Sepp Straka came from five strokes behind today to win The Honda Classic at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He defeated Shane Lowry by one stroke with a four-under par 66 for a 270 total. It was his first win on the PGA Tour and the first time a pro golfer from Austria has ever won on the PGA Tour. He did it by birdying three of his last five holes. Straka attended the University of Georgia and has no detectable accent.
In sports they say, “It’s better to be lucky than good.” Well, that was half true for Straka on the last hole today. It had been a nice, warm, calm day. As Straka walked to the par five 18th tee, he was tied for the lead with Shane Lowry at 9 under par total. The big, young man with a very good golf swing then hit the best drive of the day on that hole, right in the middle of the fairway and 334 yards long.
For many of these PGA Tour pros, under normal conditions they have sufficient firepower to reach that 18th green in two strokes to set themselves up for a try for an eagle. However, this golf course was redesigned many years ago by the world’s greatest golfer–Jack Nicklaus. And he had no mercy when he designed that last green. It sort of has two fingers–one in the front portion of the green but a very narrow one on the back right portion of the green. And where do you think the PGA Tour tournament officials always place the pin on the last round? Yes, in the far right portion of that right finger. That is guarded in the front by a sand bunker, and a big lake sets adjacent to the right side of the green. So, to go for that far right pin placement on any shot, no matter how short it is, is dangerous.
Under the circumstances, Sraka played the perfect long iron shot from just under 200 yards to the green middle of the green, leaving himself about a 40 foot putt. He almost made that putt for an eagle, finishing with an easy birdie and a 10 under par total, now one stroke ahead of Lowry.
As Straka was hitting his long iron to the 18th green, it started to rain. In Florida, rain swells can come and go quickly. A few short minutes later, Lowry–playing in the last group and right behind the Straka group–arrived at the 18th tee just as the rain turned into a huge downpour. Lowry is ordinarily a good and fairly long driver of the golf ball. But ducking out from under his umbrella, and quickly teeing up his ball, he obviously rushed his drive and hit it terribly, hooking it low left and almost into a lateral water hazard. All he could do was blast out for a long wedge shot to the green on his third shot. He hooked that too, leaving himself about a fifty foot and two-putting for a par and thus finishing one stroke behind the winner–Sepp Straka.
Shane Lowry therefore got a bad break with that rain, whereas Sepp Straka got a good break in that the rain wasn’t bad when he hit his second shot on the 18th hole. So goes the game of golf, which is often at the mercy of the skies.
Daniel Berger started this final round with a five stroke lead, which is a lot in a PGA Tour tournament. But he quickly frittered it away, until he was tied for the lead after his third hole. But again, “It’s better to be lucky than good.” And that was the case somewhat with Berger, at least on that hole. He plugged his third shot with a wedge on the par five 3rd hole in downhill sand bunker, which is one of the main menaces of a golfer. From only about 20 feet from the pin, all he could do was play the best shot he could hit that finished about 80 feet from the pin and over the green. He walked away with a double bogey 7, a pro’s nightmare on a par five. Lucky the Berger was not today.
(Yours Truly used to play tournaments on both the regular PGA Tour and Champions Tour on PGA National. It is one of the best golf courses they ever play on any PGA Tour. I got to tell ‘ya, the last time I played there was the last round of the Senior PGA Championship in 2000. I played in the last round with Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson. I didn’t beat them much, but I did that day, though not by much. Par then was 72. On a windy day, I shot 71, Jack shot 72, and Tom shot 73. I finished 10th.)
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