SILVIS, Ill. (AP) — Troy Matteson scored 10 birdies Thursday en route to a bogey-free round of 10-under 61 for a three-stroke stroke lead after one round of the John Deere Classic.

Matteson, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, birdied five holes on each nine of the TPC Deere Run to surpass the 7-under 64 of second place Ricky Barnes. Matteson started by making birdies on three of his first four holes and finished with birdies on four of his first five.

He nearly holed out from a bunker on the par-4 ninth for a 60, but settled for par.

Barnes, out in the second group of the day, birdied all three par-5s and two of the four par-3s to pace the morning half of the field.

Robert Garrigus, among a group tied for third at 6-under 65, eagled the par-5 17th by hooking a 270-yard second shot around a tree to set up a 30-foot eagle putt.

Steve Stricker, chasing a fourth straight victory in the Deere, shot a 65 punctuated by an 80-yard wedge for an eagle 2 on the par-4 14th.

Zach Johnson, the highest ranked player in the tournament at sixth in the PGA Tour point standings, shot 3-under 68 thanks to a 4-under 31 on his last nine holes.

Low scores are common in the Deere. TPC Deere Run has yielded at least one 62 or better since 2008, including a first-round 59 by Paul Goydos two years ago. Friday, the field averaged about 69.6 strokes per player.

Only 46 players finished over par. Matteson’s had an average year to this point, missing the cut in 11 of 21 tournaments, including his first five starts. His best finish is a tie for 26th at the Honda Classic. But he lowered his best score for the year, a 65 at the Humana Classic, by four strokes in taking the lead. It’s his best start in any Tour tournament.

It was only the third time this year he’s broken 70 in the first round.

“I’ve always been one of the slow-starting Thursday players,” Matteson said. “If I could do one thing differently in my entire career, it would be to be a faster starter.”

Matteson rolled in 31- and nine-footers for birdies on his first two holes, then ran a birdie attempt on his third hole over the edge of the hole, settling for a tap-in par. A 20-footer for a birdie 3 opened his back nine, which was spiced by a near-eagle on the par-4 fifth, his 14th hole. His birdie putt was 10 inches.

Matteson scored back-to-back 61s en route to winning the Frys.com Open in 2009.

Barnes is 89th in the point standings and 101st on the money list, but birdied three of his first five holes.

His card was marred only by a bogey on the par-4 ninth when he failed to get up and down from the rough. He considered it only a start.

“You’ll have to be in the 20s (under par) to have a chance to win,” Barnes said. “At most tournaments, when you’re 4-under through eight holes, you’re in the lead or tied. Here, you have to keep up that kind of pace.”

Stricker’s eagle from the 14th fairway accelerated his back nine of 6-under 30. He played the front nine in even par 35 before a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-5 10th hole began his run toward the leaders.

He birdied the 15th and 17th holes to jump into a tie for third with six other players, including Garrigus and Luke Guthrie, the recent Illinois graduate playing in his second tournament as a professional.

Guthrie earned $67,872 by tying for 19th in his first Tour start, at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn.. His bogey-free 65, which featured a 64-foot eagle putt on the par-5 second hole, was his fourth round under par in five as a pro.

JOHN DEERE CLASSIC SCORES:

Thursday — First Round

a-denotes amateur

Troy Matteson 30-31 — 61

Ricky Barnes 32-32 — 64

Robert Garrigus 32-33 — 65

Scott Piercy 33-32 — 65

K.J. Choi 32-33 — 65

Brian Harman 33-32 — 65

Steve Stricker 35-30 — 65

Luke Guthrie 31-34 — 65

Gary Christian 31-34 — 65

Stuart Appleby 31-35 — 66

Tom Gillis 33-33 — 66

Bill Lunde 33-33 — 66

Chris DiMarco 34-32 — 66

Spencer Levin 33-33 — 66

Jimmy Walker 34-32 — 66

Bobby Gates 32-34 — 66

Duffy Waldorf 34-32 — 66

Ben Crane 34-32 — 66

Tommy Biershenk 33-33 — 66

Lee Janzen 34-33 — 67

Chris Couch 33-34 — 67

Ted Potter, Jr. 34-33 — 67

Rory Sabbatini 34-33 — 67

John Merrick 34-33 — 67

Patrick Sheehan 34-33 — 67

Chez Reavie 34-33 — 67

William McGirt 33-34 — 67

a-Patrick Rodgers 33-34 — 67

Nathan Green 35-32 — 67

Alex Cejka 34-33 — 67

Dicky Pride 33-34 — 67

Hunter Haas 31-36 — 67

Jhonattan Vegas 32-35 — 67

Tim Clark 31-36 — 67

Ryan Moore 31-36 — 67

J.J. Henry 33-34 — 67

Martin Flores 34-33 — 67

Steve Wheatcroft 35-32 — 67

Chris Riley 33-35 — 68

Kevin Streelman 34-34 — 68

Jeff Maggert 34-34 — 68

D.A. Points 35-33 — 68

Zach Johnson 31-37 — 68

Nick Watney 32-36 — 68

Charley Hoffman 33-35 — 68

Chris Kirk 35-33 — 68

Matt Bettencourt 35-33 — 68

Rocco Mediate 33-35 — 68

James Driscoll 35-33 — 68

Seung-Yul Noh 35-33 — 68

Nick O’Hern 33-35 — 68

Erik Compton 35-33 — 68

Chris Stroud 34-34 — 68

Brendon de Jonge 35-33 — 68

Chad Campbell 34-34 — 68

Matt Jones 35-33 — 68

Kyle Stanley 33-35 — 68

Y.E. Yang 32-36 — 68

Carl Pettersson 36-32 — 68

Ryan Palmer 33-35 — 68

Troy Kelly 35-33 — 68

Billy Hurley III 34-34 — 68

Randall Hutchison 34-34 — 68

J.J. Killeen 35-33 — 68

Mathias Gronberg 34-35 — 69

Roland Thatcher 34-35 — 69

Jeff Overton 33-36 — 69

Kevin Stadler 35-34 — 69

Patrick Reed 35-34 — 69

Shane Bertsch 34-35 — 69

Josh Teater 34-35 — 69

Boo Weekley 34-35 — 69

Tim Petrovic 32-37 — 69

Mark Wilson 35-34 — 69

Brian Gay 33-36 — 69

Jerry Kelly 34-35 — 69

David Duval 33-36 — 69

Bud Cauley 34-35 — 69

Shaun Micheel 35-34 — 69

Tommy Gainey 33-36 — 69

John Senden 33-36 — 69

Mark Anderson 35-34 — 69

John Peterson 34-35 — 69

Marco Dawson 35-35 — 70

Kevin Chappell 36-34 — 70

Derek Lamely 36-34 — 70

Heath Slocum 37-33 — 70

Marc Turnesa 34-36 — 70

a-Jordan Spieth 34-36 — 70

Alexandre Rocha 35-35 — 70

Billy Horschel 35-35 — 70

Scott Dunlap 35-35 — 70

Colt Knost 33-37 — 70

Michael Bradley 36-34 — 70

Jason Bohn 34-36 — 70

Richard S. Johnson 35-35 — 70

Danny Lee 33-37 — 70

Scott Brown 33-37 — 70

Brendon Todd 37-33 — 70

Blake Adams 36-35 — 71

Matt Every 34-37 — 71

Bart Bryant 36-35 — 71

Stewart Cink 35-36 — 71

Arjun Atwal 36-35 — 71

Jason Gore 34-37 — 71

Kris Blanks 36-35 — 71

Jamie Lovemark 34-37 — 71

Sung Kang 36-35 — 71

Joe Durant 34-37 — 71

Camilo Villegas 34-37 — 71

Charles Howell III 36-35 — 71

John Daly 36-35 — 71

Garth Mulroy 35-36 — 71

Billy Mayfair 38-34 — 72

Rod Pampling 38-34 — 72

Jonathan Byrd 36-36 — 72

Vaughn Taylor 35-37 — 72

Kent Jones 38-34 — 72

Pat Perez 35-37 — 72

Woody Austin 36-36 — 72

Kevin Kisner 34-38 — 72

Miguel Angel Carballo 37-35 — 72

Cameron Beckman 37-35 — 72

Ryuji Imada 34-38 — 72

Todd Hamilton 37-35 — 72

Sang-Moon Bae 34-38 — 72

Ken Duke 38-34 — 72

John Hurley 34-38 — 72

D.J. Trahan 37-36 — 73

Harrison Frazar 37-36 — 73

Mathew Goggin 33-40 — 73

Richard H. Lee 39-34 — 73

Stephen Gangluff 38-35 — 73

Edward Loar 34-39 — 73

Charlie Beljan 36-37 — 73

Sean O’Hair 35-38 — 73

Daniel Summerhays 38-35 — 73

Kyle Thompson 37-36 — 73

Chris W. Black 37-36 — 73

Matt McQuillan 34-39 — 73

Joey Snyder III 39-35 — 74

David Hearn 37-37 — 74

Garrett Willis 37-37 — 74

Bryce Molder 36-38 — 74

Gavin Coles 36-38 — 74

Brian Davis 40-34 — 74

Steven Bowditch 38-36 — 74

Kyle Reifers 36-38 — 74

Russell Knox 39-35 — 74

Chad Proehl 39-35 — 74

Will Claxton 39-36 — 75

Daniel Chopra 34-41 — 75

Scott Stallings 39-37 — 76

Jason Kokrak 38-38 — 76

Zack Miller 38-39 — 77

Frank Lickliter II 38-40 — 78