Sepp Straka shakes off nerves to win The American Express

LOS ANGELES – Austrian Sepp Straka conquered his nerves to capture his third PGA Tour title in convincing style on Jan 19, firing a two-under 70 to win The American Express in La Quinta, California by two strokes.

Straka started the day with a four-shot lead over a trio of players and led by the same margin after his fourth birdie of the day at the par-three 13th – the toughest hole on the Stadium Course.

But it would not be a smooth march to the finish. His lead dwindled to three strokes after his first bogey of the week at the par-five 16th, where his second shot from the fairway drifted right and his 15-foot putt to save par slipped past the hole.

He would bogey the 18th as well, but his 25-under total put him two clear of former world No. 1 Justin Thomas, who carded a six-under 66 for 265.

Another former world No. 1, Australian Jason Day, dropped out of a tie with Thomas with a bogey at the 18th, finishing with a 69 that left him tied for third with American Justin Lower, who also posted a 69, on 266.

Despite his big lead to start the day, Straka said it was “nerves, complete nerves” coming down the stretch.

“Stomach in a knot the whole nine,” said the 31-year-old, although he gave none of that away with his unruffled demeanour.

He launched his round with an 11-foot birdie at the first and added birdies at the fourth and seventh.

Charlie Hoffman, the 36-hole co-leader who started the day tied for second with Lower and Day, made four birdies on the front nine to slice a shot off Straka’s lead.

But the 48-year-old saw his chances of a fifth career title – and his first since 2016 – disappear for good with a triple-bogey six at the 13th, where he was in the water twice. Hoffman finished with a one-under 71 that left him tied for fifth with Patrick Cantlay, who posted a 70, on 268.

“This golf course, you can’t really let up,” Straka said.

“I think that was the biggest challenge today – keeping aggressive on my targets.

“I had a lot of chances for bogeys out there, but the putter saved me a lot of times.”

Thomas, who won the most recent of his 15 titles at the 2022 PGA Championship, got off to a strong start in his bid to erase a six-shot deficit.

The American had five birdies on the front nine, rolling in 16-foot birdie putts at the second and ninth.

He added another at the 11th before the birdies dried up in the balmy California desert near Palm Springs.

“I played well, I had a chance,” Thomas said.

“It was unfortunate to kind of stall there after 11. Really, really played some great golf today.”

Meanwhile, world No. 5 Collin Morikawa was one of three golfers to withdraw from this week’s Farmers Insurance Open on Jan 19.

He joined Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark and Tyler McCumber in bowing out of the 156-golfer field at the famed Torrey Pines. They will be replaced by Wesley Bryan, Hayden Springer and South Korea’s Kim Seong-hyeon.

There were no official reasons declared for the departures.

The news comes one day after world No. 2 Xander Schauffele confirmed he was pulling out of the San Diego event due to a “medical issue”. AFP, REUTERS