Sepp Straka boosted his hopes of a Ryder Cup debut later this year as he produced a brilliant final round of 62 to win his second PGA TOUR title at the John Deere Classic.
The Austrian, who won his first PGA TOUR title at the Honda Classic last February, mixed an eagle with nine birdies before carding a closing double bogey on the 18th to finish at 21 under, two shots clear of American duo Brendon Todd and Alex Smalley.
Four consecutive birdies from the 11th left Hero Cup star Straka, who began the day three off the pace, needing to play the final four holes at TPC Deere Run in one under to become the 12th player to shoot a 59 on the PGA TOUR.
However, his hopes were ended when he found the water with his second shot at the 480-yard par four 18th, but it didn’t prevent him celebrating success as neither Todd or Smalley could catch him down the stretch.
“I wasn’t going to change my game plan or strategy for the 59,” Straka said.
“The goal was still to keep the same game plan and try to finish and win a golf tournament. As fun as the 59 would be, I think winning the golf tournament is always more fun.”
It capped a remarkable week for Straka, who opened with a two-over-par 73 but followed it with rounds of 63, 65 and 62 as he climbed to 27th on the Official World Golf Ranking and seventh on the World Points List in the Ryder Cup rankings.
Ludvig Aberg continued his stellar start to life in the professional ranks as a bogey-free 63 saw the Swede finish in a tie for fourth.
“I expected it to be a lot of fun, but it's even more fun than I thought it would be,” Aberg said of life as a professional.
Both Straka and Aberg are in the field for this week’s Genesis Scottish Open – the third Rolex Series event of the season – which is being co-sanctioned with the PGA TOUR for the second consecutive year.
