Sepp Straka skips BMW Championship but will play PGA Tour Championship
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Sepp Straka of Austria hits an approach shot on the first hole during the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – Austrian Sepp Straka has withdrawn from this week’s BMW Championship for family reasons, but will take part in next week’s Tour Championship, the PGA Tour announced on Aug 11.
Straka ranks fifth in the FedExCup rankings and has ensured himself a place in the season-ender at Atlanta even without playing the BMW, thanks partly to wins at The American Express in January and in May’s Truist Championship.
“For personal reasons, Sepp is unable to play this week,” Straka’s manager, Butler Melnyk, said in a statement.
“He intends to compete at the Tour Championship, but requests privacy at this time as he attends to a family matter at home.”
That leaves a field of 49 for the BMW starting on Aug 14 at Caves Valley Golf Club in suburban Baltimore.
The top 30 in the season rankings will then advance to the Aug 21-24 Tour Championship at East Lake.
As PGA Tour play-off rules stipulate, only qualified golfers will participate this week, meaning Straka will not be replaced in the field.
World No. 10 Straka, 32, is a four-time PGA Tour winner with 13 top-25 finishes this season, including a share of 17th at last week’s first play-off event, the St Jude Championship in Memphis.
In three Tour Championship appearances, Straka’s best showing was a share of seventh in 2022.
He ranks sixth in the European Ryder Cup team qualifying standings, with the top six after the Tour Championship claiming automatic spots in September’s United States-Europe team showdown at Bethpage Black.
England’s Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, meanwhile, have clinched spots in Team Europe following their performances at the St Jude Championship.
Rose, who won the US$20 million (S$25.7 million) tournament in Memphis in a play-off, and Fleetwood, who struggled down the stretch to finish one shot off the pace, earned enough points to join Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy as automatic qualifiers for the competition from Sept 26 to 28.
Team Europe captain Luke Donald is required to select the top six players in the Europe rankings when the British Masters concludes on Aug 24.
Donald gets to choose the other six golfers to complete his team, who will defend the Ryder Cup they won in 2023 in Italy.
“Amazing to have both of these guys back on the team,” Donald wrote on X above a Ryder Cup Europe post on Rose and Fleetwood making the team.
“They bring so much both on and off the course. Let’s go!”
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and England’s Tyrrell Hatton are fourth and fifth, above Straka heading into this week’s play.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry, Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg are within striking range of being automatic qualifiers.
Lowry trails Straka for sixth by just 21.16 points. As long as Lowry completes the BMW event this weekend, he will earn enough points to climb past Hatton and Straka. AFP, REUTERS
