July 8, 2014
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SILVIS, Ill. — Three former University of Iowa men’s golfers (Guy Boros, Steven Ihm, Aaron Krueger), along with Hawkeye sophomore Raymond Knoll, will compete at this week’s John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois.
Ihm (2012-14) and Knoll will open play Thursday at 2:15 p.m. (CT). Ihm will tee off No. 1 tee with Marc Turnesa and Paul Stankowski, and Knoll will begin play off the back nine with Jamie Lovemark and Patrick Cantlay. On Friday in round two, Ihm and Knoll will tee off at 9 a.m. (CT) on the opposite nine.
Krueger (2001-03), will start at 8:40 a.m. (CT) on Thursday off the first tee, and will open play Friday at 1:55 p.m. off No. 10. He is paired with Bud Cauley and Miguel Angel Carballo.
Boros (1983-85) will begin the first round off No. 10 at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, and open play at 8 a.m. Friday on the front nine. He is paired with Trevor Immelman and Brian Stuard.
Ihm and Knoll led Iowa to its sixth-straight NCAA Regional appearance this past season. Iowa is 1-of-3 Big Ten teams to appear in six-straight NCAA Regionals (Illinois, Northwestern).
Ihm, a native of Peosta, Iowa, is competing in the John Deere Classic after earning a sponsor’s exemption for the second-straight year. In last year’s John Deere Classic, Ihm birdied his first hole and posted a 36-hole score of 140 (71, 69, -2), missing the cut by two strokes while competing as an amateur. He will make his professional PGA TOUR debut this week.
Ihm, a three-time PING All-Region honoree, became the first Hawkeye to earn three All-Big Ten honors in his career. Ihm won the third and fourth individual tournament titles (Hawkeye-GRE Invitational, Boilermaker Invitational) of his career as a senior in 2014, tying former Hawkeyes Brad Klapprott and Sean McCarty for the second-most career tournament victories in program history. Following his fifth place finish at the 2014 Big Ten Tournament Championships, Ihm was named to the tournament’s All-Championship team. Ihm was tabbed as the Big Ten Golfer of the Week five times in his career, and was named Golfweek National Player of the Week on April 21 following his victory at the Boilermaker Invitational. Ihm shot a final round 64 — equaling the second-lowest round in program history — leading the Hawkeyes to the team title. In his career, Ihm registered two of the top four single-season scoring averages, and three of the top 16, in program history. His 2013-14 average of 71.45 is the second-best mark in program history.
Knoll will make his PGA TOUR debut after qualifying at the John Deere Classic Open Qualifier on Monday. He fired a seven-under-par 65 at Pinnacle Country Club in Milan, Illinois, to tie Armando Villarreal of Dallas, Texas, to earn one of four qualifying spots.
Knoll earned PING All-Region honors as a freshman in 2014. The Naperville, Illinois, native registered his best finish of the season at the Boilermaker Invitational, where he tied for sixth (215, +4). In his final round of play at the event, Knoll carded a 66 (-6), which equaled the fourth-lowest round in program history, as Iowa rallied to earn the team title. He tied for 12th at the Big Ten Championships (300, +12), placed 15th at the Hawkeye-GRE Invitational (220, -1), and tied for 26th at the NCAA Columbia Regional (216, E). Knoll also won the Pine Hills Invitational in early June of this year.
University of Iowa day is Thursday at the John Deere Classic. Fans attending the event are encouraged to wear black and gold.
The 2014 John Deere Classic, held at the Tournament Players Club (TPC) Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, marks the 44th annual PGA TOUR event in the Quad Cities and the 16th year for John Deere as the title sponsor. This year’s tournament, which features a purse of $4,700,000 and a winning share of $846,000, runs from July 8-13.