Sepp Straka claimed his third PGA Tour victory at The American Express, finishing at 25-under 263 with a final-round 70 to win by two shots over Justin Thomas.
The 31-year-old Austrian, who made history as his country’s first Tour winner three years ago, maintained his composure while playing with a four-shot cushion. He was bogey-free through 69 holes before stumbling slightly at the finish, but his lead was never seriously threatened.
Despite his calm exterior at PGA West’s Stadium Course, Straka admitted the pressure was intense. “Nerves, just complete nerves,” he said. “Stomach in a knot, the whole nine. So, yeah, just really excited about the way I handled the pressure today.”
Name
Events
Top 10
Money
Sepp Straka
165
21
$17,823,037
Thomas made a strong push with a final-round 66 to finish at 23-under. Justin Lower and Jason Day shared third at 22-under, with Lower matching his career-best Tour finish. Patrick Cantlay and Charley Hoffman finished five shots back at 20-under.
Through 15 holes, Straka was on track to become the first player since 2022 to win with a bogey-free tournament. That changed when he missed the green on 16, leading to his first dropped shot of the week. He added another bogey at 18, but by then the victory was secure.
“This golf course, you can’t really let up,” Straka said. “You’ve still got to make really aggressive swings, because you’re one swing away from a double bogey. I think that was the biggest challenge today was keeping aggressive on my targets.”
“I had a chance,” Thomas said. “It wasn’t, obviously, a great one 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 be making some noise and moving up the leaderboard.”
Thomas, seeking his first win since 2022, made six birdies in his first 11 holes to briefly cut the lead to three. But his charge stalled with seven straight pars to close his round.
Day, playing in the final group, couldn’t mount a serious challenge. His hopes effectively ended with a bogey on 15. Hoffman, also in the final group, fell out of contention with a triple bogey on the par-3 13th after finding the water twice.
It was Straka’s first time leading heading into a final round, but he showed no early nerves. He birdied the opening hole from 12 feet, added another at the fourth from inside 13 feet, and made a third at the seventh after a brilliant approach.
Defending champion Nick Dunlap, who made headlines last week as the first amateur winner on Tour in 33 years, finished tied for 34th after a closing 68. Sony Open champion Nick Taylor continued his hot start to 2024, posting a final-round 67 to tie for 12th.
