HOYLAKE, England – Brendan Steele played in the final group at a major three years ago. Brendon de Jonge played in the Presidents Cup last year. They will be among 36 players making their debuts Thursday in golf’s oldest championship.

Is it too much to ask for them to go home with the claret jug?

Royal Liverpool is the least known of the links courses on the rotation – this is only its second time to host the Open since 1967 – though all links golf can be a mystery. Winning for the first time is not as unusual as it would be at Augusta National, where a first-timer has not won since 1979.

Even so, examples are rare.

Willie Park Sr. was the first to win on his debut, but only because 1860 was the first championship. Ben Curtis was the most recent in 2003 at Royal St. George’s. Among the candidates might be Patrick Reed, who at No. 30 is the highest-ranked player in the British Open for the first time.

Here are the five best debuts in Open history:

5. SAM SNEAD

Sam Snead was one of only three Americans who journeyed across the Atlantic in 1946 when the British Open was staged for the first time after World War II. Back then, Americans lost money playing the Open because first place paid only 150 pounds.

It’s safe to say the Slammer wasn’t terribly impressed when the train pulled in the home of golf.

“Say, what abandoned course is this?” he said to the man next to him.

That would be the Old Course at St. Andrews, and Snead quickly learned to respect the ancient ground. He opened with rounds of 71-70, pulled into a share of the lead with Johnny Bulla and Dai Reis with a 74, and then closed with a 75 to win by four shots over Bulla, a fellow American.

He did not return the next year.

4. TONY LEMA

Arnold Palmer gets credit for invigorating the Open when he came across in 1960 as part of his quest to win the Grand Slam. Since then, more Americans began playing golf’s oldest championship. His influence was a little more direct on Tony Lema.

The Bay Area native known as “Champagne” Tony wasn’t sure he wanted to play at St. Andrews in the 1964 British Open. Palmer talked him into it, though Lema asked if he could borrow Palmer’s putter and his caddie, Tip Anderson.

It was a winning combination.

Lema shot a 68 in the second round to take the lead, shot another 68 to stretch the lead and won by five shots over Jack Nicklaus. It was his fourth victory in a six-week span. Two years later, the rising American star died in a plane crash.

3. TOM WATSON

Tom Watson wasn’t a complete stranger to major championships when he showed up at Carnoustie in 1975, but he didn’t know much about links golf. A year earlier, Watson was 24 when he took the 54-hole lead at Winged Foot in the 1974 U.S. Open, only to close with a 79 and tie for fifth. A month earlier, Watson was the 36-hole leader at Medinah in the U.S. Open until a 78-77 weekend.

That changed in Scotland. Watson overcame a three-shot deficit to Bobby Cole in the final round and made a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 72 to tie Jack Newton, one shot ahead of Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller. In the playoff, Watson shot 71 for a one-shot victory over Newton.

That made him the third American to win the Open on his first try.

2. BEN CURTIS

Ben Curtis remains the longest of the long shots to win the British Open, accomplishing the feat in 2003. He was a 26-year-old rookie from Ohio who tied for 13th at the Western Open in Chicago. Back then, that was a primary avenue for Americans to qualify for the British Open.

No one really paid any attention to him all week, even though Curtis was never far from the lead. He was three behind going into the weekend, and two shots back of Thomas Bjorn going into the last round. Against an All-Star leaderboard that featured Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Davis Love III and Sergio Garcia, Curtis closed with a 69 by making an 8-foot par putt on the last hole.

Then, he waited. The Open appeared to belong to Thomas Bjorn until he took three shots to get out of a bunker on the 16th hole. Curtis won by one shot, becoming the first player since Francis Ouimet in the 1913 U.S. Open to win a major on his first try.

1. BEN HOGAN

Ben Curtis was the long shot. For Ben Hogan, this was his only shot.

Hogan played a limited schedule since nearly losing his life in a car accident in 1949. But he was on top of his game in 1953, winning the Masters by five shots and the U.S. Open at Oakmont by six shots over Sam Snead.

Everyone had to qualify for the British Open in 1953, and Hogan was no exception.

He opened with rounds of 73-71 at Carnoustie, and then pulled into a tie for the lead with Robert de Vicenzo after a 70 in the third round. Completing a perfect year in the majors, Hogan closed with a 68 for a four-shot victory. He played in only three majors that year and won them all. Hogan could not play the PGA Championship because his battered legs would not allow him 36-hole matches; besides, British Open qualifying was the same time as the PGA that year.

In his one shot at the Claret Jug, Hogan won to complete the Grand Slam. It was the last major championship he won.

Talk about a double-double.

Canada’s David Hearn was added to the British Open field Tuesday after former champion Mark Calcavecchia withdrew. No official reason was given. However, Calcavecchia, who is also a past RBC Canadian Open champion, has been battling back problems for some time. He won the 1989 Open at Royal Troon, his only major.

Hearn, who was a first alternate and would almost certainly secure a spot in the field, headed to England after a tie for 45th at last week’s John Deere Classic.

About to board the charter to The Open as 1st alternate. Could be a long trip to drink some beers w/royalty! Wish me luck. #RBCHearn

— David Hearn (@HearnDavid) July 13, 2014

Making his first appearance at the British Open, the Brantford, Ont. native will join fellow Canadian Graham DeLaet at Royal Liverpool.

Hearn has made two previous appearances at golf’s majors. He finished tied for 21st at the 2013 U.S. Open and tied for 47th at last year’s PGA Championship.

Hearn will tee off at 10:10 am local time and play the first two rounds with three-time champion Nick Faldo and American Todd Hamilton, who won at Royal Troon in 2004.

DeLaet has a 12:54 pm local tee time and will tip-it-up with reigning RBC Canadian Open champion Brandt Snedeker and former number one ranked amateur Cheng-tsung Pan.

Oakville, Ont. (Golf Canada) – Golf Canada and RBC are pleased to extend three players exemptions into the 2014 RBC Canadian Open at The Royal Montreal Golf Club through Canada’s National Amateur Team program.

Among those extended tournament invites are Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C. and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont.

Pendrith, 23, is currently Canada’s highest ranked male amateur on the World Amateur Golf Rankings at No. 18. A recent graduate of Kent State University, Pendrith will make his first start at Canada’s National Open Championship after recently claiming the prestigious Monroe Invitational title and finishing tied for second at the Ontario Men’s Amateur Championship.

At No. 27 on the WAGR, Svensson will make his second start at the RBC Canadian Open fresh off an outstanding sophomore year at Barry University. Last season in NCAA action the 20-year-old captured seven tournament titles and was awarded Jack Nicklaus Award as the most outstanding Division II men’s golfer.

Rounding out the list of exemptions at No. 39 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings is Conners, 22, who recently reached the finals at the North and South Amateur Championship earlier in July.

In addition to their title sponsorship of Canada’s National Open Championship, RBC is also a proud supporter of Canada’s National Amateur Golf Team program (Team Canada) as well as Golf Canada’s National Amateur Championships, assisting in the development of this country’s up and coming golf talents.

With the addition of Pendrith, Svensson and Conners a 15-player Canadian contingent (to date) will compete at The Royal Montreal Golf Club looking to become the first Canadian since Pat Fletcher in 1954 to win Canada’s National Open title.

Leading the charge for the Canadian contingent are PGA TOUR players Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., Brad Fritsch of Manotick, Ont., Stephen Ames of Calgary and Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont. Other Canadians set to compete include the Web.com Tour’s Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. and Roger Sloan of Merrit, B.C. who both earned exemptions. In addition, recently crowned 2014 PGA Championship of Canada winner Dave Levesque of Montreal and PGA of Canada Player Rankings leader Billy Walsh of Markham, Ont. will also join the field alongside the 2013 Canadian Men’s Mid-Amateur champion, Kevin Carrigan of Victoria. PGA TOUR Canada’s Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont. and Beon Yeong Lee of Montreal are also set to compete after winning the their regional qualifying sites.

The Canucks will join a field that includes PGA TOUR stars such as Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Luke Donald, Jim Furyk, Hunter Mahan, Ernie Els, Charl Schwartzel, Chris Kirk and recent French Open champion Graeme McDowell as well as defending RBC Canadian Open champion Brandt Snedeker.

In addition, three exemptions will be awarded to the Top-3 finishers on PGA Tour Canada’s Order of Merit following the Stall Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel on Sunday, July 20th.

The final four exemptions into Canada’s National Open Championship will be determined following the Final Monday Qualifier for the RBC Canadian Open on July 21^st at Golf Saint-Raphaël in L’Île-Bizard, Que where four exemptions will be handed out to the Top-4 finishers.

Grounds tickets for all days of Canada’s National Open Championship as well as a limited number of premium ticket packages are still available. A full list of ticket packages and pricing, including the new Family Day package, is available online at www.rbccanadianopen.com. Golf Canada and RBC are also please to offer free admission to children 17 year and younger who are accompanied by a ticketed adult.

HOYLAKE, England – Two down, one to go. And for Justin Rose, it’s the biggest one of all.

Rose heads into the British Open as probably the hottest player in golf after winning back-to-back titles for the first time in his career, at the Quicken Loans National at Congressional and the Scottish Open over at the links at Royal Aberdeen.

Back at his career-high ranking of No. 3, he is playing as well as he ever has, and the experience of being a major champion – at the U.S. Open at Merion in 2013 – makes his case even more persuasive at Hoylake.

But he has failed to crack the top 10 at his home major since memorably finishing tied for fourth as a 17-year-old amateur in 1998, when he chipped in at the 18th at Birkdale. Rose missed the cut at three of the last four British Opens.

“Thousands of times I have won the Open Championship, in my mind,” Rose said. “This is probably the one I’ve dreamed about the most.”

For dreams to finally turn into a reality, Rose said he just has to stay in “the zone” and not get carried away with the expectations that predictably have been placed on him by a British public desperate for a triumph in an otherwise miserable sporting summer.

He doesn’t think that will be a problem – and he puts that down to winning at Merion.

“If I had been coming off a couple of wins and not won a major championship, I would be thinking, `Is this my opportunity to get it done?'” he said on Tuesday, appearing completely at home in his role as one of the big British Open favorites.

“It takes that little bit of pressure off me, the fact that it’s been done. I have one under my belt. The monkey is off my back … and I now have a model that works.”

Putting problems were once Rose’s weakness but if ever there was a demonstration to prove that is no longer an issue, it was on the front nine in the final round at the Scottish Open on Sunday.

Rose rolled in five birdies, from lengths varying from six to 25 feet, to pull away from the field and ease to his first victory in Europe in seven years. Playing partner Marc Warren said he watched on in awe.

“Justin has always been a great ball striker,” fellow Englishman Luke Donald said. “The only thing that has ever held him back is his putting, but he seems to be doing that a lot better now. He is a solid, solid player. World class.”

Rose was in the French holiday resort of St. Tropez the last time the British Open was staged at Hoylake, in 2006, when Tiger Woods claimed his third and most recent claret jug. Rose had failed to qualify for the third year in a row and was struggling to live up his promise.

It means the build-up to Thursday’s first round will be as much about familiarizing himself with the course than keeping his swing in shape.

Rose believes picking up shots on the par-fives will be one of the keys to success. But also just trusting the game that is closing him in on the No. 1 ranking.

“I was always trying to improve a part of my game to fit the golf course, where now I just build my strategy around what I’m good at,” Rose said.

“I am assuming if I did win this week, I’d go to No. 1. I’ve always said, for me, I’ve always focused more on winning major championships than chasing No. 1. That’s just a really nice by-product of your process.”

HOYLAKE, England – Tiger Woods was an early arrival to the British Open with hopes of avoiding an early departure.

Woods has played only two competitive rounds in the last four months because of back pain that led to surgery. That’s why he chose to get to England a day earlier than usual – Saturday – to get acclimated to links golf at Royal Liverpool.

It’s nothing like he remembers from his two-shot victory in 2006.

Hoylake was brown and dusty that year, and the ball was bouncing along at such speed that Woods hit only one driver the entire week. That was on the 16th hole, and the shot wound up on the 17th fairway. He still made birdie.

“The golf course is a little bit softer than what it was in `06,” Woods said on Tuesday. “I’ve played three practice rounds now and have had three different winds. So that’s been helpful to be able to see the golf course in different conditions.”

As an example of the change, Woods pulled out a driver on the par-5 fifth hole with the wind in his face. His tee shot landed in the fairway.

That he already has played three practice rounds has been encouraging.

Woods missed the cut at Congressional in his return to competition three weeks ago, though he was pleased that he felt no pain from March 31 back surgery. He even has been to the gym twice in the last couple of days.

Woods played 12 holes on Saturday and a full 18 on Sunday and Tuesday, taking a break Monday to work out and then go to the practice range.

“It’s one of the reasons why I came over a little earlier,” he said. ” I went to Geneva for a day with Rolex, but I came here a day earlier than I normally would to have an extra day in there, as well as possibly taking a day off, if need be. And it worked out.”

As for his goals? They haven’t changed.

When asked what would be a reasonable result in his first major of the year, Woods replied, “First.

“That’s always the case.”

The back surgery forced him to miss the Masters for the first time, and then the U.S. Open. The last time Woods had this much time off with so little competition before a major was in 2010 when he returned from the chaos in his personal life. He tied for fourth at the Masters.

It might help that he at least has won at Royal Liverpool, even if the course has changed dramatically.

Woods has changed, too.

His victory eight years ago produced more raw emotion than ever for Woods. It was his first major since the death of his father, Earl, two months earlier. He sobbed on the shoulders of his caddie and then his wife. Woods now has a different caddie and he is divorced.

“My life has certainly changed a lot since then,” Woods said. “That was a very emotional week. As you all know, I pressed pretty hard at Augusta that year, trying to win it, because it was the last time my dad was ever going to see me play a major championship. And then I didn’t play well at the (U.S.) Open – missed the cut there miserably. And then came here and just felt at peace. I really, really played well. On Sunday, I really felt calm out there.

“It was surreal at the time. I’ve had a few moments like that in majors where I’ve felt that way on a Sunday. And that was certainly one of them.”

The others were at the 1997 Masters, which he won by 12 shots; the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, which he won by 15 shots; and 2000 British Open at St. Andrews, which he won by eight shots to complete the career Grand Slam.

Woods has won the career slam twice more since then, running his total to 14 majors by winning the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2008 despite not having played in two months because of torn ligaments in his left knee and a double stress fracture in his left leg.

He said that victory, with the odds against him, should be a reminder not to count him out.

And he’s not ruling out his pursuit of Jack Nicklaus and his 18 majors. Woods, who is 38, was asked if he would play well into his 40s and even his early 50s if it meant a chance to break the Nicklaus benchmark.

“Hopefully, I have it done by then. But I’m really looking forward to that cart,” he said, referring to Champions Tour players being allowed to ride in a cart.

Since 2007 the RBC Canadian Open has been more than the third-oldest national open golf championship in the world and the lone Canadian stop on the PGA Tour. It’s had to get into the business of chartering flights for many of the players in the tournament field every year and it will be no different this month with the championship’s return to The Royal Montreal Golf Club. Tournament week is July 21-27.

Players like Ernie Els, Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell, Hunter Mahan, Jim Furyk, Stewart Cink as well as Canadians Graham DeLaet and David Hearn and others will board a charter flight for the trans-Atlantic journey to Montreal following the final round of the British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Merseyside, England, July 20.

It’s an arduous extra step Golf Canada officials have had to take ever since the championship was reshuffled on the PGA Tour schedule from its previous date in early to September to the third week in July – following the British Open.

“When we got the (new) date I knew, at least I felt, the only chance we had to get a solid field for the championship was to put on a jet. So we did and it still holds today,” says RBC Canadian Open tournament director Bill Paul. “I think if we didn’t have the jet we’d have a much tougher time getting players to come here.

“We’re not talking about a lot of players, just some players,” says Paul. “But what we do is very important to them…it’s the convenience of it.”

Upward of 33 players, their caddies and some family members will be on the flight which is scheduled to depart from Manchester, England, at 8 p.m. local time for the trip to Montreal. There are 102 seats available.

Each player is allotted three seats and while mostly it will be just a player and caddie, additional spots usually go to players traveling with family members.

Players headed to Montreal will gather in a hospitality area set up for the purpose by officials from the Royal and Ancient Golf of St. Andrews (R&A) which oversees the British Open. Buses will then transport them to the airport where another hospitality area awaits them until the flight is ready to be boarded.

A Golf Canada staff member is on site to assist the procedure, while Paul and his team take care of other logistics and last-minute issues related to the flight on this end.

And if the British Open winner happens to be among those scheduled to play at Royal Montreal, Paul says, “We’ll wait for him for as long as we can.”

Els is the only British Open winner since 2007 to play the Canadian Open the following week. But it wasn’t before the personable South African threw a scare into tournament organizers when he said during his victory speech at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2012 he planned to spend time with his family and celebrate his second Claret Jug in London rather than fly to Canada for the championship being held that year at the Hamilton Golf & Country Club in Ancaster, Ont.

“I’m supposed to go to Canada but I think I’m going to blow that thing off,” Els laughed at time.

It turned out to be a joke as Els followed up by saying he would try to get the Canada by Tuesday of that week which he did only to miss the cut in Hamilton.

When it comes to chartering players around, since 2008 the RBC Canadian Open in a sense has partnered with the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois, which is held the week before the British Open. Because organizers there want to secure the best field possible for it tournament, they charter a flight to take British Open-bound players overseas on Sunday night after final round of the John Deere.

“What we do is a little different from most tournaments on the PGA Tour, but the fact is it’s now part of what we do,” says Paul. “It’s unfortunately a given, and I don’t say that in a negative way, but we’ve accepted that and we do what I think is a first-class job organizing it and getting guys from that tournament site.

“I’ll probably have a 132 people that want on that plane on the Wednesday of British Open week,” he says. “It happens every year and somehow it gets down to between 90 and 102 people.”

For more information on the 2014 RBC Canadian Open, click here.

SILVIS, Ill. – Brian Harman used three straight birdies down the stretch to hold off Zach Johnson by one stroke and win the John Deere Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour title.

Harman had a 5-under 66 in the final round for a 22-under-262 total. The 27-year-old Georgian in his third full season on the PGA Tour earned $846,000 and the last exemption for next week’s British Open.

Harman withstood Johnson’s challenge by making three birdies beginning at No. 14 to get to 23 under with two holes to play. Johnson, playing four pairs ahead of Harman, birdied the 17th to get within a stroke, but ran out of holes.

Jhonattan Vegas had a 65 to finished tied for third with Jerry Kelly (66) at 265. Scott Brown (68) and Tim Clark (67) tied for fifth another shot back.

Three-time winner Steve Stricker fell off the pace set by Harman on the front nine, then fell off the leader board with a double-bogey on the par-3 12th. His approach ended up in high brush behind and below the green, and he couldn’t recover, finishing with a 72 and a tie for 11th at 269.

Brown was tied with Johnson and Clark briefly midway through the round, but played the back nine in par 36 and fell back.

Clark, the lone contender with a long putter, bogeyed No. 9 to fall out of the joint lead.

Harman, whose best previous finishes were ties for third place, also earned his first invitations to the Masters and the Tournament of Champions.

He got his third eagle in 19 holes when he eagled the par-5 second for the second straight day. He sank a 4-foot putt after a brilliant approach from 223 yards. A bogey on No. 5 was offset by a birdie on the ninth, the most difficult hole on the front nine. Harman stood 19-under at the turn, and added a birdie at No. 10 to go to 20 under.

Johnson started three strokes behind Harman, but caught him by the 14th hole, when he tapped in from 10 inches for his third birdie in five holes and sixth of the day.

Harman came to the drivable par-4 14th minutes later, and after watching Stricker scramble for a par, got up and down from a greenside bunker with a 14-foot birdie putt. He added birdies on the next two holes to pull away from the field.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth finished in a tie for seventh after a closing 66 for 268. He was joined by Bo Van Pelt, Ryan Moore and Johnson Wagner.

Canada’s Brad Fritsch shot a final round 69 to tie for 13th at 14-under 270.

David Hearn was 8-under at 276. He tied for 45th.

SILVIS, Ill. (AP) — Brian Harman had two eagles in a 6-under 65 on Saturday that gave him a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the John Deere Classic.

Harman’s solid performance got him to 17-under 196 for the tournament at TPC Deere Run. Three-time winner Steve Stricker is alone in second, one stroke better than Scott Brown heading into the final round.

Tim Clark, Jerry Kelly, William McGirt and 2012 champion Zach Johnson are three back at 14-under 199. Clark shot a 64 to move into contention.

The 27-year-old Harman has never finished better than third on the PGA Tour, but he played quite well in the third round. The lefty hit 17 greens and 12 of 14 fairways.

Harman bogeyed Nos. 12 and 18, the latter by missing the green with his approach. His eagles came from 30 feet on the par-5 second and from 47 feet on the par-5 17th.

Stricker finished strong for a 7-under 64. He had his streak of bogey-free holes end at 24 with a 5 at the par-4 11th, but rallied for birdies on the last two holes.

Brown matched the lowest PGA Tour round of 2014 with his 10-under 61. On a day when players were allowed to clean their ball in the fairway because of an early morning downpour, he flirted with a 59, but had to settle for birdie on the par-5 17th after reaching the green in two shots, and then parred the par-4 18th.

Jhonattan Vegas played with Brown and nearly matched his score with a bogey-free 63 for 200, tying Ryan Moore for ninth place. He opened with three birdies in succession, and collected an eagle on the 17th.

Clark has missed the cut in five of his last seven tournaments, but birdied seven holes to post his best round of the year and get within three shots of Harman.

Harman’s long eagle putt on the second hole triggered his nice round.

He had birdies on the fourth and eighth holes to go out in 31, and then added two more birdies before his long downhill eagle putt on the 17th, which turned left in the last 15 feet before falling into the cup. His bogey at the final hole, coupled with Stricker’s birdie there, trimmed his three-stroke lead to one shot.

Brown’s 61 came after what he called a “bad 1-under” 70 on Friday.

“I was just trying to get back into the golf tournament, and it turned into a great round,” Brown said.

Vegas, who had shoulder surgery last year, needs to make over $280,000 this week and in his next two tournaments to keep his PGA Tour card. A good finish here could take care of that.

“Whatever happens happens, to be honest,” Vegas said. “If it works, fine. If it doesn’t, we go to the range.”

Johnson’s 2-under 69 extended his streak of under-70 rounds at par-71 Deere Run to 23.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth shot 67 and is tied for 14th at 202, six strokes behind Harman. Spieth came from six off the pace last year to win.

Canada’s Brad Fritsch climbed 24 spots up the leaderboard on moving day to get within striking distance of the lead. The Ottawa native is at 12-under 201, five back of the lead, after a third round 63.

David Hearn slipped five spots down the leaderboard into a tie for 62nd after his third round 69. The Brantford, Ont. native is sitting at 4-under 209.

HOYLAKE, England – Tiger Woods returned to Royal Liverpool on Saturday for the first time since he won his third British Open title in 2006.

The links course looked the same – except for the color of the grass.

Woods eight years ago played on a links that was baked out and brown from weeks of sunshine. The course was so firm and fast that he famously hit driver only once in 72 holes on his way to a two-shot victory over Chris DiMarco.

The 14-time major champion arrived at the course Saturday morning on the northwest coast of England for his first major of the year.

Woods had back surgery March 31 to relieve a nerve impingement, which caused him to miss the Masters for the first time and then the U.S. Open. He returned earlier than he expected three weeks ago in the Quicken Loans National at Congressional, where he missed the cut by four shots.

There was a light rain during his practice round, the first time it has rained this week. The forecast for next week is mostly cloudy and mild temperatures, with rain possible on the weekend of the British Open.

Defending champion Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Justin Rose were among those at Royal Aberdeen for the Scottish Open. Woods did not have Hoylake to himself. According to photos posted on Twitter by Royal Liverpool, top-ranked Adam Scott and Jason Day also were practicing.

Woods has gone nearly a year without winning. His last victory was the Bridgestone Invitational the first week in August, where he rolled to a seven-shot victory. He ended last year without a major for the fifth straight year, and got off to a slow start this year with recurring back pain that eventually led to surgery.

He has had a chance to win on Sunday in the last two British Opens. He tied for third at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 2012, though he took himself out of contention early in the final round. And he was among several players with a chance on the back nine at Muirfield last year until Mickelson pulled away.

Woods is playing only the final two majors this year, both on courses where he previously won – Hoylake in 2006 and Valhalla for the PGA Championship in 2000.

SILVIS, Ill. – Zach Johnson and William McGirt were at 12-under-par 130 and tied for the lead at the halfway point of the John Deere Classic.

They were a stroke ahead of Steven Bowditch, Johnson Wagner and Brian Harman.

Three-time Deere winner Steve Stricker shot a 65 Friday for a 133 total to vault into contention at the par-71 TPC Deere Run, and was tied for sixth with Rory Sabbatini, Ryan Moore and Todd Hamilton.

Johnson, the Deere winner in 2012, shot a 4-under 67 in the afternoon despite two bogeys in his last four holes. That dropped him into a tie with McGirt.

McGirt, 35, is looking for his first PGA Tour victory.

He added a 66 to his opening 64, but like Johnson, he finished with a bogey. McGirt’s best finish this year is a tie for sixth in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera. Since then, he’s had one top 10 and has missed the cut in seven of 14 tournaments.

McGirt is winless on the PGA Tour in 111 starts, most of them in the last four years. His best finishes are a pair of ties for second in the Canadian Open, in 2012 and 2013.

Asked how he’d gotten to 12 under and the lead on Friday, he said, “I couldn’t tell you what happened.”

Four birdies in a row and seven in a stretch of nine holes happened.

One thing McGirt hasn’t been doing well recently is sinking putts, but he’s needed only 24 in each of the first two rounds.

“For some reason I’m able to see the line this week,” McGirt said. “I feel I’ve putted better the last few weeks and haven’t holed anything.”

Bowditch opened his round with an eagle 3 on the 10th hole en route to a 67, while Wagner made it to 12 under before a bogey on his last hole.

Stricker matched McGirt’s 5-under 30 on Deere Run’s front nine to finish his round.

Hamilton, who grew up in the area, used a 69 to get to 133, while Moore shot 67 and Sabbatini shot 70.

Jerry Kelly and Charles Howell III were among those at 8 under. Howell, who shot 68, aced the uphill 132-yard third hole.

Defending champion Jordan Spieth was five strokes back of the leaders through 36 holes thanks to a 64 for 7-under 135. He was five back after two rounds last year.

Johnson’s victory in 2012 isn’t the only good finish at the Deere for the native of nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He lost in a playoff last year, tied for second in 2009, and tied for third in 2011. He also sits on the tournament’s board of directors.

There’s a comfort level for Johnson that didn’t exist previously, when he missed the cut three times in seven years and didn’t finish better than 20th.

“I’ve grasped and embraced the fact I’m going to have a lot of friends outside the ropes, and it’s terrific,” Johnson said. “They don’t care if I shoot 62 or 82. They’re still going to be on my side.

“Trying to play for them may have been part of the issue years ago, but not anymore.”

Stricker, 109 under par in 22 rounds since 2009 at Deere Run, got within sight of the leaders with his 30 on the course’s front nine to finish his round.

“At least I kept pace,” Stricker said. “This was an important day for me. I didn’t go out with a specific number in mind, but I knew I needed something good.”

Stricker won three straight at Deere Run starting in 2009, and has tied for fifth and 10th place, respectively, the last two years.

“I know how to play it, I guess,” Stricker said. “There’s a lot of short iron shots, which plays into my game, and I seem to putt the ball really well, too.”

The cut fell at 2-under-par 140, sending 77 players home. Former world No. 1 David Duval withdrew after an opening 81.

Both Canadians in the field were able to survive that cut.

Brad Fritsch leads the Canuck charge. He carded a second round 68 to climb 28 spots into a tie for 35th at 4-under 138.

David Hearn also made his way up the leaderboard Friday. He fired a 69 to sit at 2-under 140, on the cut line, and is tied for 57th.