SILVIS – Josef “Sepp” Straka almost claimed a piece of PGA Tour history Sunday, July 9, at the 52nd annual John Deere Classic.
Instead, the 30-year-old Austrian-born, Georgia-raised golfer nearly realized disaster in the final round of the $7.4 million Quad Cities PGA Tour stop.
Mr. Straka sat at 11-under for the day through 14 holes to flirt with the magic score of 59 strokes – something done only twice before in the final JDC round by a PGA tournament winner.
The 2022 Olympian also held a commanding five-stroke lead over his nearest pursuers at 23-under standing over his second shot on the par-4 No. 18 – an approach to the green — needing a birdie on the finishing hole for the record-sharing score.
However, Mr. Straka’s mark-making hopes were dashed when his shot landed in the water in the greenside pond – and conversely opened the door for those chasing him. The closing double bogey dropped him to a 9-under 62 for the day — to match his career’s low pro round – and 21-under for the tournament.
“The 59 popped into my mind,” admitted Mr. Straka, the first Austrian-born player to both earn a PGA Tour card (2018) and win a PGA Tour event (2022 Honda Classic).
“But it didn’t change my gameplan there. We had a target picked out — I just picked a bad time to hit a bad shot. I was comfortably ahead but didn’t know if somebody would catch fire like I did to catch me. So, I was trying for another birdie. I was just trying to win the golf tournament there.”
Instead, the fate of the $1.332 million champion’s check was not decided until the final playing group reached the same fatal spot as Mr. Straka — an approach shot on No. 18 – with both Alex Smalley and Mr. Straka’s fellow University of Georgia golf alum Brendon Todd needing to hole out to force a playoff.
They both settled for par, though, to finish at 19-under for the four-day, 72-hole tournament held at the Silvis TPC course, located not far from the world headquarters of Title Sponsor Deere & Company.
Mr. Straka first celebrated his second PGA Tour victory – and third as a pro — on the driving range while warming up for a potential playoff. He finished roughly an hour earlier than the final group after opening the day at 12-under, four strokes behind Mr. Todd’s 54-hole lead.
However, the playoff threat basically ended on the 17th hole when Mr. Smalley missed a 65-foot eagle putt for a share of the lead. Mr. Todd and Mr. Smalley also both missed birdie putts to cut a two-stroke lead in half.
“It’s very stressful because at that point it’s out of your hands,” Mr. Straka said of sitting on a clubhouse lead that long.
“When you are on the course, obviously you’re really nervous, but you have control of the situation. When you are sitting there, you kind of feel helpless.”
The victory marked a comeback from a truly terrible start, with Mr. Straka sitting tied for 133rd place after opening with a two-birdie, four-bogey, 2-over 73.
“I didn’t think I would be sitting here Thursday after the round,” said Mr. Straka, born to an American mother and Austrian father with a twin brother who played alongside him in college.
“I just found some magic and started hitting the ball really good … (and) really started to make some putts. I think that’s the key out here. You’ve got to get the putter hot. Thankfully, it stayed hot.”
The bounce-back included nine birdies and a bogey for an 8-under 63 Friday and a bogey-free 6-under 65 on Saturday.
Mr. Straka’s closing round featured five birdies and an eagle on No. 2 for 28 strokes on the front side. The birdie binge was highlighted by a 30-foot putt to convert on the par-3 No. 7 and another from 40 feet on the par-4 No. 9.
He added four straight birdies on Nos. 10-14 to dip to 11-under for the day before the bid for 59 stalled.
A sub-60 score has been achieved just 12 times previously in PGA Tour history.
With the victory, Mr. Straka jumped 10 spots to 27th in the world rankings.
The 500 playoff points awarded to the JDC winner also saw him rise 32 spots to 18th in the FedExCup standings for next month’s three rounds of playoffs. The first tournament is restricted to the Top 70 players in the points chase. The next round cuts to a Top 50 with only the Top 30 in points making the PGA Championship.
“It’s always great to be playing good golf towards the end of the season,” said Mr. Straka, who surpassed Payne Stewart’s 41-year-old JDC record of 63 for a champion’s closing round.
“One of the big goals is always to make it to Atlanta (and the PGA Championship), and this is a big step towards that. Hopefully, I can build off this and just keep it going.”
Three strokes behind Mr. Straka in a tie for fourth at 18-under were heralded Swedish import Ludvig Aberg and FedExCup playoff contender Adam Schenk.
Mr. Aberg, a European Ryder Cup hopeful along with Mr. Straka, closed with an 8-under to improve 19 spots. The former No. 1 amateur in the world, who turned pro in June after repeating as the U.S. College Player of the Year, had been mentioned as a pre-tournament favorite to win.
Mr. Schenk posted a 3-under Sunday to also fall short of his first career win.
A group of seven finished at 16-under and tied for sixth.
Included were defending JDC champ J.T. Poston, 2021 JDC winner Lucas Glover, 2022 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Cameron Young and another FedExCup playoff contender Denny McCarthy.
Sweden’s Jonas Blixt, a 3-time Tour winner, finished tied for 17th at 14-under. He set the first-round pace with a 9-under 62 to match Mr. Straka for the lowest round of the 2023 JDC.
Of the 69 weekend players, 53 were under par in the final round.
