Zach Steffen’s score on the first hole of his PGA Tour debut may have given the impression that he was ready to handle the pressure of playing on golf’s highest level, but his wobbly knees hitting his tee shot on No. 1 told another story.

With a Herculean jump from golf’s mini tours to the PGA Tour, competing against the likes of major champions Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson, some nerves were to be expected.

The 2013 ISU grad who had never competed in front of more than “15 to 20 people” had galleries numbering in the thousands to see him and 153 other golfers tee it up on July 9 at the John Deere Classic, played 200 miles east of Ames in Silvis, Ill.

“On the first tee, if someone was closely watching my knees, they may have been shaking,” Steffen, a Des Moines native and Lincoln High School graduate, said with a laugh. “But it was really cool to roll in a long birdie putt on the first hole and be two-under[-par] through 10 holes.”

Despite the pressure of competing for a $4.7 million total purse instead of the $55,000 up for grabs at the Bakker Crossing Charity Pro-Am on the Dakotas Tour, where he was originally slated to compete, Steffen got off to a dream start by turning in a front nine score of 33.

For a moment, it appeared that the underdog who earned one of four spots into the field via an 18-hole Monday qualifier might make the 36-hole cut, which reduced the field to the top 70 golfers and ties.

“Realistically, one of my main goals was to soak up as much as I could. Enjoy it and try to make the cut,” Steffen said after his second round on Friday. “Then if I had made the cut, try to get in the top 10 and [automatically qualify] into the next [non-major PGA Tour] tournament.”

After his momentum was broken with a 42 on the back nine in round one on Thursday, Steffen tumbled down the leaderboard, which might have been a blessing in disguise as he was freed to enjoy the moment while he could.

Once a scarcely used reserve on the ISU men’s golf team in his senior season in 2012-13, Steffen showed glimpses of the diligent work he has put into his game since turning professional, but also showed glimpses that perhaps he bit off more than he could chew.

The 24-year-old admirably avoided disaster in his second round at TPC at Deere Run, but failed to make a birdie to offset his seven bogeys that placed him 154th out of 154 golfers.

“He really didn’t start to get comfortable until his last four or five holes [of round two],” his father, Brian, said on the challenge of acclimating to a PGA Tour environment.

With the galleries depleted and the sun descending near conclusion of play around 7 p.m., Steffen and playing partners Cameron Percy and Jonathan Randolph seemingly had the course to themselves as they completed the finishing few holes.

The scene was not unlike that of his familiar haunts on the Midwest’s mini-tours, but with friends and family clamoring for memorabilia after his round and a video board behind the ninth green displaying his own likeness, it was more special than that.

To compete in the John Deere Classic alongside a handful of top-100 players in the world is undoubtedly the crowning achievement for a player who will be able to bask in his 15 minutes of fame when he returns to grinding away on the mini tours.

Competing in a PGA Tour event with his father by his side made it that much sweeter for Steffen.

“I wouldn’t want anyone else on the bag,” Steffen said. “He’s always there supporting me, pushing me. He’s definitely my biggest supporter. To have him with me was really cool.”