SILVIS – Sepp Straka did some incredible things at TPC Deere Run this week as he won his second PGA Tour title.
Incredibly, in both Tour victories, he opened the four-round events with over-par rounds. At Deere Run, he carded a Thursday 2-over 73 before rallying to finish at 21-under for a two-stroke victory over Brendon Todd and Alex Smalley.
After that opening round, he was 11 strokes behind Jonas Blixt, who opened with a 62, and was tied for 133rd place in the 156-man field. That allowed him to set the tournament record for largest comeback after 18 holes which had been eight strokes, most recently accomplished by Jordan Spieth in his 2015 victory.
He also closed his tourney with a less-than-memorable shot that led to a double bogey on the final hole, the second time this season that the winner doubled the closing hole.
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His final three rounds played in 190 was a record-closing 54-hole total by a shot.
Good golf or bad golf, Straka wasn’t flustered by much of anything. He never got too high or too low.
But maybe the most remarkable of his accomplishments, Straka won the tournament with a caddie who was working with him for the first time.
Duane Bock, who said he normally totes for Kevin Kisner, happened to be in the right place at the right time to pick up Straka’s bag.
“For whatever reason, our personalities do match,” said Bock after tucking away the pinflag of the 18th hole in a caddie tradition. “Kevin didn’t play this week, so I filled in for Sepp and here we are.”
Straka’s second Tour title, worth $1,332,000, was directly attributed to his putting. After making just 68 feet of putts on Thursday, Straka added almost 400 feet of putts in the final three rounds. He finished the tournament fourth in strokes gained putting at 6.771.
In Sunday’s 62, he needed just 22 putts in his 16 greens in regulation. That followed 25 putts in 16 greens in regulation in his 63.
He proved that putting is the difference at this level.
While nothing major, Straka did admit that a slight change in his putting setup after Thursday’s round helped change his fortunes.
“Tim Yelverton, who I work with on putting, texted me on Thursday night and said my toe was sticking up a little bit,” said Straka. “So I got my hand a little higher and flattened that thing out. Yeah, started online and got hot.”
Along with some solid ball-striking, that change set a new course of action for the 30-year-old.
“All week we tried to manage the game right, hit the ball in the right spots and give himself opportunities,” said Bock. “The first day the putter kind of let him down, but he played, really, really well.
“When he finished on Thursday, I made sure to let him know that he played some really good golf and that we didn’t make any putts. Then the putter got hot for the rest of the week.”
And that led to Straka bagging his second Tour title.
Now what happens with the newfound lucrative pairing?
Bock said that Kisner is not playing in the Open Championship in two weeks, so he will again pick up with Straka and try to keep their magic going.
“We’ll go from there,” said Bock, “and see how it all shakes out.”
