Date: July 13, 2009
Author: Sportal and PA Sport

Jones fires in Illinois

Australian young gun Matt Jones vaulted up the leaderboard on the final day of the John Deere Classic as Steve Stricker cruised to his second PGA Tour title of the year by three shots. Jones, 29, scorched around the course with nine birdies in a blistering eight-under 63 to take a share of the lead after the third round before a further four birdies in a fourth-round 69 saw him finish the tournament in a tie for fifth place. Stricker had catapulted himself into contention by tying the course record with a 10-under-par 61 on Saturday, and followed that up with rounds of 68 and 64 Sunday as time was made up for a lost day&aposs play on Friday. No-one could keep up with that place as three players, Zach Johnson, Brandt Snedeker and Brett Quigley tied for second place. Tim Petrovic came the closest, and was two strokes behind Stricker as he headed to the tee of the 18th. But he found the water and had to settle for a double-bogey that dropped him into a three-way tie for fifth place alongside Jones and JJ Henry. Jones collected more than $200,000 for his troubles to push him to 133rd on the PGA money list. Aaron Baddeley also claimed a top-10 finish after a closing 65, while Peter Lonard (67) and Jason Day (69) tied for 15th place at 13-under. Quigley, who qualified for the British Open with the share of second place, had shot 62 in the morning but could not repeat that in the afternoon as he carded a 67. Overnight leader Darron Stiles struggled in his final two rounds, carding a 70 and a 71, to fall back into a tie for ninth place.