JOHN DEERE CLASSIC MEDIA DAY

June 2, 2025

Mara Downey

Davis Thompson

TPC Deere Run

Media Day Press Conference

Q. How did you feel about the Memorial yesterday?

DAVIS THOMPSON: It's a great venue, great tournament. Mr. Nicklaus does a good job of making it tough every year. Yeah, it's cool to play in those Signature Events.

Q. What are some of your memories of the Quad Cities? Obviously you have good memories being on the golf course, but in general talk about the town and everything. What comes to mind when you think about the tournament?

DAVIS THOMPSON: Yeah, I feel like there's a lot of good dining options around the Quad Cities. We would go out to a bunch of different places, but yeah, obviously a lot of great memories on the golf course, but yeah, last year just staying with a bunch of guys, hanging out, watching sports and playing cards. It was really a laid-back week. I feel like that honestly kind of helped me just go play golf and have fun and not really worry about a lot of external factors.

A lot of great memories, and looking forward to come back here in a few weeks.

Q. Is there anything you do when you're thinking back, when you're having a hard time on the course or whatever, as we all do, where you maybe get a little bit more encouragement when you think back on the John Deere Classic and how well you played here?

DAVIS THOMPSON: Yeah. I mean, I think I just kind of take that confidence with me that I can win and compete out on the PGA TOUR week in and week out. I mean, I think about that tournament a lot. I try to draw on a lot of positive experiences I've had on the golf course, and obviously John Deere was one of those last year.

Honestly, I think about it a lot, just trying to -- if I'm having a rough week or having -- things just aren't quite clicking on the golf course, just try to think back to how free-flowing I was and how I just went out and played and enjoyed it. It's something I think about a lot.

Q. Winning on TOUR is a life-changing event. Your life changed the next week because you got into the Scottish Open and the British Open and everything. When you think back on that, how much of a whirlwind was that for you, or was it just something that you took in stride?

DAVIS THOMPSON: Yeah, I mean, thankfully I feel like I just kind of took it in stride. I've got a great agent and a great team around me that kind of help me through the logistical stuff of travel and all the stuff that they took care of all that so I didn't really have to worry about it, I could just go play.

Yeah, definitely changed my schedule for this next year, and something I was happy to do and happy that I've been in these Signature Events. Hopefully we can get back to them next year, and I'm just -- yeah, it definitely changed my life as far as golf is concerned.

But as far as who I am as a person, I don't think it changed me a whole lot. I was just kind of trying to focus on the next task and trying to go play well in the next event.

Q. Now you are playing in these Signature Events; how much different is it from maybe the last couple years where you weren't in those Signature Events? Is the competition that much tougher, or do you find it pretty much the same?

DAVIS THOMPSON: I mean, I feel like competing on the PGA TOUR is hard in general, but just going based off numbers, top 20 players in the world are always in those Signature Events, so I guess the field is a little tougher than a regular PGA TOUR event because all those guys are not going to be playing in those.

But yeah, it's definitely different. It's definitely kind of opened my eyes to see that I've got a lot of stuff to work on and a lot of stuff to get better at, and trying to take that in stride and just trying to get better each and every week, and hopefully kind of get on a hot streak towards the end of the summer like I did last year and get back in them for next year.

Q. This seems to be kind of where you got real hot last year. U.S. Open you finished in the top 10 and then Rocket Mortgage, et cetera, and then you came and won at John Deere. What's in your mind now as kind of the U.S. Open approaches and have you been out to Oakmont and looked at the rough?

DAVIS THOMPSON: I have not been out to Oakmont. I've only heard stories about it. Looking forward to getting up there either Sunday or Monday and kind of scoping out the place.

I way I like to say is it's a high acceptance golf course. You've just got to go execute. You're probably going to hit some good shots that end up in bad spots, and you're just to have to accept that and move on and try to scramble and make a bunch of stress-free pars and see where you stack up on Sunday.

Q. I know everybody is going to ask you about "Champions House," where you guys stayed. Of course you slept in Sepp's bed; we know this. Has there been any arm wrestling about that yet, or have you two discussed this? Is there money involved? What's going on?

DAVIS THOMPSON: Haven't had any discussions yet. I think since I won last year, I think I have dibs. But he's also won twice this year, so he may have dibs, as well.

I don't know, that's something we'll have to talk about in the next couple weeks.

Yeah, I am going to stay there again. I didn't know that that was in Sepp's room. I just pulled up, I got to the house, I guess it was Sunday night last year, got over from Detroit that night and then just walked upstairs, picked a room, and I didn't know that that was the room.

Q. There was no plaque on his room at all?

DAVIS THOMPSON: No, no, there wasn't a plaque. No, the owners didn't put that up. Yeah, it's definitely strange that it's been three years in a row. Hopefully we can make it four.

Q. Talk about the house; who's back, and how do you guys figure out who stays in the place now, and is there an issue with how many guys are going to be there this year?

DAVIS THOMPSON: Yeah, so I think the first two years, Chris Kirk booked it, and then last year I don't think Chris played, so he kind of left it to Greyson Sigg, and Greyson has booked it these past two years.

Then a few weeks ago, Greyson sent out a group text that -- I think it was me, J.T. Poston, Greyson, Patton Kizzire and Sepp Straka and maybe one other, and I'd have to go back and look, but I think that's the group this year. Kind of confirmed, not really confirmed. But I'm sure it'll be a good group of guys, kind of like it was last year.

Q. After winning last year, did you have to pick up the tab?

DAVIS THOMPSON: I did. I did. But it was something that I was happy to do. That's the deal; if you win, you've got to pay for the house. But I was happy to write the check.

Q. Talk about the year after winning; how has it been? Do you feel like you're the same Davis Thompson person? Are you the same Davis Thompson golfer? How have things changed since you became a PGA TOUR champ?

DAVIS THOMPSON: I feel like I'm the same person. I feel like logistically things changed in my world of golf, playing in different tournaments, different travel schedule, which is something I was happy about. You want to be able to make your own schedule and play in the events you can pick and choose you want to play in.

But yeah, as far as person, I don't think I've changed a whole lot. I feel like ever since I won, that's why I try not to make golf my idol is because I feel like it can never fully satisfy you. Once I won, we flew to the Scottish Open and then by Tuesday I was already thinking about how can I put myself in position to win this week.

Once I got home from the Open, I was able to enjoy time with friends and family and reflect on the win. With golf, you're always trying to accomplish the next thing. It's kind of why you practice, why you play so much. You're trying to chase that next goal of yours to check off.

Q. Your wife referred to you last year as a national treasure. I want to know if that's a lot of pressure, not on the golf course but at home.

DAVIS THOMPSON: Yeah, it's definitely a lot of pressure. Yeah, my wife, she's -- I would refer to her as a national treasure. Her and I, or she and I, are completely different people. She's very talkative, can make friends with anybody, and I feel like I am an introvert, very close circle of friends.

Yeah, I didn't know she said that. That's definitely something I've got to live up to now. I don't know. I would refer to her more as a national treasure than myself.

Q. You mentioned that you're an introvert and I was talking to your father and I said we've got ask him some questions and get him talking. He said, talk about college football. You're from Alabama, Birmingham, went to college at Georgia, as did your father. Did you root for Nick Saban during your Alabama years or did you root against him, and then how do you reconcile -- it seems like a good problem to have.

DAVIS THOMPSON: Yeah, so actually I grew up in Auburn, Alabama, but my mom went to Auburn, my dad went to Georgia, so there was always kind of a house divided thing.

But something about the red and black growing up I always enjoyed, pulling for Georgia, and once I got the opportunity to go to Georgia, I took it. I always enjoyed following college football. Growing up in Alabama, there isn't a professional sports team, so college sports is a huge aspect of your life growing up in the South.

Yeah, with all my friends being Auburn fans and me being the one Georgia fan, it was kind of -- I had to defend my team, and I had to know everything about my team. It was definitely an interesting place to grow up being a Georgia fan.

I love following recruiting. I love following practice and what they're doing. It's definitely kind of a hobby for me to enjoy doing that.

Q. I don't know if people around here know that you were on a state high school basketball championship team. I saw some video of you making three-pointers and all that. Does any of that apply to golf mentally or physically and do you still play?

DAVIS THOMPSON: I don't still play. I wish I could. I don't know, something about the thought of me going out there and twisting an ankle or tearing my knee up is something I try to avoid.

I wish I could still play. I definitely miss playing.

Yeah, definitely there's some things that you can apply to golf. I feel like what makes golf ball so great is it's very reactionary. You're just kind of moving with the flow of the game. You're not really thinking too much. You're just playing defense and you're kind of reacting and shooting shots.

I think you kind of have to apply that to golf, as well. There's so much time with golf. There's a lot of time between shots. There's a lot of thoughts that can run through your head. Sometimes you just have to react and just be an athlete and just hit the shot required.

Yeah, that kind of translated to basketball, as well. I definitely think there's some parallels.

Definitely completely different games as far as like the pace.

Q. What's the state of your game right now?

DAVIS THOMPSON: Yeah, my results the past few months have not been great, but I feel like I'm doing the right things, feel like I'm working on the right things. I've hit some good shots these past few tournaments that have not turned out great, and I think when you're playing well, you kind of get some good breaks and you kind of make a few more putts, and that's kind of what I'm missing right now.

I know it can flip at any moment. I have confidence that I can compete week in and week out. Right now I feel like I'm doing all the right stuff, it just needs to click and it needs to get going again like it did last summer, and hopefully I can go play solid up at the U.S. Open and get some confidence going into this final stretch on the PGA TOUR.

Yeah, it's definitely crazy that -- I feel like this season has gone by quicker than any of my first three. So I'm looking forward to playing this last stretch, and hopefully can have some success like I did last year.

Q. When you see what Scheffler is doing almost week in and week out, does it get discouraging or does it inspire you to try to catch up to him?

DAVIS THOMPSON: I'd say it's definitely inspiring. He's kind of a unicorn. I feel like he doesn't make a lot of mental errors. I feel like he doesn't beat himself on the golf course. I mean, just the round he played on Saturday this past week, I mean, he makes, what is it, 13, 14 straight pars, and then all of a sudden he makes one or two and then he birdies 17 and 18 and now all of a sudden he has a one-shot lead.

When he plays the difficult courses, it's not like he shoots himself out of the tournament. But then again, at the Byron Nelson he goes out and blitzes the field and shoots 31-under par. It's definitely inspiring.

In Houston this year, we both played Friday morning, and I shot 5-under and was feeling pretty good about myself, and I got in, and he shot 8-under, and then I started to rain, and I was like, all right, I think I'm just going to go in and work out and call it a day, so I went in and worked out, and then I look out of the trailer and he's hitting balls in the rain and then he worked out after that, and then he got home -- then he went and saw his physio guy.

There's no secret to it; he just works hard, and he gets a lot out of it. I feel like he has a great team around him.

But yeah, going back to your original point, it's definitely inspiring because that's what we're all trying to get to. We're all trying to get to No. 1 in the world. We're all trying to compete week in and week out and finish top 10 basically week in and week out and win majors.

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't at times discouraging, but you can't sit there and wallow in self-pity. You've got to get out there and get to work.

Q. Has your routine changed at all or adapted over the years? Talk about your routine and how you continue to build your game.

DAVIS THOMPSON: Yeah, I feel like when I first turned pro when I was on the Korn Ferry TOUR and even the first part of my rookie year on TOUR, I didn't really know how to prepare effectively for golf courses. I felt like I would just go out there and practice until I got tired and then just go home.

I feel like kind of mid-season last year, I kind of started to round into form as far as what I wanted to do as far as prep, and really realized that just because I'm at a golf tournament doesn't mean I have to be there from sun-up to sun-down and work all day. I just need to work effectively and work and have a lot of quality in my work as opposed to quantity.

It's a long season. You've got to preserve energy. You've got to be effective with your time. You have to manage your time well.

Yeah, it's definitely changed a little bit as far as the amount of time. Not trying to say I don't work hard, but it's just working more effectively as opposed to being out there all day.

Q. You talked about being inspired by Scottie Scheffler. You followed Sepp as champion here, and now three years removed from his victory, he's No. 3 in the FedExCup standings with a couple of wins, clearly a world-class player and probably achieving some of the things that you have in your dreams. Is that an inspiration for you, too? Do you look at that and say, hey, man, I can follow Sepp's lead?

DAVIS THOMPSON: Yeah, absolutely. I feel like Sepp was always a great player, and now that he won his first event in 2022, then he won again in 2023, I think once you get yourself in those positions more and more, you get more and more comfortable. You kind of saw it with Scottie, as well. He wins at Waste Management in 2022, and then all of a sudden he just goes on this tear. That's kind of a theme with some guys, I feel like, especially with Sepp. You kind of put yourself in those positions, you get more and more comfortable, and then all of a sudden you start to do it more and more.

What you've seen from Sepp this year is just a lot of quality golf and a lot of chances to win golf tournaments. I know he's won twice, but he's also been inside the top 10 a bunch of other times. That's kind of the model you want to follow.

Q. Just to be clear, you're not going to shave your head to follow his example, are you?

DAVIS THOMPSON: No, I don't think my wife would approve of me shaving my head. I'm going to keep the hair as long as I can. I can't remember when I saw him the first time this year, but I kind of did a double take. I was like, so you just went full shave. That was interesting.

Q. Davis, did the win last year change your mindset as to what you want to get accomplished on the PGA TOUR and what you want to become? You talk about the first wins and what that can do to your future. How did that play into your head, getting that first win, and what were you expecting to happen to your golf game and your career after getting that first win?

DAVIS THOMPSON: I don't really know what I expected. I knew that my schedule changed for the next year, and I was really excited about that. I think that I've probably put some pressure on myself to kind of out-perform what I did last year. Obviously the goal is to try and get better and better every year, but you've just got to stick to your process and what you're working on and trust your team around you and hopefully you can see some results on the course.

As far as expectations, I put a lot of pressure on myself, probably to a fault, and I feel like that's probably been one of the reasons why I haven't played as great this year, but I know that I've still got a lot of season left, and I'm excited about the rest of the season.

I don't know. I feel like I'm doing the right things. Feel like I'm trying to get in a good space mentally these last few weeks and hopefully finish out the season strong.

THE MODERATOR: Davis, thank you very much. I think we've exhausted our questions for you and hopefully we didn't exhaust you too much.

DAVIS THOMPSON: No, not at all.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, and we really look forward to seeing you back here at the John Deere Classic the week of the 4th of July. It'll be another tour through the restaurants of the Quad Cities. We look forward to seeing you.

DAVIS THOMPSON: Thank you guys so much. Appreciate what y'all do, and looking forward to being back in a few weeks.

ANDREW LEHMAN: It's now my honor to introduce Mara Downey, who is our good friend and title sponsor rep from John Deere.

MARA DOWNEY: Good morning. It's great to be with all of you today. This is one of my favorite days of the year because it's always sort of the countdown to the John Deere Classic in early July. On behalf of my colleagues at John Deere, I'm delighted to announce that we've recently extended our contract with the PGA TOUR through 2030. This exciting milestone is a testament to the strength of our 27-year partnership with the PGA TOUR. We're eager to continue building on our incredible success of the work we've done together.

Over the years, John Deere and the PGA TOUR have fostered a remarkable relationship focused on shared values, community impact and a commitment to excellence in the sport that we all love. Our new four-year extension reaffirms John Deere's commitment to the greater Quad Cities community, the countless golf fans who join us each year to witness the magic of the John Deere Classic and the passionate volunteers whose efforts make the event truly exceptional.

From a business standpoint, the renewed contract means Deere will maintain its designation as the official golf course equipment supplier of the PGA TOUR. We're also pleased to continue and honored to continue as the official marketing partner for the TOUR and title sponsor of the John Deere Classic.

For our company and the employees and retirees who generously volunteer their time, the John Deere Classic represents far more than just another stop on the PGA TOUR. It serves as a unique opportunity to connect with our customers, brand fans and the community, while making a positive contribution to the community's quality of life in our headquarters' hometown. The success of the current contract inspires us to aim even higher as we look ahead. We already have been making great strides in delivering exceptional experiences.

Andrew talked about the concerts this year for concerts on course. We have a strong field that's shaping up nicely, and we're just really excited about this year's event and what's to continue in the future.

The recent investments that John Deere has made in this event demonstrates our dedication to creating memorable experiences for fans and players alike. Thank you to Andrew and his staff and everyone who contributes to the John Deere Classic's success. It's your passion and commitment that make the event truly special.

We look forward to continuing this extraordinary journey with the PGA TOUR and the lasting benefits it will bring to our community for the long run. Thank you, and we can't wait to see you in a few weeks. And and with that, thank you all for being here today. We'll be available for one-on-one interviews if you'd like, and have fun playing golf for those of you going out there. It's a beautiful day. Looking at the weather tomorrow, I'm sure glad we're getting this in today. We'll see you in a couple weeks. Thank you.