After a one-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the John Deere Classic is back on the PGA Tour.
The four-day event will take place starting today through Sunday at TPC Deere Run in the Quad Cities community of Silvis, Illinois. There’s a $6,200,000 purse for the event.
Brownstown native Chris Baker will be competing this weekend, and he is scheduled to tee off at 3 p.m. (2 p.m. CT) on the first hole. Baker will be teeing off with a familiar face, as well. Tripp Kenney, who played at Iowa State University with Baker, will be in the same group as him today and Friday. Rafael Campos also is in their group.
Baker posted to Facebook on Tuesday, “Looking forward to a great week here @johndeereclassic! Playing with another former Cyclone @trippkinney the first two days, going to be a blast! Let’s go #cyclonenation!”
Baker played at Iowa State from 2005 to 2008, and since then, he has had success at the professional level.
He won on the NGA Hooters Tour on two different occasions, and then he added a third professional win on the European Challenge Tour in 2010 (Moroccan Golf Classic). He also lost a playoff to Andrew Putnam in the Nationwide Tour’s 2017 Panama Claro Championship.
Baker has been playing some of his best golf over the past couple of weeks. At the U.S. Open, Baker shot a +3 and finished tied for 26th. Just last weekend, Baker shot a -6, which earned him a top-60 finish at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
The 2004 graduate of Brownstown Central High School will look to continue playing well on the PGA Tour this weekend.
Golf Channel will carry live coverage from 3 to 6 p.m. today and Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, Golf Channel will have live coverage from 1 to 3 p.m. with CBS finishing each day from 3 to 6 p.m.
PGA Tour Live streaming coverage takes place from 7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. today through Sunday.