Saturday's third round John Deere Classic Notebook

That round, however, was not Brown's best in his ninth QC start.

And he knew what that was. A 61 back in 2014 when he went on to have his best JDC finish at tied for fifth.

It also just happened to come in the third round that year.

So, what is it about him and Saturdays here?

“I don't know,” said Brown. “I have no clue. I wish I knew. … I was just trying to keep it going today, just trying to make a bunch of birdies, and I kept pressing myself to keep making birdies, keep making birdies.”

Zach, Stricker are solid: The two most successful golfers in the history of the John Deere Classic both had successful days Saturday.

But it wasn’t quite as great a day as it once appeared it could have been.

Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson, who rank first and second in earnings in the tournament’s annals, both were 5-under par for the day and 11-under for tournament the entering the latter stages of the round, but both faltered down the stretch.

Stricker, who won the JDC three straight times from 2009-11, bogeyed the final two holes to finish 9-under. Johnson, a seven-time finisher in the top, also bogeyed his final hole (No. 9) to finish 10-under.

"I played great today," Johnson said. "The scorecard is probably not indicative of the quality of golf. Frustrating finish, to say the least. … The positives far outweigh any sort of blip or negative."

Asked what he needs to do in Sunday’s final round, Johnson said he just needs to continue doing the same thing.

"I'm hitting a ton of fairways, giving myself a lot of opportunities, and ideally I need more putts to lip in instead of lip out," he said.

Moore of the same: Another former JDC champion, 2016 winner Ryan Moore, had another solid day to leave himself just two shots off the lead.

Moore, who has been battling back problems, has put together four straight rounds in the 60s on three other occasions in the JDC and he is in position to do it again. He followed rounds of 65 and 66 with a 68 Saturday.

"I'm just trying to play golf like I know how to play golf," Moore said. "I feel like at times this year I've been trying to do other things, and I think it's been getting a little cloudy sometimes in my head just what I'm trying to do.

"This week I tried to honestly just be as simple as possible, set up to the golf ball how I feel comfortable, whether it's a full shot or a putt or whatever, just stop thinking about what I'm trying to do, just go hit golf shots."

Another ace: David Hearn made his third career hole-in-one on Tour Saturday, holing a 132-yard pitching wedge at No. 3. It was the 17th ace during the tournament's history at TPC Deere Run and the first on the third hole since Charles Howell III in 2014. That was also the last ace on the course before Maverick McNealy holed No. 16 Friday.

The last time there were two JDC aces was 2013 when Troy Matteson (No. 3) and Darren Stiles (No. 7) had holes in one. Since the JDC came to TPC Deere Run in 2000, No. 7 has the most aces with eight. The most aces in a JDC came in 2004, when there were five — Mark Hensby, David Gossett, Willie Wood, John Rollins and Greg Chalmers.

Not many putts: Brown needed only 23 putts in his round Saturday, the second best mark ever for the third round of the JDC.

Jonathan Byrd used only 21 putts in the third round when he won the tournament in 2007.

No repeat: The PGA Tour isn’t going to have back-to-back winners this week. Cam Davis, who prevailed in a playoff in last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, shot a 2-over 73 Saturday and is 10 strokes off the pace entering the final round.

Smalley in good spot: Alex Smalley of Greensboro, N.C., got into the JDC field via the Monday qualifying and has put himself in position for a nice paycheck.

He is at 8-under after shooting an even-par 71 Saturday.

Bogey-free rounds: After 11 on Thursday and 18 on Friday, Saturday's rainy conditions yielded six bogey-free rounds. Those with a clean card were Cameron Champ (65), Maverick McNealy (65), Rafa Cabrera Bello (66), Charles Howell III (67), Ryan Moore (68) and Tom Lewis (70). Everyone has had at least one bogey after Saturday with Jason Dufner, Brandon Hagy, and Chez Reavie losing their bids for a bogey-free tournament.

No. 9 remains hardest: For the third straight round, golfers had the most trouble statistically on the par-4 ninth hole with a 4.46 average score. There were 28 bogeys on No. 9 and three double bogeys.

The par-5 second hole was also easiest for the third straight round with a 4.44 average score. No. 2 had five of the six eagles on Saturday and the most birdies with 36.

For more exclusive coverage from the John Deere Classic, go to https://qconline.com/exclusive/jdc.

— Tom Johnston, Don Doxsie, Drake Lansman