Sepp Straka isn’t one to draw attention to himself but he has become impossible to overlook these days.
With his victory in the Truist Championship Sunday at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, Straka joined Rory McIlroy as the only multiple winners on the PGA Tour this season, adding his first signature event title to the American Express tournament he won in January.
Straka won by two strokes over Shane Lowry and Justin Thomas, finishing at 16-under 264 on the Wissahickon course northwest of Philadelphia. Straka led by one stroke playing the long, par-4 18th and hit a brilliant 4-iron shot from a fairway bunker to set up his closing par while Lowry, playing alongside him, three-putted the last.
Asked what he was most proud of on Sunday, Straka said: “Just hanging in there. I hit a lot of really good shots and made a lot of mistakes. Just hang in there and give myself a chance.”
Straka led by two at the turn but consecutive bogeys at the 10th and 11th holes dropped him into a tie with Lowry. Over the closing holes, Lowry watched a pitch shot for an eagle at the par-5 15th miss by inches then had a par putt lip out on the 16th, giving Straka the lead.
The Austrian-born Straka can lay claim to being the best former University of Georgia golfer on the PGA Tour these days, high praise considering Russell Henley, Brian Harman, Harris English, Keith Mitchell and Chris Kirk are also former Bulldogs.
Straka has also put himself in prime position to be part of captain Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black in September. Straka, Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy all finished seventh or better, continuing the trend of likely members of the European side flexing their muscle through the first five months of the season.
McIlroy, in his first individual event since his Masters victory, finished tied for seventh at Philadelphia Cricket Club. He heads into this week’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club having won there four times.
“I think I’m in a good place. I didn’t feel like I played all that well this week, I still finished seventh. Even what I feel is my bad golf, I’m still there or thereabouts,” McIlroy said.
“A couple little improvements and little tweaks, especially going to a place I love like Quail Hollow, and I feel like I’m in a really good spot.”
Another player heading to Quail Hollow on a roll is Thomas. Before finishing joint runner-up at Truist, Thomas won his previous start at the RBC Heritage. He won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in 2017.
A short miss at 15 and, like Lowry, a bogey at the 16th cost Thomas a chance to win.
“Starting three back to have a putt on 15 to tie for the lead, I definitely would have taken that at the start of the day,” Thomas said.
“I’m a little disappointed in myself on 16 for pushing it too much and trying to attack there. I had two really, really good players that were playing really well behind us to where I felt like I needed to.
“I fought hard, played well, and gave myself a chance, which is what I wanted.”
Ron Green Jr.