SILVIS, Ill., July 10 (UPI) -- Steve Stricker produced the lowest 54-hole score in the history of the PGA Tour Saturday and built a six-shot lead at the John Deere Classic.
Stricker, ranked fourth in the world and the defending champion at this event, shot a 9-under 62 at the TPC-Deere Run course for a three-day total of 25-under 188.
That broke the tour's 54-hole record of 189 set in 1996 by John Cook at the St. Jude Classic and equaled by Mark Calcavecchia in 2001 at the Phoenix Open and Tommy Armour III in 2003 at the Texas Open.
Stricker needs to shoot a 65 on Sunday to break the tour's 72-hole scoring mark established by Armour in 2003.
Jeff Maggert and Paul Goydos shared second place at 194 and it was another three shots back to Matt Jones and Shaun Micheel. Goydos opened the tournament with a 59, becoming the fourth player to break 60 in a tour tournament.
Stricker came to the par-4 18th needing only a par to break the 54-hole record, but he drove into the right rough and his path to the green was blocked by a tree. He laid up about 100 yards short of the green and his ball came to rest in a divot.
Despite the bad lie, Stricker hit a wedge to within 3 inches of the cup for a tap-in par that gave him the record.
