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Pine Island's Larson soaks in experience of playing in PGA Tour event

Jason Feldman, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·4 min read

Jul. 7—SILVIS, Ill. — Anders Larson is well aware of the fine line that exists in golf between making a cut or not making it.

That line could come in the form of a putt that misses by inches, a bounce that lands a ball on a fairway or in the rough, or the changing speed of a green from early in the morning to late in a day.

Often times, it's all of those things and more.

So there was no head-hanging for the Pine Island native when he didn't make the cut Friday in his first-ever PGA Tour event, the John Deere Classic. Instead, Larson, a sophomore-to-be at Tennessee Tech, chooses to look at his experience this week at TPC Deere Run — and what it took to get there — as a big, bold bullet point atop his lengthy golf resume.

Larson shot an 82 on Friday in Round of the John Deere Classic, following his first-round 72, giving him a two-round total of 12-over-par 154.

Those numbers stand as meer footnotes, though, to the fact that a 19-year-old with one season of Division I college golf experience managed to play his way into a PGA Tour event — the first golfer ever from Pine Island to do so.

Larson's remarkable run to the John Deere started last Thursday, June 29, when he rammed a one-putt home from approximately 20 feet, after chipping out of a greenside bunker on the 18th hole of a pre-qualifier — that's right; Larson had to get through a qualifier just to make the Monday Qualifier.

Once there, he made nine birdies and seven pars to shoot a 7-under 65 at Pinnacle Country Club in nearby Milan, Ill., this past Monday, July 3. That tied him for second place at the Monday Qualifier and secured him one of four spots into the John Deere Classic.

Larson's accomplishment didn't necessarily surprise, but it certainly amazed his friends, family, teammates and coaches, from Pine Island, Zumbrota and Mazeppa to Cookeville, Tenn.

Many of them traveled the 275 miles from Pine Island to Silvis, Ill., to watch in person. His college coach made the 600-mile trek, too, from Tennessee.

"What an amazing performance by Anders to qualify for the John Deere Classic," Tennessee Tech head coach Polk Brown said after the Monday Qualifier. "Getting through a Monday Qualifier is so, so difficult. I really can't quantify just how tough it is."

There are no guarantees that Larson will get a chance to play in a PGA Tour event again, though this week certainly will give the already driven golfer even more motivation to do so.

He still has some big amateur tournaments on his schedule this summer — he's exempt into the Minnesota Golf Association State Amateur championship at Minneapolis Golf Club from July 17-19 — and he'll head back to Cookeville next month to prepare for his sophomore season at Tennessee Tech.

"He works so hard and we are incredibly excited for the opportunity he has," Brown said. "He is just a great young man and good things happen to good people."

Anders Larson's two-round scorecard at the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic. The event is being played at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois. The par-71 course is playing to 7,245 yards.

Larson teed off at 8:46 a.m. Friday, July 7, starting his second round on hole No. 1.

(Note: Birdies or better in bold, Bogeys or worse underlined)

HOLE

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

OUT

YARDS

406

569

191

434

425

374

232

435

488

3,554

(7191)

PAR

4

5

3

4

4

4

3

4

4

35

Rd. 1

5

4

4

3

5

3

3

4

5

36

Rd. 2

5

5

3

4

4

6

3

4

5

39

HOLE

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

IN

YARDS

588

418

211

401

360

491

139

567

462

3,637

PAR

5

4

3

4

4

4

3

5

4

36 (71)

Rd. 1

4

4

3

4

4

4

3

5

5

36 (72)

Rd. 2

5

5

3

5

4

6

4

6

5

43 (82)

TOTAL

154 (+12)