Thompson romps at Deere Classic - Marin Independent Journal

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Thompson romps at Deere Classic

Davis Thompson reacts after a birdie on the 14th hole during the final round of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run on Sunday in Silvis, Illinois. DYLAN BUELL — GETTY IMAGES

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Davis Thompson won his first PGA Tour title Sunday with a a 7-under 64 to set the 72-hole scoring record at the John Deere Classic and leave all the drama to second place.

Staked to a two-shot lead, Thompson made a 45-foot birdie putt on the opening hole and no one got any closer to him the rest of the way. He opened with five birdies in six holes, stretched his lead to six shots and ended up winning by four strokes,

Thompson, a 25-year-old from Georgia, finished at 28-under 256 to break by one the John Deere Classic record set by Michael Kim in 2018.

The victory gets him into the next three majors, starting with the British Open in two weeks at Royal Troon. He also will make his Masters debut next April.

Motor sports

Bowman wraps spot in playoffs >> Alex Bowman secured a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs when he held on for the victory on a rainy street course in downtown Chicago.

It was Bowman’s first victory since Las Vegas in March 2022 and No. 8 for his career. He is the 12th Cup Series driver to win this year, leaving four remaining spots in the playoffs with six races left in the regular season.

The race was stopped for more than 100 minutes because of rain, and NASCAR set a cutoff time of 8:20 p.m. CDT because of the fading sunlight. When Bowman crossed the start-finish line after that time, the white flag came out followed by the checkered.

Tyler Reddick made a late push, but he got into a wall trying to catch up to Bowman. Ty Gibbs was third, followed by Joey Hand and Michael McDowell.

MLB

Alonso to compete in Home Run Derby for 5th time >> Pete Alonso will participate in his fifth straight Home Run Derby, with the New York Mets first baseman trying to win for the third time.

Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and Philadelphia’s Alec Bohm also have committed to the July 15 event at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

Alonso made the announcement Sunday night on Instagram.

Ken Griffey Jr. is the only three-time champion of the derby, which started in 1985.

Olympics

Durant has calf strain, USA Basketball considers him day-to-day >> Kevin Durant is dealing with calf soreness that has kept him from being a full participant in USA Basketball’s training camp for the Paris Olympics, though he has assured team officials that he does not expect the issue to be a major one.

Durant is the second forward who hasn’t been able to be a full participant in the U.S. camp that had its second day of on-floor workouts Sunday; Boston forward Jayson Tatum was excused from the first two days of camp workouts for personal reasons and is expected to be on the floor with his U.S. teammates for the first time on Monday.