PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Sepp Straka is going back to Georgia in a few weeks. After making a big comeback to win the Honda Classic, he is on his way to his first Masters.
Straka, down 5 shots as he entered the final round, tapped for a rain birdie on the final hole and defeated Shane Lowry by 1 shot to become the first Austrian winner in PGA Tour history. He finished Sunday at 10-under by shooting 4-under 66 and earned $1.44 million.
"Words aren't really coming to me right now," Straka said. "It's just crazy. I really don't know what to think."
He definitely knew how to play.
After 71 in the first round, 64 were scored on Friday, 69 on Saturday and then 66 on Sunday. He was 4 under in his last 10 holes, 3 under in the last five, ending with a flourish while most of the others spit.
"It's hard to win here," Lowry said. "It's too hard. End of story. There's no point in saying anything different."
Lowry shot her third consecutive round of 67s, ending the week under 9. First-round leader Kurt Kitayama (68) was lone in third at 8 under, and Danielle Berger – who led the tournament with 6 shots with 19 holes – just fell apart on Sunday, leaving him 7 under in his round of 74. left for. Weeks and 3 shots behind Straka.
"Just a bad round," Berger said. "It could happen at any time. I'm not going to pay much attention to it. Just didn't hit quality shots at the right time. Maybe making a few more putts would have had a chance of winning. I don't think I did a single one today." Putt made."
He did not. Berger made two birdies on Sunday - both chip-ins, one from sand, one from a grassy slope.
Lowry needed to make a 45-footer for a birdie on the final hole to force a playoff. It missed out, and with it, Honda had a new champion – who had come in at number 176 in the world, never higher than number 129 on that list, and whose claim to fame as a pro was probably the last. Was the leader of the first round at the Tokyo Olympics in the summer.
He is now a PGA Tour winner. And Straka -- who played his college golf in Georgia -- will play the Masters in April.
"It's crazy. It's a lifelong dream of mine that I'm going to Augusta in a month or so," Straka said. "It's still real."
Straka matched up with the biggest win of the season. Luke List was also down 5 when he entered the final round in San Diego last month.
The undo for Berger began on Saturday when he went into the 18th tee with a 6-shot lead, then made a bogey. Still, the 5-shot lead through 54 holes was the biggest in Honda's history, and for a hometowner—his home is 15 minutes away from the PGA Nationals—was content for a memorable win.
Sunday's views were different. Burger was paired with Lowry for the final round, and it didn't take long for everything to change.
Lowry birdie for the first time; The lead was down to 4. Berger bowled a tee ball into the pine straw on par-5 third, then rammed a ball into the sand of the greenside bunker and made a double-bogie 7 to trim the lead to 2.
Lowry finished fourth for the birdie. Move down from 1. Berger took fifth place. The lead was gone. And when Berger missed a 15-footer for the par in sixth, Lowry suddenly went up to 1.
"Didn't play well, so I didn't win the golf tournament," Berger said.
Straka was in the five-shot group starting Sunday, then missed a two-foot par put and bogeyed the opening hole. But slowly and steadily, he came back - a birdie on the ninth par-4 got him to 7 under, followed by another birdie on the 14th.
On the 16th a 20-footer pulled him into a tie. That's when the weather also decided to show up.
As if the ending needed more drama, it just started pouring in as the final groups were coming to an end. Kitayama and Straka got a lucky break to play their tee shots on 18 before the rain started. Suddenly the torrential downpour intensified, and the two camped on the 18th fairway under their umbrellas before playing their second shot at the par-5 finishing hole.
Each struck about 50 feet and set up eagle putts. Straka to-put, then waited to see if Lowry - who ran into a bad tee shot during the rain at 18 - could reach under 10.
He could not. And Straka is going back to Georgia.
"This bad weather came when we were hitting our tee shot at 18, which was as bad a break as I've had in a while," Lowry said. "Yeah, it's hard to take."