Ryder Cup Rookie Sepp Straka Getting Comfortable in Golf’s Spotlight

A win at the John Deere and T2 at the British Open kept the Austrian on a trajectory that culminated with a captain's pick for Rome.

SURREY, England — At 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, Sepp Straka looks the part of a brawny American.

He’s got a southern accent from his time at the University of Georgia and he hangs with a lot of college friends on the PGA Tour, including Chris Kirk, whom he also shares a house with on the road.

All this makes him look and feel the part of an American, but he’s not.

Instead, he grew up in Vienna, Austria, playing in the Tokyo Olympics for the Alpine nation where he held the first-round lead before finishing T10. And a first-round 8-under 63 there is partly the reason why Straka is playing not only this week at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth but also in two weeks at the Ryder Cup, on Luke Donald’s European Team.

Two University of Georgia players are on opposite sides at the Ryder Cup: Sepp Straka for Europe and Brian Harman for the U.S :: Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports

“I felt like my game was pretty decent, but it had always steadily improved through that point,” Straka said of the Olympics. "And that first round was maybe the first time I showed myself what my best game could do.”

Ranked 23rd in the world (25th SI World Golf Rankings), one spot ahead of Justin Thomas and two ahead of Rickie Fowler, the 30-year-old seems to be getting used to his new status of world-class player and Ryder Cupper.

“The bonding has been great,” Straka said of the recent European Team visit to Rome. “I've known those guys for a while, gotten to know them a lot better over the last year or two when I've played with them.”

Straka doesn’t really know many of the Americans that will be on the other side except for fellow Bulldog Brian Harman.

The guys that Straka hangs with start with Kirk—the "ringleader" as Straka describes him, the one who gets the house every week. Others in his circle have limited resumes to the general golf public: J.T. Poston, Denny McCarthy and Greyson Sigg.

Straka knew he wanted to be on the European Ryder Cup team and went after it not only by playing well, but going the extra mile to travel from the Sentry Tournament of Champions to the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi early in the year. He then stayed in the Middle East for two more weeks playing in DP World Tour events in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Straka joked that his route from Hawaii to Dallas to Abu Dhabi became a little overwhelming and he was wondering halfway through the journey if he was making a mistake, but the appearance underscored his commitment.

“I just feel like if they wanted to have the best players and I was one of the best players, I think that wouldn't really be a huge issue,” Straka said of playing most of his golf on the PGA Tour. “I mean, obviously you have to show some commitment, which I did early in the year."

His early-year performance was O.K., then a fortuitous change of caddies due to a passport issue from John Davenport to Duane Bock (Kevin Kisner’s caddie) at the John Deere led to an appreciable uptick in his performance and was another reason for his ascendency to the European team.

Straka won the Deere with Bock on the bag and then his next start, a runner-up finish in the British Open, seemingly sealed the deal for both Bock as a permanent addition and Straka for Rome.

“Ball striking is pretty solid, I feel like I've driven the ball pretty straight and hit my irons pretty well,” Straka said. “Pretty good putter, short game, maybe not as good as I'd like, but it's a lot better than it used to be.

"I think the main thing is just the track record. You just got to look at how you've performed over the last two years. And that's probably the main selling point.”