2023-07-24 09:43:55
Austria could be represented again at the Golf Ryder Cup in 2023. While Bernd Wiesberger held up the red-white-red flag two years ago in Kohler/Wisconsin at the prestigious competition between Europe and the USA, Sepp Straka is on the verge of a ticket for the September highlight in Rome. The Viennese brings second place from the British Open as a recommendation. Together with the Spanish top star John Rahm, he was the best European at the last major of the year.
With second place on Sunday behind the American Brian Harman, who plays in a league of his own in Hoylake and celebrated his first major victory with a lead of six strokes, Straka once again achieved something historic for Austrian golf. The 30-year-old was the first ÖGV athlete to win a PGA tournament last year and took part in the top 30 tour finals in Atlanta. Now he made for the best red-white-red major result of all time.
This year the Austrian had already taken seventh place at the PGA Championship. “This is the first success I’ve had in my career at majors. I’ve had some decent results so far, but nothing really good,” said Straka after his final round at the 151st British Open and spoke of an improved stroke technique. “My game is in good form. I hope to be able to use this advantage.”
This top form should bring the dual citizen, who has lived in the USA for a long time, to Rome at the end of September, where the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup will take place at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. The twelve best Europeans golf against the best US dozen.
Straka is not sure of direct qualification via the rankings, so he is hoping for a “Captain’s Pick” from Captain Luke Donald. “That would be great. He told me he’s had me on his radar for a while. Hopefully I can convince him with a good game in the coming months,” Straka said of Donald, whom he met during training in Hoylake. “He knows I want to be on the team.”
At the oldest golf tournament in the world, Straka took another important step towards the Ryder Cup after his second PGA win at the John Deere Classic two weeks earlier. Whereby second place at the British Open is to be rated higher, since the entire world elite was at the start at the Royal Liverpool. In the world rankings, Straka improved to rank 25 and thus set his best placing to date. His participation in the tour finals in Atlanta again in a month’s time is also practically fixed.
The focus on Sunday, however, was Harman. Nobody had the 36-year-old, who, like Straka, graduated from the University of Georgia. The US golfer last won a tournament on the PGA Tour six years ago. Although he always believed he could win a major, he feared he had missed the opportunity. “The game is getting younger and younger. There are all the youngsters who are ready to win,” said Harman. “So it was very satisfying to show such a performance.”
In addition to the prize money of three million dollars, the legendary silver wine carafe “Claret Jug” received – and the recognition of the competition. “It’s not that he won by a narrow margin. He won by six shots, so there’s nothing we could have done,” explained Rahm.
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