After becoming the first player on record (since 1983) to open consecutive PGA TOUR events with a 62 or better, J.T. Poston (1st/-15) followed his first round 8-under 62 with a 6-under 65 (Travelers Championship/62/R1/T2) in Round 2 of the John Deere Classic.
Poston holds his second 36-hole lead/co-lead of TOUR career (2021 Barbasol Championship/P2).
He held the outright lead after the second and third rounds of the 2021 Barbasol Championship before falling to Seamus Power in a six-hole playoff.
Related: 46 holes without a bogey, force is with JT Poston
The 127 marks his lowest opening 36-hole score on TOUR (previous: 130/2019 Wyndham Championship/Won).
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Poston leads by four strokes, one-stroke shy of matching the largest 36-hole lead at the John Deere Classic (5/Dave Eichelberger/1975).
His lone bogey since the eighth hole of round three in last week’s Travelers Championship (64 holes) came during his second round on the par-4 6th hole.
Is making fifth John Deere Classic appearance (2017/T64, 2018/T65, 2019/MC, 2021/MC).
Each of the three top-10 finishes this season have come within the span of his last eight starts: T3/RBC Heritage, T9/Wells Fargo Championship, T2/Travelers Championship.
His lone PGA TOUR win came at the 2019 Wyndham Championship, going bogey-free en route to victory.
Making his tournament debut, Denny McCarthy (2nd/-11) seeks to become the 24th player to make the John Deere Classic his first PGA TOUR title and 10th player to win in his first tournament start (most recent: Dylan Frittelli/2019).
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Sponsor exemption Chris Gotterup (T3/-10) followed a first-round 65 with a 4-under 67, including four birdies and his first eagle on TOUR (No. 14). The last sponsor exemption to win on TOUR: Martin Laird/2020 Shriners Children’s Open.
In his third John Deere Classic start and first since 2015, Monday qualifier Chris Naegel (T3/-10) made second eagle of the week (par-5 second hole) en route to a 67. This week marks his second start of the season (T56/U.S. Open) and sixth start on Tour.
Making his 20th consecutive start in the John Deere Classic, 2012 champion and John Deere Classic Board member Zach Johnson sits T46 at 4-under 138.
Patrick Rodgers (T46/-4) made a hole-in-one at No. 3 from 131 yards, marking his second career ace on TOUR (2020 Sanderson Farms Championship/R2).
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Coming off a T2 at last week’s Travelers Championship, the highest ranked player in the field, Sahith Theegala (No. 37 FedExCup), followed a 3-over 74 in Round 1 with a 65 for a nine-stroke improvement.
Defending champion Lucas Glover missed cut with scores of 74-66—140/-2.
