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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