After further review, it appears the John Deere Classic isn’t going anywhere for now.
Earlier this week, tour-sponsors-203045637.html">I wrote that multiple sources had said that the PGA Tour was asking the JDC to move the tournament from its longtime home in the Quad Cities to Chicago. This was cited as an example of how the Tour is presenting scenarios to sponsors to determine if they will be Track 1 and attract the top players competing for $20 million purses on network TV or Track 2 with smaller purses, Golf Channel coverage and none of the top players.
Officials from the PGA Tour and John Deere Classic tournament director Andrew Lehman reached out to me to say that those conversations never happened. I stand by my reporting, and others have noted that the Tour wants to “own the summer,” and that means tournaments in bigger markets. It’s possible we could be arguing semantics, but the bottom line is that the JDC doesn’t want to move to the Windy City — now or ever — thank you very much.
“From our perspective, and I think I speak for our title sponsor, this event is too important to this community. If you understand all the great things that happen in John Deere’s hometown as a result of this event — $206 million in the history of the event, 99 percent of that has been raised since they became title sponsor — being here matters,” Lehman told Golfweek in a phone call Wednesday.
“John Deere’s ability to host their customers and prospective customers in their hometown during tournament week remains critically important to them as a title sponsor in the Quad Cities and the fact that this event brings a $75 million economic impact from their event taking place in the market. John Deere is the greatest thing to happen to this event since it became title sponsor in 1997.”
The PGA Tour has been a staple in the Quad Cities for more than 54 years, the proverbial little engine that could. Craig DeVrieze, the author of “Magic Happened: Celebrating 50 years of the John Deere Classic,” wrote that “the history of the John Deere Classic has been forged by multitudes of community-minded people from across the Quad Cities region. It has been forged especially by the many volunteers who created it, nurtured it, fought for it, saved it, rebuilt it, and return to it annually in celebration of neighbors, family, friends and welcomed guests — 156 of whom happen to be remarkably skilled at the game of golf.”
Seven times in recent years, the JDC has been presented with the Most Engaged Community Award by the Tour. The Tour would be foolish to abandon a tournament that has become part of the fabric of the community. It was refreshing to see that the overriding response to my story on social media was outrage that the Tour would even consider moving the Deere from its hometown for potentially richer pastures.
One of its longtime supporters spoke for the masses in a text to me that said, “If the Deere gets moved to Chicago, I riot.”
The reality is the Tour wants the Track 1 events in big markets, and the Quad Cities isn’t one. Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, the former No. 2 executive at the NFL, is also on the record as saying that the Tour can have its version of the Green Bay Packers. For the signature events, that’s going to be the Travelers Championship near Hartford rather than in Boston and the RBC Heritage on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Does the Tour want to add Track 1 events in big markets such as Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia and New York? Damn right, they do.
But Rolapp also said that his use of the term “scarcity” has been misconstrued and that the Tour will still have space for the likes of the Quad Cities and St. Simons Island, Ga. The JDC knows what it is and it’s comfortable being the best version of a Track 2.
The local high school will still have its stand selling pork chop sandwiches, Whitey’s ice cream always will be the go-to afternoon treat and the players will still bring their families to the Big Dig and hop on John Deere’s latest and greatest toys.
For now, Lehman is like many tournament directors — sitting in wait-and-see mode to find how things are going to shake out beyond this year’s tournament in July. He’s no different than regular golf fans, eagerly awaiting the Tour’s next update when Rolapp speaks in less than three weeks at the Travelers.
Being on Track 2 really won’t be much different than what the JDC always has been, but if discussions of Track 1 players not being allowed to “play down” in Track 2 events becomes a reality, that will hurt the field. A few stars go a long way in drumming up big galleries. Think about it: had such a scenario been in effect the last 20 years, the JDC wouldn’t have been able to attract the likes of favorite son Zach Johnson, three-time champion Steve Stricker or even have had Jordan Spieth return to defend. [Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Chris Gotterup are among the early commitments for this year.]
This is the brave new world of men’s professional golf that we live in, but the John Deere Classic still intends to be part of it and remain rooted where it’s always been. That’s a good thing.
Adam Schupak is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the PGA Tour.
