Sepp Straka will return to Georgia in a few weeks. He’s headed to the Masters after pulling off a great comeback to win the Honda Classic.
Straka, trailing by five strokes entering the final round, holed a birdie in the rain on the final hole and ended up beating Shane Lowry by one stroke to become the first Austrian winner in PGA Tour history. He shot a 4-under 66 on Sunday to finish at 10 under and earn $1.44 million.
“The words just aren’t coming out of me right now,” Straka said. “It’s crazy. I really don’t know what to think.”
He sure knew how to play.
A first round 71 was followed by a 64 on Friday, a 69 on Saturday and a 66 on Sunday. He was 4 under on his last 10 holes, 3 under on the last five, finishing with a flourish while most others were discouraged.
Lowry shot his third consecutive round of 67, finishing the week at 9 under. First-round leader Kurt Kitayama (68) was alone in third at 8-under, and Daniel Berger – who led by six strokes with 19 holes left in the tournament – simply fell apart on Sunday, his round of 74 leaving him 7-under for the week and three strokes behind Straka.
“Just one bad round,” Berger said. “It can happen at any time. I’m not going to dwell on it too much. I just didn’t hit quality shots at the right time. I probably would have had a chance to win if I would have made a few more putts. I don’t think I made a single putt today.”
He didn’t. Berger made two birdies on Sunday, both chip-ins, one from the sand and one from a grass slope.
Lowry needed to make a 45-foot birdie on the final hole to force a playoff. He missed, and with that, the Honda had a new champion – one who came into the week ranked No. 176 in the world, has never been higher than No. 129 on that list, and whose claim to fame as a professional was probably being the first-round leader at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
He is now a PGA Tour winner.
“I hit the ball really well today,” said Straka.
I still can’t believe it
The win ensures that Straka – who played his college golf in Georgia – will play in the Masters in April. His wife took a flight to be at the course on Sunday, just in case, and Straka hadn’t even seen her until he got to the practice green before heading out on the course.
They will have plenty to celebrate after Straka matched the biggest win this season after a comeback. Luke List was also trailing by five going into the final round in San Diego last month.
“I still can’t believe it,” Straka said.
The undoing for Berger began Saturday when he came to the 18th tee with a six-shot lead and then bogeyed. Still, the five-shot lead through 54 holes was the largest in Honda history and for a hometown man – his home is 15 minutes from PGA National – the ingredients were there for a memorable victory.
On Sunday he had other ideas. He was paired with Lowry for the final round, and it didn’t take long for everything to change.
Lowry holed for birdie on the fourth. The lead was cut to one. Berger bogeyed the fifth. The lead was gone. And when Berger missed a 15-footer for par on the sixth, Lowry was suddenly up by one.
“I didn’t play well, so I didn’t win the golf tournament,” Berger said.
Straka was in the group five strokes behind going into Sunday, then bogeyed the first hole. But he gradually clawed his way back: a birdie on the par-4 ninth hole took him to 7 under par, followed by another birdie on the 14th.
A 20-foot birdie on the 16th brought him to a tie. It was then that the weather decided to show up as well.
They both ended up doing so, each with a shot from about 50 feet and eagle putts. Straka made two putts, then waited to see if Lowry – who rushed a bad tee shot during the downpour on the 18th – could get to 10 under par.
He couldn’t. And Straka is on his way back to Georgia.
“That bad weather came just as we were hitting our tee shot on 18, which was the worst break I’ve had in a long time,” Lowry said. “Yeah, it’s tough to take.”
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