The John Deere Classic offered golfers another chance to make a good amount of money on the PGA Tour. The tournament held a total prize purse of $8 million, with the winner making a cool $1.44 million for their performance. Others made a solid amount, though the only player to make over $1 million was the winner.
That winner ended up being Davis Thompson. For the first time in his PGA Tour career, he was the victor and earned the $1.44 million payout. He led going into the final round and had an impressive first nine (six under) that was enough to get him through with a win after the back nine.
The $1.44 million winner's payout is an impressive total, but it's more to the standard of the PGA Tour than recent events. Signature Events and Major tournaments carry prize purses of more than $20 million, with the winner's payout from those events often surpassing half of what the John Deere Classic could pay all golfers.
Davis Thompson wins first career PGA Tour event at John Deere Classic
Davis Thompson is just 25 years old and has only been a professional on the PGA Tour for three years. In that time span, the golfer has yet to win a tournament on tour until Sunday. After a brilliant outing at the John Deere Classic, Thompson was victorious.
He had come close before. He finished in the top 10 three different times this season alone. In fact, two of them were runner-up finishes. Thompson was agonizingly close to winning before finally breaking through.
He'd finished in second or tied for second in the Myrtle Beach Classic and Rocket Mortgage Classic last weekend. The golfer also placed tied for ninth at the US Open. He'd been in a good run of form and finally capitalized.
In 2023, Thompson had two top-10 finishes, one of which was a runner-up. He only played three events in 2022, so he still hasn't had all that much experience. His career had been marked by a lot of quality finishes without a win. That no longer applies after July 7.