SILVIS, Ill. — The John Deere Classic cut line bounced between 4- and 5-under late in the afternoon on a steamy Fourth of July Friday, but by then five of the top players in the FedExCup rankings had been bounced out of the weekend field.

No. 6 Ben Griffin, No. 24 SungJae Im, No. 28 Jason Day and No. 30 Michael Kim all were among the casualties of a cut that ultimately fell at 5-under, matching last year’s record number.

A total of 65 players will head out in threesomes off of both the first and 10th tees due to anticipated Saturday afternoon thunderstorms.

Notable survivors include 2021 John Deere Classic champion Lucas Glover who rebounded from a 1-over opening round with a 7-under Friday 64 and will have a chance to improve on his No. 28 positioning in the FedExCup standings.

Glover will start six shots back of midway leader Doug Ghim, who followed a 9-under opening round 62 with a 3-under 68 on Friday. He will take a one-shot lead into the weekend over a five-pack of 11-under that includes a resurgent Max Homa and defending champion Davis Thompson.

Glover will take a pedal-to-the-metal approach to the final two rounds at TPC Deere Run.

“Golf course is absolutely perfect. And yeah, it's going to be low 20s like always. So definitely shoot too low,” Glover said.

Also fighting from well back will be Rickie Fowler, who reached 8-under for the tournament after the 11th on Friday, but gave four shots back with bogeys on the next two holes and a double-bogey at the 15th. He survived with a birdie at the par-5 17th and a steely up-and-down par from a bunker at 18 to advance at 5-under.

Fowler is fighting for his FedExCup Playoffs life at 72nd in the standings, where the top 70 qualify for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of the FedExCup Playoffs.

“Have a tee time so need to have a good day tomorrow," said Fowler. "Make some birdies and see if we can post a score and move up. Unfortunately with the weather now we have a huge draw so everyone will have fairly similar conditions. But it still means we have to go post a good one and see if we can sneak back up and make a run at it this weekend.”

Homa had a better day playing alongside Fowler in the afternoon. A tweak with his driver that keyed an 8-under opening round of 63 continued to serve the slumping six-time TOUR winner well in a 3-under Friday 68 marred only by an 18th-hole bogey that dropped him out of a share of the lead.

Homa currently ranks 122nd in the FedExCup standings but won’t sweat the weekend, given the progress he’s already seen this week.

“To be quite honest, I don't really care about that,” he said. “It's just been hard to see the light, and I feel like the last two days have given me a lot of hope. I can crash and burn on the weekend, and I'm still going to look at this as like I found something in there.

Friday’s biggest mover was world No. 1 amateur Jackson Koivun. He rebounded from a 1-under Thursday 70 with a bogey-free 7-under 64 to move up 68 spots into a share of 16th place.