SILVIS — From the very beginning Sunday, things seemed as though they weren’t going to go Sebastian Munoz’s way.
The 28-year-old native of Colombia led the John Deere Classic by one stroke entering the final round, but Munoz’ tee shot on No. 1 settled into a sidehill lie in the deep rough to the left of the fairway.
Then things got worse.
His second shot careened out of the rough at almost a 90-degree angle and left him scrambling to even get a bogey.
"It was just an awkward lie and the second shot on No. 1 shanked and it kind of makes you think ‘What's going on?’" Munoz said. "It took me three holes to readjust from that and then I did a good job from there."
Munoz recovered to finish the tournament at 16 under par, three strokes behind winner Lucas Glover. He tied for fourth, earned $248,000 and moved up 10 spots in the FedExCup standings.
But he was left to wonder what might have been after he held the tournament lead following both the first and third rounds and was only one stroke back at the conclusion of the second round.
"I thought I gave myself a chance after a rough start that I had today," said Munoz, who took bogeys are Nos. 1, 3 and 9 Sunday before finishing strong on the back nine. "I missed a short one on 12 and then I bogeyed 14, and you can't bogey that hole. But I’m proud of myself.
"I had a rough start and was able to kind of stay in it, kind of kept the chance alive. It will build some experience and we'll be ready for next time."
Munoz was among the handful of golfers who boarded a jet in Moline to go to England to play in the British Open this week.
"Right now I’m excited to go over to England and see what's the weather, and just excited to move on," he said.
