Unlucky lie, loose shot cost Sepp Straka chance at history in American Express win

Sepp Straka was on a cruise control all week at the American Express. The Austrian entered Sunday with a four-shot lead and appeared to march to his third PGA Tour win while strolling into the record books.

Straka was able to hold off Jason Day and Justin Thomas on Sunday to secure the victory at 25-under-par. But his shot at joining an exclusive PGA Tour club — one that even Tiger Woods isn’t part of — went up in flames on the par-15 16th hole.

Straka arrived at the 16th hole on Sunday having not made a bogey all week. He had gone 69 consecutive holes without a bogey and needed just three more bogey-free holes to become the fourth player ever to win a 72-hole stroke play event while not making a bogey. Lee Trivino (1974 Greater New Orleans Open), J.T. Poston (2019 Wyndham Championship), and Tom Kim (2022 Shriners Children’s Open) are the other three to achieve such a feat.

Straka striped his drive down the 16th fairway, but then things went awry, and his shot at history evaporated. After a lengthy wait for the group ahead to clear the green, Straka flared his second shot out to the right. Not wanting to risk going over the green and into PGA West’s infamous bunker, Straka left his third shot short of the green. His pitch from 50 feet came up 15 feet short, and his par putt scared the hole before sliding by.

Straka tapped in for bogey — he made another at the 18th — and held off a late charge from Day to claim the trophy without the side of history.

After the win, the 31-year-old explained what transpired on the 16th hole, noting that the streak-breaking bogey was a product of the gravity of the infamous bunker and a bad lie for his third shot.

“Yeah, 16, you just don’t want to end up in the bunker down there, so I kind of bailed out right a little bit, Straka told Golf Channel after the win. “It was unfortunate it was in kind of tire track next to the cart path but we couldn’t get cart path relief. It was real grainy down there. I wanted to get it up closer to the green to where I could kind of putt it on. It kind of came out real slow and, yeah, from there, again, you just don’t want to make the mistake of going long. I got a little cute with it and spun it too much. Overall, I hit a good putt and tried to make it.”

When asked about only making two bogeys on the week, Straka was quick to praise his putter for bailing him out of many potential bogeys during the week. Per Data Golf, Straka gained 1.96 shots on the greens this week. That ranked seventh among players who played all four rounds.

Straka wasn’t the only player with his eye on a bogey-free week in La Quinta, California.

Taylor Moore went the distance, finishing the tournament in a tie for seventh at 19-under. Moore became the first player to go bogey-free for 72 holes and not win since Joaquin Niemann did so at the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic. Niemann lost that tournament in a playoff while Moore finished six shots back of Straka.

With a win, Straka became the seventh International player to win the American Express, and he did so with great course management and an ability to manage what he was feeling on the inside while trying to protect a four-shot lead.

“Nerves,” Straka said when asked what he felt coming down the stretch.

Straka kept his nerves in check to finish off a brilliant week on top, but it could have been something historic if not a stumble coming home.