DeChambeau has dramatic finish at John Deere Classic

SILVIS, Ill. - One thing you can always expect at the John Deere Classic is that community heroes Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker will challenge for the title. Both came from way back to briefly tie for the lead on Sunday but neither could create the drama produced down the stretch by Bryson DeChambeau.

In a tournament rich in dramatic finishes, DeChambeau, winner of the 2015 U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields, produced one of the very best.

DeChambeau was a chaser all day long until he caught Patrick Rodgers with a 14-foot birdie putt on the 18th green. DeChambeau's putt barely caught the right edge of the cup and dropped as Rodgers - the leader at the 36- and 54-hole stops - was walking down the adjacent 17th fairway. Both were at 18-under-par at that point.

Rodgers didn't stay there for long. He found his tee shot on the par-5 17th behind a tree and had to chip out. The chip wasn't good, either. It ran into the rough on the right side of the fairway 205 yards from the cup.

His third shot wound up on the green but in a most difficult spot - with a bunker blocking his path to the cup. Rodgers had to take the unusual method of chipping on the putting surface to get at the hole, but his fourth shot took a bad bounce, leaving him 6 feet away. When his par putt lipped out, Rodgers' time at the top of the leaderboard was over.

"I had an aggressive mindset on 17," Rodgers admitted later. "I felt like if I made birdie that would probably put the tournament away."

Then he heard the roar from DeChambeau's birdie putt dropping at No. 18, and that changed his mindset.

Rodgers tried to get back a share of the lead with a birdie on the 18th, but his play wasn't up to it. His drive finished in the right rough with a tree again blocking his shot to the green and his second rolled over the putting surface. The birdie try from there was a good one, but the ball stopped a foot away. That made DeChambeau the ninth first-time champion on the PGA Tour this season.

At the awards ceremony on the 18th green, DeChambeau broke down at the mention of the late Payne Stewart, who also got his first win in the Quad Cities.

DeChambeau somewhat patterns himself after the colorful Stewart, who went to college at Southern Methodist before DeChambeau arrived there and - like Stewart - got into the Quad Cities event on a sponsor's exemption.

DeChambeau had been a disappointment as a pro after winning both the U.S. Amateur and NCAA title in 2015. He had missed 10 straight cuts before regaining form four weeks ago, and his approach to the game and decision to play all clubs of the same length intrigued many but also was ridiculed by some.

Sunday's win should silence his detractors.

"I try to take a complex game and understand every variable," he said. "That's very difficult to do. The one who came closest was Tiger (Woods). He probably figured it out for quite a while. I was a physics major in college, and I go after golf in a very scientific way."

When it works, like it did Sunday, he looks like a genius. DeChambeau shot 30 on the back nine, so it was clear that he won the tournament more than Rodgers lost it.

As for Stricker and Johnson, they had the huge galleries buzzing early and often. Stricker shot 64 and Johnson 67. They finished in a tie for fifth, Stricker climbing 30 places and Johnson three from their positions at the start of the final round.

Both were on tournament's jet on Sunday night to next week's British Open.

The final round was not good news for the two Chicago players to make the cut.

Wheaton's Kevin Streelman made double bogey on the first hole, wound up shooting a 2-over 72 and fell 26 places into a tie for 44th place. He will play in the Rockford pro-am Sunday, then won't be seen on tour again until next month's PGA Championship.

Northbrook's Nick Hardy was paired for the second straight day with Maverick McNealy, the only other amateur to make the cut. They started the day tied, and McNealy ruled the final round 69-71 to be the tourney's low amateur.

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