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Byrd returns to John Deere, where he earned a historic third victory

- PGA.com

MOLINE, Ill. -- Jonathan Byrd fired a final-round 66, one of four rounds in the 60s to win the 2007 John Deere Classic by one stroke over Tim Clark. The victory was Byrd's third since he joined the PGA Tour in 2002. Byrd won his first tournament -- the Buick Challenge -- in 2002, followed by the 2004 B.C. Open. The Illinois victory gave Byrd three wins while in his 20s. Byrd turned 30 in January.

This season, Byrd has enjoyed two top-10 finishes -- at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (tied for ninth) and the AT&T Classic (fourth). He is 71st in the FedExCup standings and 72nd on the money list.

With his 2007 John Deere Classic win, Jonathan Byrd earned a spot in the following week's British Open via his position as low top-10 finisher who was not already exempt. Byrd took advantage of the opportunity to play in his first British Open and tied for 23rd.

Tim Clark's runner-up finish last year was his best PGA Tour finish since he was the runner-up at the 2006 Masters. Clark was not eligible for the next week's British Open, consequently ending his streak of consecutive major championships played at 15. Clark's best 2008 performance is a tie for second at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

With a fifth-place finish in 2007, Carl Pettersson posted the best performance by a player already exempt for last year's British Open. Of the eight players who were already exempt into the British Open at the start of the week, only Pettersson and Duffy Waldorf (tied for 50th) made it to the weekend.

Jonathan Byrd's 2007 win at the John Deere Classic ended a three-year streak of players collecting their first PGA Tour win at the John Deere Classic.

Heath Slocum's final-round 65 was his lowest Sunday score on the PGA Tour since the 2005 Valero Texas Open, where he also shot 65. It was the 11th of 12 previous rounds that Slocum has shot a sub-70 round at the John Deere Classic.

Jonathan Byrd's first-place check of $738,000 moved him into first place on the all-time John Deere Classic money list ($1,096,772). J.P. Hayes, the 2002 John Deere Classic champion, dropped from first to second, with $1,091,199.

A John Deere Classic winner has failed to reach double-digits under par only three times in the event's 37-year history. Deane Beman (7-under in 1971 and 5-under in 1972) was the first to do it, followed by Roger Maltbie in 1975 (5 under).

Since the John Deere Classic moved to TPC Deere Run in 2000, there have been 10 holes-in-one on the course, with half of them coming in 2004 -- by Greg Chalmers, David Gossett, Mark Hensby, John Rollins and Willie Wood.

Anthony Kim picked up his second title of the PGA Tour season and moved into the top five of the FedExCup when he won last week's AT&T National. Kim improved five spots to No. 5 with his victory outside Washington, D.C. The rest of the top four remained unchanged, with Tiger Woods continuing to lead the overall competition, with Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry and Stewart Cink rounding out the top four.

Copyright 2008 PGA.com. All rights reserved.

 
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