Sepp Straka

He was born in Austria and lived in Vienna until age 14, when his family moved to Valdosta, Georgia. He played for the Austrian National Team. First Austrian-born player to earn a PGA Tour card. Has a twin brother Sam, they grew up playing golf and having an extreme passion for the game. In 2010 when it was time to decide which college to attend, they both decided to go to Georgia and share a home for four years. Both played a lot during their first two years at Georgia, but in 2013 Sepp decided to redshirt his junior season. Sepp decided to stay at Georgia for five years, played that last year, and had a breakout season, finishing in the top 20 five times. That last year was also different because he was living without his brother for the first time in his life. In some ways, it helped Sepp gain some confidence that helped transform his career. He qualified for the 2015 U.S. Amateur and made it to the round of 32 before losing to Derek Bard 6 & 5. When Straka decided to turn pro in 2016, he qualified for the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada. He played in six events and only made one cut, T-10th at the Cape Breton Open. Later that year went through Korn Ferry Tour Q-School and finished in the finals T-23rd, getting his card for 2017.
2017 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 25; Rounds Played - 83; in money - 17; top -10 Finishes - 1; Scoring Average - 70.54 (rank 66th); Season money $70,555 (rank 71st), Finals Money $15,618 (66th), Priority rank (78th); Best finish: 7th Mexico Championship.
2018 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments entered - 26; Rounds Played - 84; in money - 16; top -10 Finishes - 2; Scoring Average - 70.26 (rank 57th); Season money $158,080 (rank 31st), Finals Money $47,844 (22nd), Priority rank (40th); Won the KC Golf Classic and was T-3rd in the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship. Thanks to the high finish were able to move up to 22nd place in the finals money and get a PGA Tour card for 2019.
2019 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour events, making 13 cuts with one top-ten finish. He finished 115th in the FedexCup standings. T-13th at the Farmers Insurance Open, T-11th at the Rocket Mortgage. At the Barbasol Championship finished 3rd, three shots back of winner Jim Herman. In the FedExCup Playoffs missed the cut at Northern Trust.
2020 Notes: He played in 25 PGA Tour events, making 15 cuts and three top-ten finishes. He was 79th in the FedExCup standings. He was T-4th at the Houston Open, three shots back of winner Lanto Griffin. He was T-4th at the American Express, six back of winner Andrew Landry. He was T8th at the Rocket Mortgage. In the FedExCup Playoffs, he missed the cut at the Northern Trust.
2021 Notes: Played in 31 PGA Tour events, making 19 cuts with three top-ten finishes. He was 106th in the FedExCup standings. Was T-5th at the Houston Open, five shots back of winner Carlos Ortriz. Was T-9th at the 2021 Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, five shots back of winner Joel Dahmen. Shot a final-round 66 to finish T-10th at the Travelers Championship, four shots back of the English/Hickok playoff. Represented Austria at the Tokyo Olympic Games, finishing T-10th, a shot back of the six-man playoff for the bronze medal. In the FedExCup Playoffs missed the cut at the Northern Trust.
2022 Notes: Played in 33 PGA Tour events, making 19 cuts with five top-ten finishes. Was T-7th in the FedExCup standings. Shot a final-round 66 to win The Honda Classic by one shot over Shane Lowry, earning his first PGA Tour title in his 95th career start at the age of 28 years, 9 months, 26 days. Became the first player from Austria to win on the PGA Tour. Entered the final round trailing Daniel Berger by five shots. First-round 71 marked the highest start by a Tour winner since Rory McIlroy at the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship (72). Finished T-9th at The Players Championship, five shots back of winner Cameron Smith. He collected his third top-10 of the season with a T-3rd at the RBC Heritage, which was a shot out of the Jordan Spieth/Patrick Cantlay playoff. At the U.S. Open started a run of six missed cuts, which ended at the FedEx St. Jude Championship when Straka ended 72 holes tied with Will Zalatoris, who won on the third hole of a playoff. Was T-28th at the BMW Championship and T-7th at the Tour Championship.
2023 Notes: He played in 28 PGA Tour events, making 20 cuts and five top-ten finishes. He was 14th in the FedExCup standings. He started his year finishing 2nd at the Sanderson Farms Championship, losing a playoff to Mackenzie Hughes. In the defense of his Honda Classic title finished T-5th, five back of the Chris Kirk/Eric Cole playoff. Shot a final round 65 to finish T-7th at the PGA Championship. Little did he think after a first-round 73 at the John Deere Classic that he would have to struggle to make the cut. He sat T-133rd and made the cut with a second-round 63. With a third round 65 got to T-14th but was 4 shots back. In the final round got off to a hot start shooting 7-under 28 on the front nine. He added four more birdies on the back before hitting his approach into the water on his final hole making double bogey but still shooting 62. His 21 under total held up as he won by two shots over Brendon Todd and Alex Smalley. It was his second win in his 137th PGA Tour start as he was 30 years, 2 months and 8 days old. Since the PGA Tour has been keeping records since 1983, his T-133rd position after the first round is the lowest position for a player who would go on to win. The previous low was T-123rd by Ian Poulter at the 2018 Houston Open. Straka's final round 62 marks his career-low round on the PGA Tour and ties four players for the lowest round on the PGA Tour with a double bogey since 1983 (Adam Scott/R1/2023 Travelers Championship, Harry Higgs/R3/2023 American Express, Patrick Sheehan/R1/2005 Charles Schwab Challenge, Robert Wren/R4/1988 Valero Texas Open). Was T-2nd at the Open Championship, six shots back of winner Brian Harman. In the playoffs was 63rd at the FedEx St. Jude, T-37th at the BMW Championship, and T-14th at the Tour Championship. He played in his first Ryder Cup and had a 1-2-0 record, but lost his singles match with Justin Thomas 2 up. Ended the year 2nd at the Hero World Challenge, three shots back of winner Scottie Scheffler.
2024 Notes: Was T-5th at the RBC Heritage, shot 72 in the final round to finish five shots back of the winner Scottie Scheffler. Was T-8th at the Wells Fargo Championship, again struggled to a final round 74 to finish T-8th. Was T-5th in back to back events at the Charles Schwab Challenge and Memorial Tournament.