CBS Sports
Seb Stacka came out of the gates of fire on Sunday at the John Deere Classic. But he could not reach the age of 18.
The 30-year-old only needed one more birdie for a final round 59 at TPC Deere Run, the PGA Tour’s 13-under-60.
Straka started the round hot, shooting first birdie and eagle second en route to a seven-under 28 in the ninth. He kept up the blazing speed of hitting four birdie straights of 7, 14, 9 and 5 in the 11-14 holes.
After a disappointing tie at 5 17, Straka played his kick to center lane on the end of the 480-yard Deere Run. side.
He hit the dangerous left hole with a 7-iron and his ball kicked straight into the target.
But then I started turning left.
The ball was very even and fell into a hole high, but several feet into the pond, smashing any chance he had on the 59. Straka looked down at his throw in disgust and groaned.
“I was just trying to go to the middle of the green and let it feed left toward the hole,” Straka told CBS after he finished. “That was the first bad shot I hit today.
“59 was nowhere in my head, really. I knew I had a chance, but in this case, the only thing that matters is trying to win the golf tournament.”
However, Straka still had something to play for: heroism.
Starting the 4th at noon, his 11-under round overturned that deficit to a four-shot lead, with his closest chaser, overnight leader Brendon Todd, six holes behind on the 13th.
After some initial confusion over determining where Straka entered the penalty area, Straka dropped 105 yards to the hole and tied it to 12 feet for a chance to limit the damage to a mere bogey.
As he had done all day, Straka put a good roll on it, but the ball broke downfield.
“I hit a good shot,” he said. “It broke a little more than I thought. And yes, there is still a chance.”
Double bogey still meant the Austrian’s career low to 62, but his lead was reduced to just two with plenty of holes for Todd and Alex Smalley to catch.
The win would be the second of his career for Straka. He won the Honda Classic a year earlier and later lost in a playoff to Will Zlatoris for the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He also lost in a playoff earlier in the season to Mackenzie Hughes at Sanderson Farms.
The last round of a sub-60 came three years ago when Scottie Scheffler defeated TPC Boston for a 12-under 59 in the Northern Trust’s second round.