Sepp Straka posts final-round 62 to win the John Deere Classic

It was a coronation mixed with a 59 watch.

Then with one ill-timed swing, Sepp Straka gave the chasers hope down the stretch at the John Deere Classic.

Straka carded a front-nine 28 Sunday at TPC Deere Run, storming into the lead after beginning Sunday four strokes back of 54-hole leader Brendon Todd. Then he kept the pedal down with four consecutive birdies on Nos. 11-14, pulling away from the chase pack with birdie putts of 7, 14, 9 and 5 feet respectively.

The 30-year-old Austria native then cooled off, relatively speaking, with mid-range two-putt pars at Nos. 15 or 16, then was unable to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker at the par-5 17th, settling for a par. He stood four strokes clear of Todd and Alex Smalley as he arrived at the final hole, then split the fairway off the tee with a baby draw.

The stage was set: Birdie for 59, par for 60. Either way, he appeared positioned for a relatively stress-free wait as the final groups worked through the closing stretch in the Quad Cities.

But disaster struck at the final hour. Straka tugged his approach into the pond guarding the par-4 18th hole, leading to a double bogey.

“Not a good shot; pulled it,” Straka told CBS afterward. “I was really just trying to go middle of the green, let it feed down left toward the hole. Pulled it early, and the wind drove it over to the water. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the first bad shot I hit today, I think, so I’ll give myself a little bit of slack there.

“Still got a chance."

Rather than a potentially historic sub-60 score, it was a 9-under 62. Still a scintillating round, and it managed to clinch him his second TOUR title.

Straka concluded the week at 21 under, then was left to wait for Todd and Smalley to come home. He watched from the range as they failed to hole out on the final hole and was congratulated by his caddie and fellow players.