Veterans Armour, Perry are two of TOUR's top players

text size

• Look for a lot of birdies to be made this week at the John Deere Classic. The TPC Deere Run surrendered 1676 birdies last year. Only two courses on TOUR gave up more -- Forest Oaks (Wyndham Championship, 2,056 birdies) and Warwick Hills (Buick Open, 1,786).

Tommy Armour

• He might be closing in on a spot on the Champions Tour, but 48-year old Tommy Armour III is one of the hottest players on the PGA TOUR. The veteran has finished tied for 10th, tied for 24th, tied for 2nd and tied for 3rd in his last four starts and has posted eight consecutive rounds in the 60s. He's had five top-10s this year, tying his career high that he first set in 1999.

• More on Armour: Before the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Armour was in 110th place in the FedExCup standings. Four starts later, he's moved all the way up to 33rd.

• Kenny Perry (47 years old) will be at the John Deere Classic this week looking for his third win of the season. The last player age 45 or older to win three in one year was Gene Littler in 1975.

• Jonathan Byrd is seeking to defend his John Deere Classic crown this week. If he does, he'll be just the second to ever successfully defend at that tournament. David Frost won back-to-back titles in 1992 and 1993. One asterisk -- former PGA TOUR Commissioner Deane Beman won this event back in 1971 when it was an unofficial tournament and then won the following year when it made its official debut on the PGA TOUR.

• You might want to look at someone who's poised to win for the first time this week at the John Deere Classic. Six of the last nine John Deere Classics have been claimed by first-time winners -- J.L. Lewis (1999), Michael Clark II (2000), David Gossett (2001), Mark Hensby (2004), Sean O'Hair (2005) and John Senden (2006).

• With his tie for 27th finish last week, Fred Couples collected $39,100 and became the 19th player in TOUR history to reach the $20 million mark in career earnings.