Brendon Todd had no hard feelings Saturday evening.
After all, Todd had just taken the lead at the John Deere Classic after a third-round 66 put him in the driver’s seat for his fourth career PGA Tour title.
But then came the question: There’s five guys that are at the house this year within three or four shots of the lead right now. They kick you out?
Todd laughed because he knew exactly what the house entails.
“My family came Tuesday to Thursday, so it was fun to spend some time with them,” Todd said. “Didn’t want to put them through the debauchery of the house.”
Debauchery?! On the PGA Tour?!
The house refers to the one Todd, J.T. Poston, Patton Kizzire, Greyson Sigg, Denny McCarthy and Ben Kohles all rented together a year ago for this event. Poston ended up winning in 2022 and most of the group is running it back again. Without Todd and Kohles, Sepp Straka and Chris Kirk got in on the fun.
“It’s funny because we’re all pretty good at— we’ve been playing a bunch of games at the house too,” McCarthy said. “You know, throwing frisbee, baseball. We’re all pretty good at that stuff too.”
McCarthy said the house has about six or seven bedrooms and they were lucky enough to get the exact same one from 2022. It’s about a 15-minute drive east of TPC Deere Run, tucked back in the corn fields.
Once the whole crew gets back from the course after their rounds, that’s when the real competitions start too.
“It’s been a fun week,” McCarthy said. “We’ve been playing cards, board games, outdoor activities, so it’s been fun. Once you leave the golf course to go back to the house, everyone is there, and you just kind of jump into whatever game they’re playing at the time.”
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Clearly, the relaxed atmosphere is working. While the leader Todd is absent this year, McCarthy entered the final round just a shot back in a tie for second. Kirk and Poston were in a logjam of eight golfers in a tie for 6th. Sigg and Straka were just one more shot back in T14. Only Kizzire missed the cut.
“Kind of feels like college golf again,” Poston said about the house after his win a year ago. “I loved that team atmosphere. I’m still real close to a lot of my college teammates. I just love the team game, the team atmosphere, so it kind of has a little bit of that feel.
“Even though we’re not playing on the same team you’re coming back to the house and everybody is pulling for each other. Yesterday Denny and I played in the final group together. We’re going out there and having fun and trying to beat each other.”
Earlier in the week, Poston said it’s common for guys to stay together in AirBNBs, but it’s not every week players can find a house big enough to accommodate six of them. But when the same one from last year was available again, Poston said they jumped on it and the PGA Tour’s “frat house” was open once more.