Jordan Spieth survives John Deere Classic cut; Jackson Koivun falls short in professional debut

SILVIS, Ill. — Jordan Spieth battled back from a rough second-round start. Jackson Koivun couldn’t. So only two members of Friday afternoon’s marquee threesome will play the weekend at the John Deere Classic.

While Ben Griffin, the third member of the trio, cruised to a second-round 65 that helped him move up 40 spots on the leaderboard, two-time John Deere winner Spieth needed three back-nine birdies to make the cut on the number at 3 under.

He didn’t credit an unsettling bogey on the par-5 10th for kicking his day into gear.

“It was actually one of my better swings of the day,” he said of a pulled iron shot into a native area that led to a 6. “The problem was I had made so many bad swings I was protecting from right. So no, I just wanted to try to make good swings. And if it was going to work out, it was going to work out. If not, then it wasn't meant to be."

Making his professional debut, former top-ranked amateur Kouvin couldn’t find much of the form that led to a T11 at the John Deere a year ago. His 1-under 70 on Friday was three shots better than his opener, but he’s on to next week’s ISCO Championship in Louisville, Kentucky in pursuit of his first professional made cut.

Griffin is one of 10 players in the top 50 of the FedExCup Standings in the field at TPC Deere Run, and all but two of those – Daniel Berger and Sudarshan Yellamaraju – will be among the 80 players who have a Saturday tee time.

With a new set of irons overnighted by PXG, Cole fired an 8-under 63 to overcome a Thursday 76. “It was just like I kind of had nothing to lose,” he said of a round that included a pair of eagles. “Yeah. It was a good day.”

Keegan Bradley also survived on the number but several big names stand higher up the leaderboard. Those include Chris Gotterup, Max Homa, Tom Kim, Jacob Bridgeman, Tony Finau and 2022 John Deere winner J.T. Poston.

Gone with Koivun is defending champion Brian Campbell. After a 1-under 70 in the opening round, Campbell made the Friday afternoon turn at 2 over, managed a lone birdie coming home and finished at 1-over 142, four back of the cutline. Fellow past John Deere winners Dylan Fritelli (2019) and Michael Kim (2013) join him on the sidelines.

In the previous two years, the TPC Deere Run cut fell at a record-low, 5-under par.

This year, players faced a slightly muscled-up par-4 fourth. When disease made it clear that the iconic Hewitt Tree, which guarded the middle of a double fairway, the TPC network opted to replace the tree with left and right bunkering separated by 30 yards of fairway. Those hazards are located about 300 yards from a new tee that lengthened the hole by 50 yards, and they have forced players to make the decision to challenge the bunkers or lay back and come into a narrow green with longer irons.

Pros played the hole to an average of 3.909 in 2025, making it the course’s 10th most difficult hole. This week’s average through two rounds is 4.199 and ranks as the second most challenging.