Sepp Straka ‘flew under the radar’ to best major finish at The Open
By Matt Coles
Sepp Straka finished tied for second at The Open and pushed himself firmly into contention for the Ryder Cup
Sepp Straka secured his best major finish on Sunday at The Open playing ‘under the radar’ alongside home favourite Tommy Fleetwood.
Straka went about his business quietly, as the rain-drenched crowd watched the Austrian card a 69 to finish in a tie for second at Hoylake.
“I think it may have helped me a little bit. It took the pressure off me because everyone was worrying about Tommy,” Straka explained.
“I like to fly under the radar a little bit. It is kind of my style.
“It was fun to be able to be a part of that and today’s round was really special with Tommy and Finno (Ian Finnis, Fleetwood’s caddie). I am happy I got to be there on Sunday.
“It was a cool experience to be able to play with him on the Sunday. His home area, and really special to share that with him.”
The Austrian shot a two-under-par round to share the runner-up spot with Tom Kim, Jason Day and Jon Rahm. It’s also his second top ten in a major this year.
Straka won the John Deere Classic on the PGA Tour earlier in July, showing great form coming into the 151st Open Championship.
He is now firmly in contention for a spot on the European Ryder Cup team, and revealed he’d been speaking with Team Europe captain Luke Donald before playing in golf’s oldest major.
“He was here in the practice rounds, he came and saw me on one of the days,” the Austrian added.
“It was just small talk for the most part. Scheduling and all that stuff, nothing too substantial. He knows that I want to be on the team and hopefully I can show that with my golf.
“He has told me that I have been on his radar for a while now. Like I said, hopefully I can take advantage of this good play in the next few months and make the decision easy for him.
“I feel like my game is in a good place. I have a couple more months of tournaments to take advantage of this good play and hopefully I can do that.
“It would be huge, it would be amazing. It has been a huge goal for the last year and a half really. It has been on my radar and I am really looking forward to having the chance.”
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Matt Coles
Mention a European country, and Matt will tell you which resorts make the National Club Golfer Top 100s: European Resorts list. He might even throw in who designed the golf course and how many rooms the hotel has got at each one…
Matt got into the game of golf from a young age, following his old man to the local golf club. He fell for the sport, and now can’t seem to go a day without thinking about how to improve his game (Thanks Dad!). Matt has been a member of Howley Hall GC in Leeds since 2020, and is just about managing to maintain a single-figure handicap. He likes to remind people that he once broke 75, but won’t tell people that it was on a shortened course during the winter.
He moved to Leeds after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class Honours degree in Sports Journalism. Matt joined NCG after almost five years travelling the world with the Professional Squash Association, working on events in all four corners of the globe.
Matt currently plays a Cobra King LTDx driver and RadSpeed 3-wood. TaylorMade monopolise the rest of his bag, with a SIM UDI, M5 irons and both Milled Grind and HI-TOE wedges, along with a Monza Redline putter. He uses a Vice Pro Plus golf ball, because he’s a bit different…
Away from golf, Matt is a Manchester United fan, and a keen runner, having ran the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon (his first and possibly last), in May 2023.
