Straka misses out on 59 but wins John Deere Classic

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).

American Corpuz lifts US Women’s Open for the firsttime
Allisen Corpuz won the US Women’s Open in Pebble Beach, California, on Sunday, to claim her first major title, sinking six birdies in a final round of three-under-par 69 to finish three shots clear of the field.
The unflappable American kept her poise in tough conditions at the wind-whipped Pacific Coast course and was the only player to finish all four rounds under par, carding a nine-under 279 total. England’s Charley Hull (66) and South Korea’s Shin Jiyai (68) tied for second after finishing at six under for the tournament, with Japan’s Nasa Hataoka (76) and American Bailey Tardy (73) sharing fourth place three shots further back.
Corpuz said the week had felt like “a dream come true”.
“Every few holes I just kind of looked out and said, you know, I’m out here at Pebble Beach, there’s not many places that are better than this,” she said at the trophy ceremony. “Really just tried to stay grounded and keep playing my game.”
Corpuz, who came close at the opening major of the year when she finished tied for fourth at the Chevron Championship, held her nerve on the front nine as three birdies were undermined by a pair of bogeys.
She took control after the turn with three more birdies before dropping a shot on the par-three 17th. Allowing a slow smile to crawl across her face as she strode down 18, Corpuz kept her emotions in check until the final putt, wiping away happy tears and soaking in the acclaim of the crowd.
It was a moment of redemption after her disappointment at the Chevron, where she had a share of the lead through 54 holes but failed to close it out in a lacklustre final round.
“My coach called me this morning and said, ‘No one’s going to give it to you,’” she said.
“And I think I’ve just played a little conservatively in the past and just really went out there and told myself I had the game to do it today.” She leaves Pebble Beach with the biggest paycheck in women’s championship golf, a record $2mn, playing in only her second year as a pro on the Tour.
England’s Hull got off to a superb start with an eagle on the par-five second and charged up the leaderboard with six birdies offset by two bogeys.
“I’m quite an aggressive person when it comes to life,” said Hull. “I like to go for pins. At the end of the day it’s just a game, and might as well make it fun.”
Japan’s Hataoka came into the round as the overnight leader a shot clear of Corpuz but blew up on the back nine with four bogeys, leaving her with a four-over 76.