Sunday 12th 3rd and 4th rounds

Due to heavy rain there was no play on Friday so after the cut on Saturday afternoon players prepared to play two rounds on Sunday,starting on split tees.

As expected a few players climbed the leaderboard with low scores in the morning,like Matt Jones with 8 under par 63 and Brett Quigley with 62 (best round today)

Darron Stiles,leader after 2 rounds had a bit of a let down as he shot 70 in the 3rd but started as co-leader at 14 under with Matt Jones and Tim Petrovic who shot 66 in the 3rd round. Steve Stricker had a 3 under 68 for -13 total,1 shot behind the leaders,with J.J. Henry, Lee Janzen and Brett Quigley.

I expect a shootout between all those good players on a course in perfect conditions which is there for the taking.Who’s going to make more birdies?

As mentionned players started at the 1st and 10th hole,I would give an edge to the ones who will play holes 9 to 18 last because they have 2 par five and the short par four 14th to score.So at the moment ,almost halfway through the last round ,Steve Stricker,co-leader with Zach Johnson at 17 under has a small advantage as well as Stiles , Petrovic and Henry. Johnson started on the 10th and will have to play very well on his last nine holes(1-9) to keep up and so will Quigley at -15.

Stricker makes the turn 1 stroke ahead as Johnson dropped a shot at the 5th hole(his 14th),we have 9 guys within 2 shots and a lot of golf to play. Stricker strikes again ! Birdie at the par 5 10th gives him a 2 shots lead at 18 under.

Zach Johnson with birdie at 8 and par at 9 posted 17 under which surely won’t be enough to win but Zach must be happy as he has been in contention for the first time in this tournament close to his home and his heart. He will waite and see what happens,you never know.

Tim Petrovic birdies 12 and 13 to go to -18 and Stricker answers with his own at 13 to keep a 1shot lead.It looks now that it ‘s going to be between them two to take the trophy and the cash.

Brett Quigley birdied the 6th ,he is at -17 but has to finish on the front side with few opportunities to get lower.

Stricker’s ball lips out on15 and it’s 3 holes to go with 1 shot lead on Petrovic. They both have an excellent chance at 16 after two good shots on the par3.Surprisingly they both miss from around 10 feet,2 to go.

Stricker finds the fairway on the par 5 17th and Petrovic, in the left rough, is forced to lay up,that could be it. A beautiful 5 wood to the middle of the green gives Stricker an eagle putt from 40 feet which WOW just lips out but as Petrovic misses for birdie it’s a 2 shots advantage going to the last of the 36 holes of the day.

Par at the 18th was more than enough for Stricker as Petrovic went in the water on his second shot for a final double gogey.That was very costly as he went from 2nd place alone to tie for 5th at 16 under,letting Zach Johnson,Brett Quigley and Brandt Znedeker share 2nd place.

Steve stricker never relinquished the lead after he took it.He is a very good front runner, maybe he learned that from his good friend Tiger.

A beautiful day,not too hot, helped the players to go through 2 rounds on Sunday at the John Deere Classic.

Next week we will be at THE OPEN,in Scotland ,the third Major Tournament of the year.Check the odds and the betting lines at BetPhoenix.com Sportsbook.