.

3 – Adam Hadwin of Canada and the USA’s Kevin Na enjoyed fine weekends at TPC Deere Run. Both men fired 67, 64 to climb the board, moving from mediocrity into the top-10. Both finished tied 8th.

Na is currently 10th on the FedEx Cup standings and is in a great position to make The Tour Championship. Hadwin has climbed to 86th and has great improved his chances of making it beyond The Barclays in the playoffs. “Securing points at this stage in the season is big,” he said.

John Deere Classic TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Illinois Aug 11-14 Purse $4,800,000, par 71

1    Ryan Moore (USA)    65    65    65    67    262    $864,000 2    Ben Martin (USA)        66    68    62    68    264    $518,400 T3    Morgan Hoffman (USA)    67    67    62    71    267    $278,400 T3    Whee Kim (Kor)        69    67    64    67    267    $278,400 T5    Ricky Barnes (USA)    69    68    65    67    269    $175,200 T5    Kelly Kraft (USA)        69    64    67    69    269    $175,200 T5    Johnson Wagner (USA)    68    64    67    70    269    $175,200 T8    Wes Bryan (USA)        66    64    70    70    270    $124,800 T8    Bud Cauley (USA)    67    68    66    69    270    $124,800 T8    Adam Hadwin (Can)    71    68    67    64    270    $124,800 T8    Andrew Landry (USA)    69    67    67    67    270    $124,800 T8    Steve Marino (USA)    66    65    70    69    270    $124,800 T8    Kevin Na (USA)        69    70    67    64    270    $124,800

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?