Rickie Fowler lights up in fourth place and moves up the John Deere Classic leaderboard - Global Trends, Breaking News & Viral Updates

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Forest, Illinois – Rickie Fowler spent the previous two days watching some old guy light up the John Deere Classic galleries.

He had his own fireworks display on Saturday.

After cutting to 3 under and six backstabs, the 50-year-old Zach Johnson Through 36 holes, Fowler used the hot putter to launch the Moving Day leaderboard with a round of 8-under 63 and put himself in a competitive position.

Starting on the backside of TPC Deere Run, the six-time PGA TOUR winner birdied two of his first three holes before driving 334 yards on the drivable par-4 14th to set up an eagle attempt. He earned a 39-foot, 5-inch putt to get the day off to a rousing start.

*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:cente r;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17yg vlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}))> Rickie Fowler hits his tee shot to 11 feet for birdie on the 12th at John Deere.

Rickie Fowler hits his tee shot to 11 feet for birdie on the 12th at John Deere.

“I don’t get my heart rate up too much, except on some of the hills here,” he said when asked whether the Eagle bomb caused the explosion. “I made 12 feet or so on my third hole, 12, and then on the hole right before 14, I had 30 feet and hit a perfect putt, thought I had it, but it just didn’t break at the end.

“So I just kept moving forward, kept trying to hit good shots and make them, and finally got a longer putt on 14. So that was a good bonus. I finally got a longer putt on 14. So that was a good bonus.”

The big putt was part of a day that saw Fowler make 137 feet of putts after a combined 140 feet in opening rounds of 70 and 69. He made five more birdies, offset by a three-putt bogey finish on the difficult ninth.

“It was a good, solid day,” he said. “It was good to see some putts. I think my aim was a lot better, a lot more accurate on the lines. Yeah, I mean, basically everything we wanted that day.”

Rickie Fowler's 86-yard run put Birdie at John Deere's 10th.

Rickie Fowler’s 86-yard run put Birdie at John Deere’s 10th.

Fowler, with an 11-under 202, is part of the group that enters in 12th place and into the final round, and he still has a lot of work to do. However, the 37-year-old Californian is seeking his first win since the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic and has some familiarity with the TPC Deere Run to turn to after finishing T18 in his second career start in the Quad Cities a year ago.

“This is a good place,” he said. “I love it; it’s a fun course to play. Obviously you can score here, as you can see with the number of good scores this week. But it can be tough sometimes, especially when the wind starts blowing. I don’t think the golf course is as easy as some guys make it out to be. But I think it’s a good golf course and you have to kind of hit your spots.”

Fowler has a higher profile than many of the players he’s chasing and is having a good year. With four top-10 finishes, including a T2 at the Truist Championship in May, he is ranked No. 33 in the FedExCup rankings and No. 42 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He said it won’t be a big deal when he goes to play on Sunday.

“Everyone here is a very good player,” he said. “I know this field can’t necessarily compete with some of our strongest. But I would say it’s as tough to win as any tournament when you compare them all. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Rickie Fowler hits a 16-foot birdie putt on No. 7 at John Deere

Fowler also knows that standing between him and his seventh career TOUR victory is someone senior with a tremendous track record at John Deere. Taking a breather from a strong start to his rookie year on the PGA TOUR Champions to play in his “fifth major,” Johnson added a 5-under 66 to his opening score Saturday and is at 13-under 200 through 54 holes, in prime position for his second win at John Deere and the 13th of his Hall of Fame-worthy career.

“I’ve been watching a lot of Zach Johnson the last two days,” Fowler said. “It was fun to see him come back from hanging out with the guys on the Champions Tour. He’s had a lot of success here. Tomorrow there will be a lot of guys fighting with possible results. We’ll see what happens.”