C.T. Pan ready to take a nap after 'impressing' himself by taking joint lead at the 2024 John Deere Classic

C.T. Pan of Taiwan is tied on the top of the leaderboard with Aaron Rai after the end of the second round at the 2024 John Deere Classic. The cutline is settled at 5-under at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.

Pan scored 8-under 63 in the second round after 6-under 65 in the first round at the 2024 John Deere Classic. In the post-round press conference, he said (via Ten Golf):

"I'm actually impressed by myself. It's pretty tough out there when the wind picks up 15, 20 miles out there." (0:05-0:18)

C.T. Pan scored four birdies on the 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 8th holes on the front nine. On the back nine, the 32-year-old secured two more birdies on the 11th and 12th holes. He notched an eagle on the 14th hole and finished with 8 under par. Talking about the eagle, he said:

"The eagle on 14, it's a drivable par-4. Hit a decent drive to the left fairway cactually in the first cut. I had like 35 yard chip and it's pretty stand uphill chip. I was able to go after it." (3:31-3:50)

Pan added that he couldn't sleep well last night because of his conversation with the Olympic committee back home. He said the conversation to figure out all the arrangements didn't go well.

C.T. Pan won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and will be competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics as well. He was further asked if he'd sleep well as he's in the lead now in the tournament. The Taiwanese golfer said:

"I know I will take a nap for sure." (3:57)

Pan is tied with Aaron Rai at the top of the leaderboard, with both having a score of 14-under 128. Harry Hall is in the second position with a score of 13 under. Hayden Springer slipped to fourth after a record-breaking 59 in the first round. He scored an even par 71 and tied on T4 with Eric Cole, David Thompson, Denny McCarthy, Luke Clanton, and Sungjae Im at the John Deere Classic.

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A look at the performance of C.T. Pan in 2024

C.T. Pan has had a dismal 2024 season with several missed cuts. He has had one top-10 finish which came at the Mexico Open at Vidanta, as he finished at T3. His other notable finishes were a T28 at the Cognizant Classic and a T35 at RBC Canadian Open. He has missed cuts in five of his 14 starts this year.

He is currently 116th on the FedExCup standings in the 2024 season. Let's take a look at C.T. Pan's performances in the 2024 season so far:

1. Sony Open in Hawaii: Missed Cut (72-67, 139, -1)
2. WM Phoenix Open: Missed Cut (73-73, 146, +4)
3. Mexico Open at Vidanta: T3 (71-67-67-65, 270, -14)
4. Cognizant Classic: T28 (66-68-70-71, 275, -9)
5. Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard: 51 (71-70-78-74, 293, +5)
6. THE PLAYERS Championship: T42 (69-68-70-76, 283, -5)
7. Valero Texas Open: T51 (71-72-73-72, 288, E)
8. THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson: Withdrawn (72-36, 108, +1)
9. Myrtle Beach Classic: Missed Cut (73-69, 142, E)
10. PGA Championship: Missed Cut (73-69, 142, E)
11. Charles Schwab Challenge: T37 (69-70-68-74, 281, +1)
12. RBC Canadian Open: T35 (70-70-68-69, 277, -3)
13. Rocket Mortgage Classic: Missed Cut (69-73, 142, -2)
14. John Deere Classic: T1 (65-63, 128, -14)