Davis Thompson has shot keep strange ‘Trophy House’ streak alive

If Davis Thompson keeps up the streak, there is a house in the Quad Cities area of Illinois that PGA Tour pros will be clamoring to get into next year. Has anybody called the couch yet?

The 25-year-old Thompson heads into the final round of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run holding a two-shot lead over Eric Cole (64) and Aaron Rai (66) after firing a nine-birdie 62 on Saturday to get to 21 under. If he prevails, the former Georgia Bulldogs and Walker Cup star will notch his first tour win in his 63rd start.

Better yet, a Thompson win will continue either a really lucky or spooky streak for what PGATour.com dubbed in a story this week the “Trophy House.”

There are a group of players who regularly rent houses together at tour stops, and though they often switch residences, the crew has, for superstitious reasons, kept going back to one home for the Deere. That’s because J.T. Poston captured the 2022 event while staying in this particular house, and fellow renter Sepp Straka strengthened the Trophy House vibe when he roared to a closing 62 for the victory last year.

Straka said earlier this week that he paid the full rent for last year’s house, but he wasn’t staying there this week because his family was in town, though he did stop by to play cards and shoot the bull.

“If I win this year, they got to pay their own way,” said Straka, who will not get that done, standing at T-53 heading into Sunday.

Enter Thompson, who Straka jokingly said “snuck” into the house and got his room. Eerily, before the tournament, Straka offered, “Maybe it can work well for him.”

The Trophy House group this year includes Thompson, Poston, Denny McCarthy, Ben Kohles, Greyson Sigg and Patton Kizzire.

“We get a big house, there’s like six of us in there, and it’s fun because you come back and you’re playing cards or throwing football in the backyard,” Poston told PGATour.com. “It’s a good way to decompress and get away from golf, because the hard part of the hotel thing is you get back to the hotel and, if you’re alone, you’re probably thinking about golf.”

Said McCarthy, “It can be a battle, especially when things aren’t going great on the golf course. It’s nice to have guys in the house to come back to and talk with and hang out. Whether you shoot 65 or 75, it doesn’t matter.”

Thompson, who has scores this week of 63-67-62, has done his part to carry the mojo. He’s pulling off the trifecta of impressive stats, ranking second in strokes gained/around the green, third in off the tee and eighth in putting.

“It’s been fun staying with those guys this week. Hopefully maybe it three years in a row,” Thompson said. “That would be pretty cool. Seems like everybody is going to want to be staying in that house next year.”

And Sepp Straka is going to have to fight to get his room back.