Because of the tournament recent history, many believed there would be another breakthrough winner this week at the John Deere Classic. That prediction wound up being true, it just wasn’t the guy anyone may have expected.
It wasn’t Collin Morikawa, or Viktor Hovland, or even Joaquin Niemann, who started the week strongly with rounds of 66 and 69. It was 29-year-old Dylan Frittelli earning his maiden victory at TPC Deere Run, carding a final-round 64 that did not feature a bogey. Frittelli made just one bogey the entire week.
“It’s still sinking in,” said Frittelli, who with the win earned an invitation to this week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush. “It means a lot. My focus this week was to just try and get some FedEx Cup points and try to move up in that top 125 (Frittelli was 153rd before this tournament), and now, perspective is going to change big time. Jump on that flight and head over to The Open next week. Hopefully I can be calm by the time I get there. It’s going to be a fun flight.”
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In addition to a Portrush invite, Frittelli will also play in next year’s Masters, PGA Championship and Players Championship. He’s also exempt on the US PGA Tour through 2020-’21. Job security like that is what all these tour pros are searching for.
“It’s super helpful. Obviously, I’ve won around the world, but this sets me up to be a little more specific now. I can take some time off. I was planning on doing seven [tournaments] in a row, maybe I can squeeze in a little break here or there now. It’s an amazing feeling to know that I have some job security. I’m super excited and I can’t believe this happened.”
This marks the fourth time since 2013 that there has been a first-time winner at the John Deere, the last three winners being Michael Kim, Bryson DeChambeau and Jordan Spieth, who was Frittelli’s teammate on the 2012 NCAA Championship-winning Texas team.
Russell Henley was the only man to get close to Frittelli thanks to a final-round, 10-under 61. That was good enough for solo second, by far is best finish of the season and his first top 10 of the year.
