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
