Spieth heads for St Andrews after

 play-off win in John Deere Classic

FROM SKYSPORTS.COM

Jordan Spieth gave himself a boost on the eve of the 144th Open by claiming a play-off victory over Tom Gillis at the John Deere Classic.

The 21-year-old, who will be seeking his third major title of the year at St Andrews, carded a three-under 68 to join 46-year-old Gillis, chasing a maiden US PGA Tour title, on 20 under par for the tournament.
The pair could not be separated when they played the 18th hole for the first time in the play-off, but Gillis drove into the rough second time around and then hit his second shot into water, enabling Spieth to wrap up victory with a three-foot putt.
Spieth, holding a two-shot overnight lead, got off to a slow start by bogeying two of the first three holes and found himself three off the pace with seven to play after being unable to save par from 20 feet at the 11th.

However, just like the world No 2 did in his third round 61, Spieth responded by carding a series of birdies on the back nine, drilling in lengthy putts at the 13th and 16th to go alongside closer gains at the 14th and 17th to move back in to a share of the lead. 
Victory silenced Spieth's critics who felt the Masters and US Open champion should have been playing in the AAM Scottish Open at Gulllane, rather than stay loyal to the event which gave him his first professional victory.
Gillis, who was attempting to become the oldest first-time winner on the US PGA Tour in 20 years, posted six birdies in a front-nine 30 and added three more after reaching the turn before a two-putt bogey from eight feet at the 16th.
Zach Johnson and last week's Greenbrier Classic winner Danny Lee finished a shot further back on 19 under after final rounds of 65 and 67 respectively.
Johnson was an unfortunate victim of an incident at the 16th hole, where he was noticeably startled by a loud blast just as he was about to putt, which appeared to come from a boat on an adjacent river.
The American took a drink of water and settled himself down but missed the birdie putt, before leaving a 15-footer at the last to earn a place in the play-off just short. 
Chris Stroud, Johnson Wagner and Justin Thomas finished in a three-way tie for fifth place, with Steve Wheatcroft posting a back-nine 31 to join the group a further two strokes back.
+Spieth is being quoted as 6-1 favourite to win the Open this week
FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZE MONEY

1	x-Jordan Spieth	71	64	61	68	.			264	$846,000
2	Tom Gillis	66	65	69	64				264	$507,600
T3	Zach Johnson	66	68	66	65				265	$272,600
T3	Danny Lee	68	68	62	67				265	$272,600
T5	Chris Stroud	68	68	67	63				266	$171,550
T5	Justin Thomas	63	67	69	67				266	$171,550
T5	Johnson Wagner	68	63	68	67				266	$171,550
T8	Kevin Chappell	68	69	64	67				268	$131,600
T8	Daniel Summerhays	65	67	68	68				268	$131,600
T8	Steve Wheatcroft	67	66	70	65				268	$131,600
T8	Will Wilcox	66	66	69	67				268	$131,600
T12	Jason Bohn	68	68	69	64				269	$103,400
T12	Carl Pettersson	66	71	66	66				269	$103,400
T14	Luke Guthrie	64	70	67	69				270	$84,600
T14	Scott Piercy	67	69	67	67				270	$84,600
T14	Robert Streb	66	70	68	66				270	$84,600
17	Jerry Kelly	70	66	67	68				271	$75,200
T18	Adam Hadwin	68	70	69	65				272	$59,220
T18	Scott Pinckney	66	66	71	69				272	$59,220
T18	Vijay Singh	67	68	70	67				272	$59,220
T18	Roger Sloan	70	68	67	67				272	$59,220
T18	Kyle Stanley	67	71	67	67				272	$59,220
T18	Brian Stuard	66	68	68	70				272	$59,220
T24	Robert Garrigus	65	68	70	70				273	$40,068
T24	Brian Harman	67	68	71	67				273	$40,068
T24	Mark Hubbard	69	67	70	67				273	$40,068
T24	Ryan Moore	70	65	69	69				273	$40,068
T28	Steve Alker	65	69	70	70				274	$30,584
T28	Chad Campbell	72	64	72	66				274	$30,584
T28	Gonzalo Fernandez-Casta	68	68	71	67				274	$30,584
T28	Bryce Molder	68	65	73	68				274	$30,584
T28	Alex Prugh	68	69	70	67				274	$30,584
T28	Michael Putnam	69	67	70	68				274	$30,584
T28	Josh Teater	69	68	67	70				274	$30,584
T35	Max Homa	70	66	70	69				275	$22,678
T35	Kevin Kisner	69	67	70	69				275	$22,678
T35	Scott Langley	68	70	71	66				275	$22,678
T35	Shawn Stefani	65	70	64	76				275	$22,678
T35	Steve Stricker	65	69	71	70				275	$22,678
T35	Hudson Swafford	71	66	70	68				275	$22,678
T41	William McGirt	69	69	69	69				276	$18,330
T41	Rod Pampling	72	66	71	67				276	$18,330
T41	Jim Renner	67	69	74	66				276	$18,330
T44	Roberto Castro	69	68	67	73				277	$14,210
T44	Sam Saunders	67	69	70	71				277	$14,210
T44	Zack Sucher	71	67	71	68				277	$14,210
T44	Vaughn Taylor	69	69	71	68				277	$14,210
T44	Nicholas Thompson	63	72	70	72				277	$14,210
T44	Jhonattan Vegas	67	70	71	69				277	$14,210
T50	John Huh	69	68	73	68				278	$11,336
T50	Spencer Levin	66	67	71	74				278	$11,336
T50	Chris Naegel	71	67	72	68				278	$11,336
T50	Seung-yul Noh	69	69	70	70				278	$11,336
T50	Tim Wilkinson	68	69	71	70				278	$11,336
T55	Alex Cejka	67	71	72	69				279	$10,622
T55	Derek Fathauer	71	65	70	73				279	$10,622
T55	Pat Perez	69	68	73	69				279	$10,622
T55	Michael Thompson	66	72	71	70				279	$10,622
T55	Tyrone Van Aswegen	66	70	72	71				279	$10,622
T60	Ryan Armour	69	69	76	66				280	$10,293
T60	Charles Howell III	64	72	74	70				280	$10,293
T62	Jonas Blixt	67	69	72	73				281	$10,058
T62	Sung Joon Park	68	70	74	69				281	$10,058
T62	Cameron Percy	68	68	75	70				281	$10,058
T65	Glen Day	67	70	72	73				282	$9,823
T65	Chez Reavie	69	68	77	68				282	$9,823
T67	Ken Duke	71	67	75	70				283	$9,635
T67	David Hearn	68	70	75	70				283	$9,635
T69	Greg Chalmers	68	70	75	73				286	$9,447
T69	Lee McCoy	67	71	78	70				286	-
T69	Boo Weekley	66	70	72	78				286	$9,447
T72	Harris English	69	69	77	72				287	$9,259
T72	Ryo Ishikawa	69	68	77	73				287