July 11, 2010

SILVIS, Ill. - Former Long Beach State golfer Paul Goydos placed second at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill., finishing just two strokes behind tournament champion Steve Stricker. Goydos shot a 66 in Sunday's final round at the TPC Deere Run to finish the four-day, 72-hole tournament at 24-under-par.

"He (Stricker) played good," Goydos said to CBS' David Feherty. "He played the way you need to play to win. You get off to a good start. I did chip away, but just didn't make enough putts and made a mediocre golf swing on the last hole."

With his second place finish, Goydos automatically qualifies for this week's British Open that will be held at the par-72, 6,721 yard St. Andrews, Old Course, July 15-18 in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland. This will only be Goydos' third time playing in the British Open in his 21-year career as he missed the cut in 2008 and finished in 72nd last year.

Goydos was a four-year letterwinner for LBSU from 1983-86 and a graduate of Wilson High School in Long Beach.

In the opening round of the John Deere Classic, Goydos became only the fourth golfer in PGA Tour history to record a 59. David Duval was the last player to shoot a 59 at the 1999 Bob Hope Classic.

This was Goydos' third top-10 finish as he tied for fifth at the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades and at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

With his second place finish at the John Deere Classic, Goydos made a significant jump in the FedEx Cup standings as he moved from 118th to 50th. Goydos has played in 19 events this season and has tallied 597 points. Ernie Els (South Africa) is currently ranked No. 1 with 1,751 points. 

"You got yourself an interesting week ahead of you now," Feherty said to Goydos. "You got to get yourself on an airplane to Scotland which is very different from here."

"All I have is shorts too, so that's going to be problematic," smiled Goydos.

"You know you have to play with long socks and shorts over there still," Feherty remarked.

"I got the long socks and the shorts," Goydos said. "I just don't have the pants and the rain gear and the jackets and all that stuff."

John Deere Classic
TPC Deere Run - Silvis, Ill.
July 8-11, 2010

1.   Steve Stricker, 60-66-62-70--258 (-26)
2.   PAUL GOYDOS, 59-68-67-66--260 (-24)
3.   Jeff Maggert, 66-65-63-70--264 (-20)
4.   Shaun Michael, 69-66-63-67--265 (-19)
5.   Matt Jones, 64-67-66-70--267 (-17)
6.   Vaughn Taylor, 71-66-64-67--268 (-16)
7.   Charley Hoffman, 65-69-70-65--269 (-15)
      Tim Clark, 71-66-66-66--269 (-15)
      Brandon de Jonge, 67-65-68-69--269 (-15)
10.  Brett Quigley, 68-67-68-67--270 (-14)
       Troy Matterson, 69-66-67-68--270 (-14)