John Deere Classic Round 3: Lucas Glover and Lee Hodges Tied as the Fourth of July Logjam Builds

Lucas Glover finally made a bogey on Saturday. It cost him his outright lead, and it handed the John Deere Classic exactly what the Fourth of July crowd at TPC Deere Run wanted: a final round with about 18 people who can talk themselves into winning it.

Glover shot 2-under 69 and Lee Hodges shot 67, leaving the two tied for the lead at 16-under 197. Ben Kohles (66), Jackson Suber (66) and Zac Blair (67) are one shot back at 15 under. Doug Ghim (65) is alone in sixth at 14 under, Zach Johnson (66) sits seventh at 13 under, and the PGA TOUR counted 16 players within five shots of the top.

Glover Grinds Instead of Glides

After two days of near-perfect ball-striking, Glover had to scrap on Saturday. He got the early fireworks out of the way, holing out from off the green for an eagle, but birdies stopped coming after that. His first bogey of the week arrived at No. 9 after he missed the green, ending a bogey-free streak that had carried through the first two rounds and into Saturday. A birdie on the par-5 17th was his only other red number of the day.

It was not a bad round. It just was not a 63 or a 65, and at this place that is enough to let the field back in. Glover knows the math better than anyone.

"You pretty much know you've got to go low or you're not going to win," Glover said, per the AP.

He was just as honest about what Sunday requires. "Everybody is going to have to be aggressive, so I've got to hit it a little better tomorrow to achieve the ultimate goal," he said.

Hodges Closes the Gap

Hodges did the opposite. After a quieter front side, he played the back nine in a bogey-free 4 under, rattling off four birdies in a six-hole stretch. He reached the par-5 17th in two and made birdie to pull level with Glover.

The 2023 3M Open champion sounded like a player who would rather chase than protect. "I'm just going to keep my pedal down and just shoot lower than anybody tomorrow," Hodges said.

He has now been within two of the lead all week, and he gets a Sunday tee time in the final group at a course that rewards exactly that kind of mindset.

Blair's Wild Ride and the One-Back Trio

Nobody had a more dramatic Saturday than Blair. He eagled the second hole and at one point owned a two-shot lead. Then he found a hazard on No. 11 and made double bogey, and a bogey on 18 cost him a share of the lead. A 67 still has him one back and very much alive in his search for a first TOUR win.

Kohles was steadier, birdieing three of his last five holes for a 66. The Korn Ferry Tour winner this season is in just his eighth TOUR start of the year. Suber matched that 66 to join them. None of the three has won on the PGA TOUR, so somebody's life could change on Sunday.

Ghim, who led through 36 holes here a year ago, posted a 65 to climb to 14 under.

Storms, Delays and a Rickie Charge

Weather was a character all day. Concerns about storms sent the field off both tees in threesomes, and a lightning delay late in the round stopped play with a handful of players still on the course. They came back out and finished on Saturday.

The low round belonged to Rickie Fowler. Starting the day 11 shots off the lead, Fowler fired a 63, highlighted by an eagle from about 40 feet on the par-4 14th. One bogey kept it from being cleaner, but it lifted Fowler into a tie for 12th at 11 under.

That same group at 11 under includes Chris Gotterup, who shot 68 and sits five back, along with 19-year-old Blades Brown (67). Per the PGA TOUR, a Brown win would make Brown the first teenager to win on TOUR since Jordan Spieth won this very event in 2013.

Old Guard, New Guard

Johnson keeps doing Zach Johnson things. The 50-year-old Iowan, who skipped the U.S. Senior Open to play here, shot 66 and capped it with a 35-foot birdie putt on 18. Three back with 18 to play at a course he knows by heart is not nothing.

At the other end of the age range, NCAA champion Preston Stout shot 66 and is tied for eighth at 12 under with Max Homa (68), Ryo Hisatsune (69) and Chandler Phillips (65). An amateur winning on TOUR is about as rare as it gets.

Sunday's Setup

So here is the picture. Two co-leaders who have won on TOUR before, three chasers one back who never have, a hometown legend three back and a long line of names within five. Glover said it himself: you have to go low here or you go home empty-handed.

The closing stretch at TPC Deere Run has decided plenty of these over the years. Sunday will decide whether experience or nerve wins out.

Catch up on our Round 1 recap and Round 2 recap. Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 3 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 3 recap, preview of the final round and leaderboard), AP, Field Level Media, CBS Sports. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.