The Punter's De-Brief: Straka and Hojgaard claim the spoils

• Straka shoots the lights out to win the JDC

• Rasmus wins in his homeland for the first time

• Read my Barbasol Championship preview here

• Read my Scottish Open preview here

Brendon Todd begun the final round of the John Deere Classic leading by a stroke, but he was caught by three players before he'd even teed off.

It had looked like being a tight tussle and a tough tournament to call, but pre-event 75.074/1 chance Sepp Straka, who had been matched in-running at 1000.0999/1, soon took control.

The Austrian had begun the day trading at 70.069/1 and trailing by four in a tie for 13^th but a birdie-eagle start set the tone and he was in front after playing his first seven holes in six-under-par.

After turning in 28, it looked like he may be cooling off when he only parred the par five 10^th but he put the peddle back down to birdie the next four holes and go five strokes clear.

With the tournament seemingly sewn up, the only thing left to decide was just how low he'd go.

At 11-under-par with four to play, he was odd-on to break 60 but pars at 15 and 16 were followed by another at the par five 17^th when he missed his birdie putt from nine feet.

Instead of birdying the last to break 60, he brought disaster into play by chunking his approach into the water.

Pair close gap before Straka seals it

Despite the double-bogey at the last, Straka's nine-under-par 62 saw him still leading by two but not for long.

Just minutes after Straka had signed his card, the 54-hole leader, Todd, got back to within one with a birdie at 14. His playing partner, Alex Smalley, also made a three there to close to within two of the clubhouse leader.

Both men gave themselves a chance to birdie 15 and the market fancied their chances. Smalley hit a low of 4.131/10 and Todd, who had given himself a birdie putt from just six feet to draw alongside Straka, was matched at a low of 1.758/11. However, Smalley's putt slipped by the hole and Todd hit his attempt far too hard. That was as close as anyone got to getting to the Austrian.

Smalley parred his way in, and Todd three-putted the par three 16^th from just 23 feet, having birdied the hole on each of the first three days. Having traded at odds-on just minutes earlier, Todd's chance was gone when he hit a wild tee-shot on the par five 17^th.

It was quite painful to watch but it was yet another example of the market favouring the players on the course too strongly. Even if Todd had holed his birdie putt at 15, he still had three holes to play to get past the leader. That was never going to be easy.

Rasmus roars home for first Danish success

Over on the DP World Tour, Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard had begun the final round of the Made In HimmerLand trailing by as many as six strokes.

Despite a fabulous rally from off the pace, it really didn't look like he'd quite done enough when he teed off on the 18^th hole on -5 for the day, trailing by three.

The pre-event 36.035/1 chance was matched as high as 960.0959/1 in-running but just after he'd split the fairway on the treacherous last, things were happening fast on the par four 13^th.

Sitting in second and trailing by a stroke, the 54-hole leader, Nacho Elvira, missed the fairway miles right before the leader, Robert MacIntyre, hit it even further right.

MacIntyre found his ball in the deep rough but just as Hojgaard drained his birdie putt from 20 feet on the last to post -13, Macintyre took a swipe at his ball before declaring: "It's a disaster".

The ball just buried itself deeper into the weeds and, after taking a drop for an unplayable lie, the Scotsman eventually made a seven to fall to -12. Elvira made a five to fall back to -13 and, while all that was going on, Richie Ramsay birdied the 14^th to draw alongside Elvira and Hojgaard.

MacIntyre, who had been matched at as low as 1.232/9, missed a great chance on the 14^th to rejoin the leaders from inside seven feet, just as Ramsay edged in front with a birdie at the funky little par three 16^th.

MacIntyre and Elvira both bogeyed the 15^th just as Ramsay played his approach on 17 to inside eight feet and the Scotsman hit a low of just 1.21/5 but the drama was far from over.

Ramsay left his birdie chance to go two clear short, just as Elvira birdied the 16^th to give himself a chance. The Spaniard then birdied the 17^th to draw alongside Ramsay on -14, just as the Scotsman hit his second on the 18^th into the water.

Having hit it left and right off the tee all day, Elvira hit a fabulous drive on the 72^nd hole and he was matched at just 1.091/11 as Ramsay fell away with a double-bogey six.

In need of a par four for the win, Elvira hit a decent enough approach, but it took a hard bounce to skip through to the collar of rough alongside the greenside bunker and after a duffed chip, he did very well to two-putt for bogey to get into extra-time.

Play-off drama

The playoff went on and on as both men parred the 18^th hole five times before the Spaniard eventually cracked, hitting his second shot way long on to the practice area and out of bounds.

Having endured neck and rib injuries, it had been a difficult year for Rasmus, but that's all forgotten now.

He's the first Danish winner of the Made in HimmerLand and he was understandably emotional afterwards.

Open Money for Smith after LIV Tour win

With the Open Championship now just 10 days away, the defending champion, Cam Smith, looks to be coming into form nicely.

Smith finished a stroke ahead of fellow Aussie Marc Leishman and Patrick Reed and he's now trading at just 16/117.00. That's the shortest he's been matched at since the market first opened.

We've got two co-sanctioned events to look forward to this week, ahead of the Open Championship next week - the Barbasol Championship, which I've previewed here, and the Scottish Open, which I've previewed here.

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