PGA Tour rookie Hayden Springer shoots 59 with dramatic finish on John Deere Route 1

Hayden Springer shot dead the 14th^th score below 60 in PGA Tour history during the first round of the John Deere Classic on Thursday.

Springer made an eagle from 55 yards out on the par-5 17th^th and then rolled in a 12-foot, 8-inch birdie putt on the final hole to shoot 12-under 59 at TPC Deere Run.

“I feel good. I don’t know how I can do it,” Springer, who had never shot a lower 61, even in practice, said after his round. “I feel like it’s one of the few things in golf, so to have that opportunity and to do it, it’s pretty special.”

It’s the second 59 in three weeks on the Tour as Cameron Young drew this number in the third round of the Travelers Championship. It is also the second 59 in the history of the tournament, after Paul Goydos who did it for the first time in 2010.

Neither Young (9th) nor Goydos (2nd) have won their respective events. Springer currently holds the lead in the standings with a four-shot lead over England’s Harry Hall.

Jim Furyk holds the Tour record with a 58 in the final round of the 2016 Travelers. Furyk is also one of 13 players to have shot a 59. He did not win either tournament. Only five times has a player managed to go under 60 on Tour and win, the last time it was Brandt Snedeker at the 2018 Wyndham Championship.

Carried by the memories of his late daughterSpringer first earned his Tour card in December at Q-School. He arrived this week in Silvis, Illinois, 127th in the FedExCup points standings after missing six consecutive cuts.

Frustrated by his lack of success, Springer said he reconnected with his childhood coach, Rosey Bartlett, director of instruction at Trophy Club (Texas).

“She’s been coaching me since I was 6 years old,” Springer said. “So I took a little break from her for a couple years, and then these last few tournaments, before last week, these last six tournaments where I didn’t make the cut, I felt like I needed to do something, so she was able to help me out.”

Immediately. Springer tied for 10th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic last week. And now this.

Springer’s scoring Thursday from his favorite positions began with a 13-foot eagle putt on the par-5 second, followed by four straight birdies. He added two more birdies on Nos. 8 and 9 to post a 9-under-par 27.

After five straight pars to start the final nine, Springer birdied the 15th hole before its dramatic end.

“It’s special,” he said. “It’s nice to be here and have played a good round of golf.

“Tomorrow is a new day. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I just try to do the exact same thing I do almost every day, follow the same routine, the same process, and go from there.”