Sepp Straka looks for third PGA Tour win at American Express

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Sepp Straka won the American Express by two shots over Justin Thomas on Sunday, completing his third career PGA Tour victory with a 25-under 263 with 70 final rounds.

Straka, the first Austrian to win on Tour three years ago, comfortably cruised to victory after taking a four-shot lead into the final round at the venerable Coachella Valley event. He didn’t have a bogey in the four-day event until he bogeyed the last three holes, but his competitors couldn’t mount an attack to embarrass him.

The 31-year-old Straka looked cool and composed at PGA West Stadium – but he wasn’t.

“Nerves, just complete nerves,” Straka said. “Stomach in a knot, the whole nine. So yeah, I’m really excited about the way I handled the pressure today.”

Thomas shot a 66 to finish at 23 under, one shot ahead of Justin Lower (69) and Australia’s Jason Day (69) in third place. Lower scored a career best on Tour.

Patrick Cantlay and Charley Hoffman were under 20 years old.

Hitting the greens and putting in regularly, Straka was three holes away from becoming the first player on tour since 2022 to go 72 holes without a bogey in victory – until the 16th when he blew his second shot into the far right rough behind the fairway . His third shot missed the green, narrowly missing the 17-foot putt.

Straka’s first big mistake didn’t make a difference, and neither did his next one: He holed his approach shot into the bunker on the 18th, then missed a 23-foot par putt, but buried his 4-foot bogey and celebrated with minimal punch.

“This golf course, you can’t really quit,” Straka said. “You still have to make really aggressive swings because you’re one swing away from double bogey. I think that was the biggest challenge today was to be aggressive towards my targets.”

Thomas, who finished tied for third at The American Express last year, made six birdies in his first 11 holes in the final round to briefly cut Straka’s lead to three strokes. The two-time PGA Championship winner went unparled on the back nine in his quest for his first win on tour since 2022, ending his round with seven straight pars.

“I had a chance,” Thomas said. “Obviously he wasn’t great on the back nine, but I was proud of myself. I did what I needed to do on the front nine today to at least make some noise and move up the leaderboard. It was unfortunate that I stopped there after 11. We really, really played some great golf today.”

Day, another former PGA Championship winner, has just one win since 2018. He failed to make the cut while playing in the final group with Strak, and a bogey on the 15th put him out of bounds. Daily snapshot 69.

Hoffman was also in the final group, joining Thomas and Day three shots back before putting two tee shots into the water on the par-3 13th, eventually posting a triple bogey.

Straka started in the lead on Sunday and entered the last round for the first time in his career. He played with confidence early, burying a 12-foot birdie putt on the opening hole. He chipped his tee shot on the fourth hole to within 13 feet for another birdie, and added another with a superb approach shot on the seventh.

Straka also saved par on No. 5 after putting his drive into the rough, and did so again on No. 8 after his tee shot landed in the right bunker.

Thomas opened his round with back-to-back birdies and added another at the fifth before starting his charge in earnest with three birdies in four holes around the turn, narrowly missing a 34-foot eagle putt at the eighth before burying a 16-footer. birdie putt on the ninth.

But Straka extended his lead to four shots with a birdie on No. 13 after dropping his putt 8 feet deep.

Defending champion Nick Dunlap shot a 68 to tie for 34th in the tournament to become the first amateur to win on Tour in 33 years.

Sony Open champion Nick Taylor continued his strong start to the season with a 67 to finish in a six-over tie for 12th.