Hayden Springer posts historic opening round at John Deere Classic

Hayden Springer joined a rarified group.

The 27-year-old golfer notched just the 14th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history on Thursday when he posted a 12-under 59 in the John Deere Classic in Illinois.

He fell one stroke short of tying the PGA Tour record, joining 13 others with his 59, according to ESPN , and leads the field by two strokes entering Friday’s action.

“Kind of at a loss for words in terms of being able to do that,” Springer said, per ESPN. “I feel like that’s one of the rare things in golf, so to have that opportunity and pull it off, it feels pretty special.”

This showing seemingly came out of nowhere since the TCU product had missed his last five cuts on the PGA Tour.

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Springer set the tone for his day with an eagle on the second hole en route to a 27 on the front nine, eight strokes better than par.

He added six birdies during that stretch.

His birdie on the sixth hole gave him an early idea he may be in line for a special day.

“I was like, ‘OK, I feel like I’m not missing today. I’m pretty much holing any putt I look at,'” Springer said. “So probably that putt going in was kind of the trigger of, ‘OK, we might be able to go super low.'”

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The Nashville native shot par on the first five holes of the back nine before finishing strong, including an eagle on the 17th hole and a birdie on the final hole.

His 59 tied the course record at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill., previously set by by Paul Goydos in 2010.

Springer also became the second player in recent history to post a 59, joining Cameron Young , who tallied the score June 22 at the Travelers Championship.

His historic round bodes well for his tournament chances, with ESPN reporting two of the previous three golfers to post that score in an opening round ultimately won the tournament.

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However, FanDuel had him as the No. 2 option entering Friday’s competition with +850 odds, trailing Davis Thompson (+800), whom he leads by four strokes.

Springer tees off at 2:55 p.m. ET on Friday, hoping to widen his lead going into the weekend.

This historic moment follows a challenging time for Springer and his family.

He and his wife Emma’s daughter, Sage, was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 in 2021, which is when a baby has three copies of chromosome 18 instead of two, per ESPN.

Sage died last Nov. 13 at the age of 3, per the PGA Tour .

“I don’t know if it gives me inner strength, but definitely tests you and you kind of have to find ways to work through it and to continue to move forward,” Springer said, per ESPN. “Most of that is our faith for us, just leaning into that and knowing that we’re secure in that.

“We’ve had some challenging things happen,” he added, per the outlet. “But at the end of the day I also want to compete and I love doing that.”

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