Ryder Cup 2023: Sepp Straka – An Austrian writes history

The 2023 Ryder Cup has one more Austrian in its history. After compatriot Bernd Wiesberger, who experienced European defeat up close in Whistling Straits in 2021, Sepp Straka is the next man from the Alpine nation on Team Europe. A strong year from Straka is made even better at the end by the Captain’s Pick of Luke Donald. The 30-year-old attracted attention with strong finishes at the majors and celebrated his second title on the PGA Tour. Despite his personal closeness to the USA, Straka will be looking to bring the title back to Europe against Zach Johnson’s men and claim his next success.

It will be a Ryder Cup debut for @seppstraka 🇦🇹#TeamEuropepic.twitter.com/juGsl9zjVG

— Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 4, 2023

Sepp Straka at the Ryder Cup 2023

For the first time, Sepp Straka, one of four rookies in Luke Donald’s team, will tee it up at a Ryder Cup. For Donald, who raved about Straka several times, it was probably one of the easier Captain’s Picks. That’s because Straka played a terrific season and was able to put his name in the headlines, especially at the majors. A strong showing at the 2023 PGA Championship in May resulted in a shared 7th place finish at Oak Hill Country Club. Then followed an even bigger exclamation mark at the British Open 2023 in July.

Sepp Straka is the second Ryder Cup pick and he probably played the shot of the year at The Open on the way to coming T2 after winning the week before at the John Deere. Great addition to the side 💪🇪🇺

pic.twitter.com/bjpFnqKKP6 — Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) September 4, 2023

Behind Brian Harman, Straka played a strong weekend and secured the shared second place. Despite the rain at Royal Liverpool on the English east coast, Straka was to become the first Austrian with a top-3 finish at a major. But the Viennese was not only able to convince at the majors this year. A second title on the PGA Tour is also on the Austrian’s shelf after winning the John Deere Classic in July. The tall 30-year-old secured the tournament in Illinois after a closing round of 62 to finish 21 strokes under par and two strokes clear of the runner-up. In the end, he should win 1.3 million US dollars in prize money.

Ryder Cup 2023: Sepp Straka commits to the European homeland

Team Europe will travel to Rome with no fewer than four players who will be competing in an edition of the Ryder Cup for the first time. Straka learned of the nomination while driving: “It was great, it was a big relief because if you don’t qualify, you just don’t know. It’s up to the captain’s choice and it’s an honor that he had confidence in me, and hopefully I can reward that with a good performance in Rome.”

Sepp Straka was able to gain his first experience of team competitions at this year’s Hero Cup, which apparently also convinced Luke Donald. In the duel with the team from Great Britain and Ireland against the continental Europeans, Straka went to the United Arab Emirates. There, he was already able to do a lot of advertising for himself in January and, among other things, celebrated a success with his 5-and-4 win in the singles against Ewan Ferguson and secured the triumph in the duel with the island players around Tommy Fleetwood. But it is precisely the latter that Straka has nothing but fond memories of with a view to the Ryder Cup: “My favorite is simply the combination of Molinari and Fleetwood, those guys were incredible. I think that’s probably my favorite team in Ryder Cup history and probably my favorite moment.”

.@seppstraka throwing darts🎯#TeamEuropepic.twitter.com/zg1vp2yKxC

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 4, 2023

Sepp Straka has spent more than half of his life in the United States, but was born in the Austrian capital, the son of a native and an American. Straka therefore also holds U.S. citizenship and is known on the tour for his American accent. But whether the native of Vienna ever considered playing for Team USA may be doubted: “I have never played golf for America. Since my first start at the Lyoness Open in Austria, my first professional start, I have always played under the Austrian flag. I played all my junior golf for Austria in the European Boys Teams and the European Amateur Team, so yes, I always assumed I was playing for Europe, and I’ve always played for the Austrian flag and represented it proudly.”

Sepp Straka: First Austrian to win PGA Tour title

Sepp Straka has earned a total of more than $13 million since joining the PGA Tour in 2019. In addition to this year’s John Deere Classic, he also won the Honda Classic in 2022, making him the first Austrian winner on the PGA Tour. The Olympics are also on Straka’s CV. He already represented his colors at the 2020 (2021) Olympic Games in Tokyo and secured a shared tenth place. The sum of his good results is proof that the Viennese has established himself as an integral part of the European golfing elite. Thanks to his performance in the last two years, Straka has played himself more and more into the focus and into the Ryder Cup considerations. Luke Donald has not forgotten this either and is now hoping for the qualities of the big hitter from Austria at the 2023 Ryder Cup.

The WITB of Sepp Straka at the Ryder Cup 2023

The Austrian member of Team Europe uses the latest models from TaylorMade for his woods and driver. With the Stealth 2 Plus he chooses the adjustable model with a 15 gram weight behind the “Speed Pocket” of the club. For the irons, he then reaches for the Mk II ZX7 series. The forged Players irons from Srixon are the most sophisticated irons of the latest generation and are designed for plenty of spin and control. Together with the wedges from Cleveland, more precisely the RTX6 Zipcore wedges, Straka gets strong options for the shot on the green in his bag. For his putter, Straka continues to choose the Odyssey Stroke Lab Tuttle with a mid-mallet design. His game ball switched to the new Srixon Z-Star XV just this year. The XV is a bit firmer than Straka’s previous golf ball, but still retains plenty of feel around the greens.

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