July 13, 2012

SILVIS, Ill. - Former Michigan State men's golfer Randall Hutchison made the cut at the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic on Friday, after shooting back-to-back rounds of 3-under par 68 at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill. He is among a group tied for 31st place at 6-under par 136.

Hutchison will tee off tomorrow at 10:51 a.m. ET with Matt Every. CBS will pick up coverage on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

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Paired with Russell Knox and Tommy Biershenk in the first two rounds, Hutchison posted 11 birdies, which is tied for 14th in the field.

On Thursday, he began his day with a bogey on the first hole, but bounced back with birdies on the next two holes. Hutchison then ran off 11-straight pars before posting a bogey on the par-4 15th. He finished strong however with three consecutive birdies on the final three holes to carry momentum into Friday.

Beginning on the 10th hole on Friday, he birdied three of his first five holes (10th, 12th and 14th) to move to 6-under for the tournament. However a pair of bogeys surrounded a birdie on the par-3, 16th to move him down a shot. A par on the 18th finished off his first nine holes. He would go on to birdie the first and second holes, before finishing the day with pars on six of his last seven holes, with his only blemish coming on a bogey at the fifth hole.

Hutchison joined the field for the John Deere Classic as one of four Monday qualifiers, after shooting a 8-under par 63 to finish first among the over 100 golfers looking to play this week. It is the second career PGA Tour event for Hutchison, who also participated in the 2009 Buick Classic, where he missed the cut.

Hutchison has mainly played on the NGA Professional Tour so far this summer, currently ranked 11th on the money list ($33,220). He has seven top-20 finishes in 11 NGA events this year, including a second place showing at the Golden Hills Golf & Turf Club in early March.

The Traverse City native, was a four-time letterwinner at Michigan State from 2005-09. A first-team All-Big Ten and PING All-Midwest Region selection as a junior, Hutchison finished his Spartan career ranked seventh on the career scoring list at 74.94.