Sepp Straka claimed his third PGA Tour title in style at The American Express.
The Austrian was virtually flawless throughout all four rounds at the California tournament. After bogey-free rounds of 65,64 and 62 in the first three days, he headed into the final round at PGA West's Pete Dye Stadium Course with a four-shot lead over Justin Lower, Charley Hoffman and Jason Day.
Try as they might, the chasing pack never quite got close enough to worry the 31-year-old, who closed out his first win since the 2023 John Deere Classic with another two-under round of 70 to win by two over Justin Thomas
Straka got off to the perfect start with a birdie on the par-4 first, and he had his second of the day on the par-3 fourth as his confident week continued.
A third birdie followed on the seventh and, by the 10th, Straka was three clear of Hoffman, with former World No.1s Thomas and Day four off Straka on 22-under. Lower, meanwhile, was five off the lead, and still holding a slim hope of his maiden PGA Tour win.
Thomas was the man with the most PGA Tour wins in the field with 15, but he hadn’t tasted victory since the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills. He strengthened his chances of making it 16 wins with a birdie at the 11th to move him to within three of Straka but there was still the sense it would either take something a little special, or a capitulation from Straka, to deny the Austrian.
Straka then extended his lead to four on the 13th with his fourth birdie of the day on what had been the hardest hole of the week. On the following hole, Day had seemed certain to at least stay in touch, but ultimately picked a bad time for his first bogey of the round, missing a short putt to drop five behind with just four to play.
Straka had gone all week without a bogey, but just when it looked as though he’d go blemish-free throughout the tournament, on his 70th hole, it came. That setback on the par-5 hole dropped him back to 26-under, three ahead of Thomas, who by now was back in the clubhouse after an encouraging six-under 66.
Even with that effort, Thomas needed a minor miracle for Straka to let his bogey distract him and bring him back into proceedings, and when the leader made par on the 17th it was all but over. Day then bogeyed the 18th to leave Thomas in solo second, which just left Straka to complete the formalities.
He’d had another wobble on the 18th after finding a bunker with his second shot. Still, he found the green with his third to leave a par putt that missed left. Needing two putts to win, it was never really in doubt and he just needed the one to finish a hugely satisfactory tournament with only his second bogey of the week for a two-shot victory.
Afterwards, Straka revealed he hadn't been as calm as he appeared. Describing how he felt inside, he said: "Nerves, just complete nerves. Stomach in a knot, the whole nine. So, yeah, just really excited about the way I handed the pressure today."
On the challenges he faced coming down the stretch, Straka said: "Yeah, just, this golf course, you can't really let up, you still got to make really aggressive swings because you're one swing away from a double bogey. I think that was the biggest challenge today was keeping aggressive on my targets."
