South Africa has another PGA TOUR winner after Dylan Frittelli surged to his first PGA TOUR title at the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run.
While the rest of the leaders faltered, the two-time European Tour was bogey-free and closed with a seven-under 64 for a two-stroke victory over Russell Henley.
Oh, and now’s he off to The Open Championship.
‘I’m sure it’s going to be a fun flight,’ said Frittelli, who had tied for 46th in each of his last two starts.
A birdie on the par-five 17th after blasting out of a greenside bunker to 11 feet had him saunter down 18 where he closed with a par.
‘I don’t want to say it was easy out there. It just felt a whole lot easier than it has been the last few weeks,’ he said. ‘I calmed my nerves down.’
Henley shot a tournament-best 61. Andrew Landry, who opened Sunday in a two-way tie for the lead, was 18 under after a 69.
Rookie Collin Morikawa (66), the runner-up last week at the 3M Open, and Chris Stroud (67) followed at 17 under. Morikawa hit all 18 greens in regulation.
Frittelli, who opened with rounds of 66, 68 and 65, started the final round with three straight birdies.
And then came something of a trademark chip-in on 19 before he rolled in a birdie from 20 foot on the next to take the lead which he never relinquished.
Frittelli, who made the winning putt for the University of Texas in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, became the second player from that Longhorns team to win at TPC Deere Run after Jordan Spieth won here in 2013 and 2015.
