Justin Thomas leads outright

 at John Deere Classic

Justin Thomas ( Getty Images ) 

FROM GOLFWEEK.COM

By Brentley Romine

For the first time in his US PGA Tour career, Justin Thomas holds an outright lead at the completion of a round.
Thomas, who co-led the John Deere Classic through 18 holes, shot 4-under 67 Friday at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, to move to 12-under 130, a shot better than Johnson Wagner and Tom Gillis.
The 22-year-old rookie, who shot 75 in the final round to fall out of contention at the Greenbrier Classic, birdied his first two holes Friday and never looked back.
"Later in the day when the greens get a little bumpier, it's harder to make putts," Thomas said, "so to kind of get myself a little bit deep to start. It was nice."
He added birdies at Nos. 6, 11 and 17, and had just one bogey, at the par-4 13th. Thomas also got up-and-down to save par at the par-4 18th to hold onto his lead.
"I hate finishing with a bogey probably more than anything," Thomas said.
Thomas, in his second professional season after having graduated from the Web.com Tour last year, has compiled five top-10 finishes and made 16 cuts in 23 starts this season.
He has yet to qualify for next week's Open Championship, but can earn his spot in the field if he finishes in the top 5 and is the highest finishing player not already exempt.

Jordan Spieth shot a 7-under 64 on Friday to go from at risk of missing the cut to moving within five shots of the lead.
Spieth, who will try for his third straight major title next week at the Open, opened the tournament Thursday with an even-par 71. But he rallied with four birdies in six holes and an eagle Friday.
SCOREBOARD
par 142 (2x71) 

1	Justin Thomas	63	67	.					130
T2	Johnson Wagner	68	63						131
T2	Tom Gillis	66	65						131
T4	Scott Pinckney	66	66						132
T4	Daniel Summerhays	65	67						132
T4	Will Wilcox	66	66						132
T7	Bryce Molder	68	65						133
T7	Steve Wheatcroft	67	66						133
T7	Robert Garrigus	65	68						133
T7	Spencer Levin	66	67						133
T11	Brian Stuard	66	68						134
T11	Luke Guthrie	64	70						134
T11	Zach Johnson	66	68						134
T11	Steve Alker	65	69						134
T11	Steve Stricker	65	69						134
T16	Shawn Stefani	65	70						135
T16	Nicholas Thompson	63	72						135
T16	Ryan Moore	70	65						135
T16	Brian Harman	67	68						135
T16	Jordan Spieth	71	64						135
T16	Vijay Singh	67	68						135
T22	Danny Lee	68	68						136
T22	Jason Bohn	68	68						136
T22	Gonzalo Fernandez-Casta	68	68	.					136
T22	Michael Putnam	69	67						136
T22	Derek Fathauer	71	65						136
T22	Sam Saunders	67	69						136
T22	Tyrone Van Aswegen	66	70						136
T22	Max Homa	70	66						136
T22	Mark Hubbard	69	67						136
T22	Jonas Blixt	67	69	.					136
T22	Charles Howell III	64	72						136
T22	Scott Piercy	67	69						136
T22	Kevin Kisner	69	67						136
T22	Robert Streb	66	70						136
T22	Boo Weekley	66	70	.					136
T22	Chad Campbell	72	64						136
T22	Jim Renner	67	69	.				.	136
T22	Chris Stroud	68	68						136
T22	Jerry Kelly	70	66						136
T22	Cameron Percy	68	68	.					136
T42	Hudson Swafford	71	66						137
T42	Roberto Castro	69	68						137
T42	Ryo Ishikawa	69	68						137
T42	Carl Pettersson	66	71						137
T42	Tim Wilkinson	68	69						137
T42	Jhonattan Vegas	67	70	.					137
T42	John Huh	69	68						137
T42	Glen Day	67	70						137
T42	Josh Teater	69	68						137
T42	Pat Perez	69	68						137
T42	Chez Reavie	69	68						137
T42	Kevin Chappell	68	69						137
T42	Alex Prugh	68	69						137
T55	Kyle Stanley	67	71	.					138
T55	Seung-yul Noh	69	69						138
T55	Scott Langley	68	70						138
T55	Lee McCoy	67	71						138
T55	Chris Naegel	71	67						138
T55	Roger Sloan	70	68						138
T55	Zack Sucher	71	67						138
T55	William McGirt	69	69						138
T55	Rod Pampling	72	66	.					138
T55	Greg Chalmers	68	70						138
T55	Harris English	69	69						138
T55	Alex Cejka	67	71						138
T55	Ken Duke	71	67						138
T55	Michael Thompson	66	72						138
T55	Adam Hadwin	68	70						138
T55	Sung Joon Park	68	70						138
T55	Vaughn Taylor	69	69	.					138
T55	David Hearn	68	70						138
T55	Ryan Armour	69	69						138
T74	Zac Blair	70	69	MC	.				139
T74	Kevin Streelman	68	71	MC					139
T74	Camilo Villegas	71	68	MC					139
T74	K.J. Choi	71	68	MC					139
T74	Stewart Cink	69	70	MC					139
T74	Tony Finau	67	72	MC	.				139
T74	Patrick Rodgers	67	72	MC					139
T74	Carlos Sainz Jr.	68	71	MC					139
T74	Byron Smith	67	72	MC					139
T74	Richard Sterne	72	67	MC	.				139
T74	Whee Kim	69	70	MC					139
T74	Jon Curran	70	69	MC					139
T74	Scott Verplank	71	68	MC					139
T74	Derek Ernst	69	70	MC					139
T74	Tom Hoge	70	69	MC	.				139
T89	Brendon de Jonge	70	70	MC					140
T89	Scott Brown	69	71	MC					140
T89	Kyle Reifers	70	70	MC					140
T89	Jason Gore	69	71	MC					140
T89	Jeff Overton	69	71	MC					140
T89	Tim Clark	69	71	MC					140
T89	Troy Kelly	69	71	MC					140
T89	Jason Kokrak	70	70	MC	.				140
T89	Andrew Loupe	69	71	MC					140
T98	Trevor Immelman	72	69	MC					141
T98	Chris Smith	73	68	MC					141
T98	Andrew Svoboda	70	71	MC	.				141
T98	D.A. Points	68	73	MC					141
T98	Kevin Stadler	71	70	MC					141
T98	David Toms	69	72	MC					141
T98	Ricky Barnes	68	73	MC					141
T98	Martin Flores	67	74	MC					141
T98	Chad Collins	71	70	MC	.				141
T98	Tim Petrovic	72	69	MC					141
T98	Jonathan Byrd	68	73	MC					141
T98	Arjun Atwal	69	72	MC					141
T98	Tim Herron	74	67	MC					141
T98	Billy Hurley III	71	70	MC					141
T98	Fabian Gomez	68	73	MC					141
T98	Steven Bowditch	74	67	MC	.				141
T98	Cameron Beckman	72	69	MC					141
T98	Brice Garnett	71	70	MC					141
T116	Lucas Glover	70	72	MC					142
T116	Erik Compton	68	74	MC					142
T116	J.J. Henry	71	71	MC					142
T116	Jim Herman	72	70	MC	.				142
T116	Carlos Ortiz	68	74	MC					142
T116	Andres Gonzales	73	69	MC					142
T116	Troy Merritt	71	71	MC					142
T116	Bryson DeChambeau	74	68	MC					142
T124	Matt Bettencourt	73	70	MC					143
T124	Mark Wilson	72	71	MC					143
T124	Heath Slocum	72	71	MC					143
T127	Ben Curtis	73	71	MC	.				144
T127	Jeff Corr	69	75	MC					144
T127	Chesson Hadley	76	68	MC					144
T127	Ben Crane	73	71	MC					144
T127	Blake Adams	70	74	MC					144
T127	Charlie Wi	73	71	MC					144
T133	Eric Axley	71	74	MC					145
T133	Troy Matteson	71	74	MC					145
T133	Will MacKenzie	72	73	MC	.				145
T133	Aaron Baddeley	69	76	MC					145
T133	Oscar Fraustro	74	71	MC					145
T133	Benjamin Alvarado	71	74	MC					145
T133	Brian Campbell	72	73	MC					145
T140	George McNeill	72	74	MC					146
T140	Joseph Juszczyk	68	78	MC	.				146
T140	Bill Lunde	73	73	MC					146
T140	John Merrick	73	73	MC					146
T140	Mark D. Anderson	75	71	MC					146
T145	Retief Goosen	71	76	MC					147
T145	Bo Van Pelt	75	72	MC					147
T145	Zack Vervaecke	73	74	MC	.				147
T145	Nick Taylor	75	72	MC					147
T145	John Rollins	72	75	MC					147
T150	Todd Hamilton	77	71	MC					148
T150	Andrew Putnam	76	72	MC					148
T150	Jonathan Randolph	73	75	MC					148
153	Carson Schaake	75	74	MC					149
154	Zach Steffen	75	78	MC	.				153
155	Mike Weir	73	4	CUT	.				77