Two-time PGA Tour winner withdraws from John Deere Classic with replacement announced

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The John Deere Classic begins on Thursday, and it is always a really fun golf tournament to watch.

Sure, the John Deere Classic doesn’t always attract the strongest fields, but that is more to do with the scheduling of the tournament than anything else.

Luke Clanton made history at the John Deere Classic last year, by becoming the first amateur to achieve back-to-back top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour since 1958.

The PGA Tour tournament in Silvis, Illinois, has become a real springboard for hugely talented young players to kickstart their careers in the game.

Davis Thompson won the event last year, while Bryson DeChambeau was victorious in 2017, with Jordan Spieth lifting the trophy in 2013 and 2015.

Fans can expect low scores this week – only twice has the tournament been won with a score worse than 20-under par since 2014.

However, as mentioned earlier, the field is not the strongest that we get to see on the PGA Tour.

Davis Riley withdraws from John Deere Classic

Riley – world number 60 – has three top-10s to his name in 20 starts this season, and one of those was a tie for second at the PGA Championship.

However, he has been really inconsistent in general in 2025, with seven missed cuts to his name.

Riley would have been looking at this week in Illinois as a huge chance to really get his PGA Tour season on track.

Unfortunately for him though, he has been forced to withdraw from the John Deere Classic, and the timing could not have been worse, with some huge events on the horizon.

Riley might not be the biggest name, but he is an extremely good golfer when he’s on form – his two PGA Tour wins attest to that.

He hit the headlines earlier this season as well, but not for his golf.

Riley received huge praise earlier this season at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson after calling a two-shot penalty on himself for using his rangefinder with the device’s slope feature switched on.

Austin Cook will replace Davis Riley at the John Deere Classic

Cook, a one-time PGA Tour winner, has received a late call-up to join the field at TPC Deere Run.

It will be a huge opportunity for Cook to turn around his season.

The 34-year-old has only played three events on the PGA Tour this season, missing two cuts in the process.

He won the 2017 RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia, beating this year’s US Open champion J.J. Spaun by four shots.

However, his game has regressed badly over the past two years. He has played just 20 PGA Tour events since the start of the 2024 season, missing 16 cuts throughout that period.

Perhaps his late call-up to the John Deere Classic field will be his chance to reinvigorate his career.