As Americans spend this weekend celebrating the birth of their nation, long referred to as the “Land of Opportunity,” several of the world’s best golfers have descended upon what could be billed as golf’s very own land of opportunity: The John Deere Classic.
Held at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, the JDC has produced 24 first-time winners since 1970 — the most of any tournament on the PGA Tour. Roger Maltbie nabbed his first career victory at the John Deere Classic in 1975. David Toms did the same 22 years later.
Then there’s Jordan Spieth, who, at 19 years old, was granted a sponsor’s exemption to compete in the 2013 John Deere Classic. He holed out from a greenside bunker on the final hole to force a playoff against David Hearn and hometown hero Zach Johnson, which Spieth went on to win.
Twelve years and 13 wins later, that legendary shot still belongs near the top of Spieth’s long highlight reel.
The PGA Tour’s stop in the Quad Cities is often overlooked in golf circles — chalked up as the event for players who need FedEx Cup points while others enjoy a holiday weekend at home. But there’s no denying that the John Deere Classic has historically served as a breeding ground for the game’s biggest stars.
Jackson Koivun, who is No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, is in the field at TPC Deere Run this week as a sponsor’s exemption. As a freshman at Auburn, Koivun became the first player to win all four major men’s collegiate honors in the same year: The Haskins Award, the Jack Nicklaus Award, the Ben Hogan Award, and the Phil Mickelson Award.
He’s the perfect candidate to reinforce the narrative that the John Deere Classic is a launching pad for the game’s future stars.
“Obviously, it’s really cool to have a bunch of sponsors’ exemptions and amateurs play well here,” Koivun said in a press conference Wednesday. “It just shows that it’s doable. Just got to keep that in the back of my mind and trust my game and myself.”
Other young guns in this week’s field — like 2025 Haskins Award winner David Ford, 2025 NCAA Individual Champion Michael La Sasso, and 2025 Ping All-American Ben James — fit the bill, too.
It’s a brotherhood of youthful talent.
“We’re all really good friends. That’s definitely something that’s cool,” Koivun said. “We definitely compete against each other a lot, but it’s definitely friendly competition. Me and La Sasso, we live about 20 minutes from each other in North Carolina, so we play a lot of golf together. Ben is an awesome dude. We’ve played a lot of tournaments together and going back even into junior golf. So there is definitely a sense of camaraderie there.”
It’s a sign of the times in a game that seems to be getting younger by the day. Aldrich Potgieter, a 20-year-old from South Africa, won the Rocket Classic just days ago.
“It shows just how golf has kind of changed in the past few years,” Koivun said. “I mean, I look at junior golfers and I’m like, ‘Wow, these kids are really good.’ Even though I was a junior golfer three years ago. It’s crazy the leap they’ve made.”
Just ask Johnson, the 49-year-old Iowan who is making his 23rd consecutive appearance at the John Deere Classic this week.
“We’ve got athletes playing this game at a young age that could probably go a different direction in sports, but this sport grabbed them, for good measure, because it is awesome,” Johnson said. “It’s daunting, it’s scary, but it’s fantastic, if that makes sense. As a competitor, as an athlete out here, the youth of this game is impressive.”
Similar to Johnson, the John Deere Classic is also a home game of sorts for Koivun. He grew up in North Carolina, but his father is a Quad Cities native.
“[There’s] a sense of familiarity here,” Koivun said. “We got a little bit of family still left in these areas, so it’s nice to be able to come back. Obviously, my dad grew up here, so he’s got a lot of friends from high school days here, so hopefully I’ll get a little nice crowd around here.”
Koivun is making his fourth PGA Tour start this year. He made the cut at the Farmers Insurance Open (T-56) in January and the Arnold Palmer Invitational (T-48) before missing the cut by just one stroke at the U.S. Open. This week, he’s “not trying to have too many expectations,” but in golf’s land of opportunity, anything is possible.
“I feel like my game suits this golf course pretty well. I mean, years past you just need to make a lot of birdies out here to play well, so if I can get that putter hot, I’ll feel pretty good about myself.”
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