Diggin' the Deere - Dicky Pride is in the hunt

Dicky Pride shot a 66 Thursday at the John Deere Classic.

That makes me happy because Dicky Pride said he got a text from his cousin after his round here Thursday that said "Dicky, get to the John Deere Classic. Someone is using your name and they're playing good."

That makes me happy because Dicky Pride laughed about the text.

That makes me happy because Dicky Pride had to go through a Monday qualifier just to get into this tourney. No Monday qualifier has won a PGA Tour event since the immortal Fred Wadsworth won the fabled Southern Open in 1986.

That makes me happy because Dicky Pride had pancreatitis and gall bladder surgery in 2002 and had, in his own words, a 50/50 chance of survival while he had two very young children.

That makes me happy because Dicky Pride had plantar fascitis in his foot all last year, and a torn ligament, and tendinitis in his elbow so bad it had to be put in a cast for several weeks.

That makes me happy because Dicky Pride, who last won a PGA Tour event in 1994 when he was a rookie, said he's never been paired with just Brian Gay for a round.

"We've never had it, the Gay Pride day," Dicky Pride said. "The closest we've ever had is I got paired with Brian Gay and Kevin Na, and we had Pride, Gay, Na. That was in Tucson one year. That was a good one."

Dicky Pride is 231st in PGA Tour winnings this year with $17,548. He is 39. He qualified Monday without a caddie, so he carried his own clubs.

If Dicky Pride wins the Deere, or at least has a very good finish, it would be a very good thing.