Sepp Straka put the golf world on 59 watch before coming up short of the magic number, but his 9-under 62 proved to be enough for a two-shot win at the John Deere Classic on Sunday in Silvis, Ill.

Straka was 11 under par through 14 holes at the par-71 TPC Deere Run before he ran out of steam. He settled for three straight pars and put his second shot at the par-4 18th hole into the water, leading to a double bogey.

That cost the 30-year-old Austrian a chance at the 13th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history. But with his 21-under 263, Straka still won for the second time on tour, as Brendon Todd and Alex Smalley failed to make enough of a push down the stretch.

Straka opened the tournament with a 73 before going 63-65-62 the rest of the way.

“I didn’t think I would be sitting here on Thursday after the round,” Straka said. “Just found some magic and then started hitting the ball really good, which I did on Thursday too, but really started making some putts. I think that’s the key out here. You’ve got to get the putter hot. Thankfully it stayed hot.”

Todd, the 54-hole leader, got to 20 under for the tournament before a missed par putt at the par-3 16th dropped him back. He (68) and playing partner Alex Smalley (67) could only par the final few holes and tie for second at 19 under.

Straka, who began the day four shots off Todd’s lead, started his round birdie-eagle, the latter a downhill 20-foot putt at the par-5 second. He added four more birdies on the front nine, punctuated by a 40-foot birdie roll at the par-4 ninth, to go out in 7-under 28, tying the lowest nine-hole score in tournament history.

Straka added four straight birdies at holes 11-14 to get into range of a 59 — or lower — but petered out from there.

He missed lengthy birdie putts at Nos. 15 and 16, and after finding a bunker on the par-5 17th, he had a 9-foot birdie try missed left. A birdie at No. 18 would have gotten him 59, but his second shot missed left of the green and splashed in the water.

“I gave myself a lot of grace there because that was my only real bad shot of the day,” Straka said.

The last sub-60 round on tour remains Scottie Scheffler’s 59 during the Northern Trust in August 2020.

“On 8 or 9 I saw that Sepp had gotten to 22- or 23-under, which was obviously amazing,” Todd said. “I was pretty amazed, but I did say in my interview yesterday, there’s been a 59 (at the John Deere). Anybody could have gone out there and shot a great round today, and he did it.

On the course, Todd’s caddie told him Straka double-bogeyed the last hole.

“So that might have ramped up the pressure a little bit and got me maybe even more aggressive there on that putt on 16,” Todd said. “That kind of backfired a little bit.”

Before Straka stole the show, the low round of the day belonged to Swedish rookie Ludvig Aberg, whose 8-under 63 propelled him to the best finish of his young PGA Tour career, tying for fourth with Adam Schenk (68).

Aberg turned pro in early June after earning a tour card through the PGA Tour University pathway while a star golfer at Texas Tech. On Sunday, he eagled the second hole and went on to add six birdies without a single bogey.

“I felt like I’ve been playing pretty well the last couple of weeks, but I haven’t really gotten together four rounds together, but luckily I was able to finish well today and ended up being a good tournament,” Aberg said.

Cameron Young, who led after two rounds, went 71-68 on the weekend and finished in a large tie for sixth at 16 under that also included 2022 champion J.T. Poston.

–Field Level Media

Brendon Todd might only have a slim lead on the four directly behind him on the leaderboard, but he’s got one thing they don’t, three in fact — a win on the PGA Tour.

Todd shot a 5-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead after three rounds of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill., on Saturday.

Todd, in search for his fourth win on tour, sits at 16-under 197 heading into Sunday’s final round.

“It’s just head down and make birdies,” Todd said about Sunday. “It’s going to be hard to run away and hide here, but that’s the goal.”

Three players are tied for second one-shot back, including Alex Smalley, who fired a 62 on Saturday to vault 27 spots up the leaderboard. He’s joined by Denny McCarthy (66) and Adam Schenk (67).

Second-round leader Cameron Young shot even-par 71 to drop into a tie for sixth at 13 under, including a double-bogey on the 18th.

Peter Kuest (65) stands solo fifth at 14 under.

Eight of the 13 players within three strokes of the lead seek their first tour victory.

Todd began his round with an eagle on the par-5 second hole, then added three birdies in four holes on the back nine to fortify his spot atop the leaderboard. He saved par on No. 18 to complete his clean card.

“I think that was the excitement on the putt on the last hole,” Todd said. “Kept me bogey-free and kept me in the lead. You always want to be the guy being chased.

Smalley carded 66-70 in his first two rounds but caught fire Saturday, beginning his round birdie-eagle. He posted six more birdies for the round, also turning in a clean card, matching his career low round.

“I feel like a veteran here,” Smalley said. “I’ve only had two years on tour, and this is my third year at this event, so it’s one of the few events where I feel like I know the course decently well.

McCarthy recorded four birdies, an eagle and one bogey for his 66.

“Today it was pretty gusty,” McCarthy said. “Hit a lot of really good shots early on actually and just didn’t really convert on some of the close-in putts, but then made a couple bombs to make up for it, if you will.

“So kind of a weird day on the greens, but all in all I played pretty solid today.”

Seven other players join Young in a tie for sixth at 13 under, just three shots off the lead.

–Field Level Media

Cameron Young fired a 7-under-par 64 on Friday to vault into the lead at the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.

Young improved upon Thursday’s stellar 65 to get to 13-under 129, two strokes ahead of Adam Schenk, Brendon Todd and South Africa’s Garrick Higgo.

At No. 19 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Young is the highest-ranked player in the field at a tournament most elite players are skipping to focus on the upcoming Open Championship. But the John Deere Classic also has a reputation for crowning young, first-time PGA Tour winners, and Young would fit that bill.

The 26-year-old was PGA Tour Rookie of the Year last season, when he finished runner-up at five events, including The Open at St Andrews. But Young is still looking for his first win on tour.

“There’s a lot of golf left, and there’s a lot of people that are three and four shots behind me, and that can go away really quick,” Young said. “… There’s just nothing that I can take for granted in that respect. It’s a golf course that is very scorable when you are in control, but if you play it kind of loosely, it’s not that easy either.”

Young started his round on the back nine with three consecutive birdies at Nos. 10-12, including a chip-in at the par-4 11th. He wound up with eight birdies on the day against one bogey.

“I think I definitely drove it better yesterday,” he said. “I think I hit a few really good iron shots today, which probably helped the stats quite a bit. Then obviously I putted really nicely, especially early today.”

Schenk and Higgo carded rounds of 66 and Todd had a 65 on Friday. Schenk and William Mouw (10 under) are the only two players who are bogey-free through two days.

Schenk, from nearby Indiana, tied for fourth at the John Deere in 2021 and tied for sixth in 2019. But he is still searching for his first PGA Tour win.

“It’s great to have family support and a lot of friends out there, so that makes it nice hearing the cheers, but, hopefully, more friends and family even over the weekend,” Schenk said.

Swedish rookie Ludvig Aberg, who has made the cut in three straight PGA Tour events since turning pro last month, is in his best position yet to contend. Playing in a group with Young, Aberg matched Young’s 64 on Friday and is tied for fifth at 10 under.

His round also had something in common with Young’s.

“I chipped in on the first hole. That was fun,” Aberg said. “Airmailed the green on 10 with a wedge, and I wasn’t too happy, but I ended up chipping in. So that was nice to get off to a hot start.”

Aberg made eight birdies and just one bogey on the day, with five of those birdies coming in on the front nine.

Joining him at 10 under are Denny McCarthy (64 Friday), Mouw (66) and Kevin Roy, who was one of six players to shoot a 63 on the day.

Sweden’s Jonas Blixt followed his opening round of 62 with a 73 on Friday and fell back into a tie for 18th at 7 under. Defending champion J.T. Poston shot a 67 and is also at 7 under through two days.

Zach Johnson shot a 66 to make the cut on the number (4 under), marking his 15th straight made cut at his hometown event. The U.S. Ryder Cup captain hails from nearby Iowa City.

–Field Level Media

Jonas Blixt, ranked 842nd in the world, tied the lowest 18-hole score of his career with a 9-under 62 on Thursday to build a two-shot lead after the first round of the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill.

Blixt, 39, missed the cut on the Korn Ferry Tour last week, but the Swede got off to a quick start at TPC Deere Run with an eagle on his second hole. After making the turn in 2-under 33, Blixt added a pair of birdies before draining a 43-foot eagle putt on the par-4 14th hole.

That propelled Blixt to three more birdies over his final four holes, capping his 660th official round on the PGA Tour by carding a 29 on his back nine. Blixt hit only six of 14 fairways, but missed only two greens.

“Sixty-two doesn’t happen very often on the PGA Tour, at least not for me,” Blixt said. “I’m very happy about it. Extremely happy about it.”

Several players made late runs at Blixt’s score from the morning, but multiple chasers faltered late. That included Grayson Murray, who started on the back nine and reached 8 under through 13 holes before settling for a 7-under 64 following a bogey on his final hole.

“I saw Jonas shot 62,” Murray said. “There’s always a low one out there. When you are in the afternoon wave, there’s someone that’s going to go low. … You can’t control it. So I know that it gives you confidence that there is a low one out there.”

Cameron Young, the top-ranked player in the field at No. 19 — 823 spots higher than Blixt — birdied the 17th hole to get to pull even with Murray. However, he found the rough off the tee on 18, narrowly avoided the water with his third shot and salvaged bogey to settle for a tie for third at 6 under.

Greyson Sigg, Adam Schenk, Nate Lashley, Richy Werenski and South Africa’s Garrick Higgo also shot 6-under 65.

Blixt is a three-time winner on tour, the most recent victory coming at the 2017 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he partnered with Australian star Cameron Smith to win the team event.

His last individual victory was at the Greenbrier Classic in 2013. The following year, he reached a career-high world ranking of No. 33 after tying for second at the Masters.

Thursday’s round tied Blixt’s 62 shot during the third round of the 2015 Wyndham Championship. It also came after Blixt missed the cut by three shots at last week’s Memorial Health Championship on the KFT — the third consecutive event at which he had failed to make the weekend.

“I think I found something this week after playing the Korn Ferry last week,” he said. “At this point, when you don’t have that much confidence in your game and you find something, you just kind of go out and swing at it. That’s what happened.”

This is Blixt’s ninth start on the PGA Tour this year, with his best finish to date a T20 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He has struggled to get into PGA events and worked heavily with his swing coach during a recent six-week break.

“I kind of came to the point in my season where it’s so late that I don’t feel any pressure anymore, really,” he said. “Golf is weird. Tomorrow I can shoot 100, I feel like, but today was a great day.”

Peter Kuest, who is coming off a T4 as a Monday qualifier in Detroit last week, shot a 4-under 67. Defending champion J.T. Poston carded a 68, joining a large group at 3 under that includes one of the pre-tournament favorites in Denny McCarthy and heralded rookie Ludvig Aberg of Sweden.

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, who is attempting to make the cut at the John Deere for the 15th consecutive time, struggled to a 1-over 72.

“I need to regroup mentally and figure out what the positives may be,” Johnson said. “… I didn’t score. I didn’t hit it close enough. I didn’t putt well. That’s probably the summary.”

–Field Level Media

With the Ryder Cup just under three months away, United States captain Zach Johnson is trying to make sure that any ties between LIV Golf and other circuits, including the PGA Tour, don’t get in the way of putting together a winning roster.

Johnson said Wednesday that he and the Ryder Cup committee already determined how they wanted to navigate the treacherous landscape that LIV has created in the golf world, and they are sticking to their guns.

“What’s transpiring in professional golf from a competitive level, competition level, is PGA Tour; right?” Johnson said. “It’s not PGA of America. So the individuals that are Americans that play on other tours that are not the PGA Tour, they could play, I mean, technically the Latin Tour or the Asian Tour or wherever.

“More times than not they’re going to be members of the PGA of America for a number of reasons. Our liability insurance is number one and some other benefits.”

Although he didn’t outwardly come out and say that LIV Golf members were welcome on Team USA, Johnson made it clear that nothing was barring them from securing a spot on the squad.

“These guys that left the PGA Tour that had status and left to play on that other tour, the LIV Tour, they’re still members of the PGA of America, so they are still able to garner points,” Johnson said. “They’re able to play in the PGA Championship as a result because that’s what the PGA of America runs. Obviously, technically, can still be a part of Team USA.”

Brooks Koepka, who is ranked 12th on the Official World Golf Ranking and won the 2023 PGA Championship after finishing tied for second at the Masters, is among those competing on the LIV circuit that Johnson has his eye on.

“Brooks is third on the list. The top six earn their berth after the BMW,” Johnson said. “I don’t know the date. Mid-August-ish in Chicago. So after that Sunday the top six are solidified, and then we make our six picks. The next week is the Tour Championship. The Tuesday after the Tour Championship is when I make the picks.

“We’ll formulate 12 by then, but he has worked his way — he worked his way to second after the PGA Championship because of how well he played at the Masters and at the PGA Championship. The majors kind of last year too, but they were smaller in points. … He has a really good chance of making the team, earning his way on the team, which is extremely impressive.”

The Ryder Cup begins on Sept. 29 and runs through Oct. 1.

–Field Level Media