Pro Withdraws From John Deere Classic Hours Before First-Round Tee Time

There has been a late change to the line up at the John Deere Classic this week after the PGA Tour confirmed Patrick Rodgers has withdrawn hours before his first-round tee time.

The action began at 7:40am ET at TPC Deere Run with three balls heading off in split tees across Thursday's first round.

Yet, with an 11:50am ET start looming, Rodgers informed tournament officials he would not be involved due to a back injury.

The World No.85 was due to make his first start since finishing solo 71st at the US Open last month.

Before that, Rodgers had not managed to break into the top-45 in any of his three previous appearances on the PGA Tour.

He recorded a season's best result of third at the Sony Open in January and banked four top-25s in all 19 starts this year.

The man from Avon, Indiana has largely been healthy in the past few seasons, last withdrawing from an event at the 2024 Valero Texas Open.

However, he is still searching for a first PGA Tour victory having come close on several occasions since turning pro in 2014.

Among Rodgers' four runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour was a second place at the 2017 John Deere Classic. Bryson DeChambeau won that year on 18-under, with Rodgers just a stroke back.

In the 2026 tournament, Rodgers has been replaced in the John Deere Classic field by Austin Cook, who will tee off from the 10th alongside Dylan Wu and Takumi Kanaya.

Other field changes ahead of the first round included the withdrawals of Nico Echavarria and Jhonattan Vegas. They were replaced by Cameron Champ and Will Gordon.

Ben Griffin and Chris Gotterup remain among the tournament betting favorites with an $8.8 million purse on the line and 500 FedEx Cup points going the way of the winner.