SOUTHPORT, England — Some quick math says that in non-major play in 2025 and 2026, Sepp Straka, a two-time European Ryder Cup team member, has only missed three cuts in 31 tournaments. A handful of those didn’t have cuts, sure, but many did, and that’s obviously a very good made-cut percentage, and a big reason why the 33-year-old Austrian rose to seventh in the World Ranking.
But if that’s the impressive shot, here’s the shocking chaser:
In seven majors over that span, he missed five cuts.
For such an obviously talented player, it represents a staggering under-performance in the biggest events on the calendar, and into that mix you can factor in a couple other things: First, that his two made cuts were T-52 and T-41—not great—and second, in those two Ryder Cup appearances, he’s gone 2-4-0 on winning European teams where the only other players to end up below .500 were the Hojgaards.
The whole thing pointed to an unfavorable conclusion: Maybe Straka just isn’t very good when the lights are brightest.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that he’s two under through 36 holes at Royal Birkdale following his second round 70, tied for 20th in the Open Championship as of this writing, and in his best position since he tied for second at this event in 2023.
Even so, Straka wasn’t exactly pleased with shooting even on a day where as he stood in front of the microphone in his post-round presser, Lucas Herbert was eight under after 13 holes.
“Scoring conditions were definitely a lot better than yesterday afternoon,” he said. “I struggled today. I didn’t play very well. I got up-and-down a lot. So I’m pretty happy with the score.”
It got worse:
“It was one of my worst ball-striking rounds I’ve had in a while, and I’ve had some pretty bad ones here lately.”
Even so, the fact remains that he’s in a solid position for the weekend, and that’s more than he’s been able to say at a major in years. What explains his struggles of the recent past?
“I think majors in general are hard to perform,” he said. “You have the best fields of the year. I don’t really know. I think it’s maybe a little bit random.”
After a bit more thought, he had one possible explanation.
“I don’t hit it very far, so that definitely doesn’t help,” he said. “Most majors, I feel like, other than this one, generally you’ve got to hit it far, and I’m not a very long hitter. I’ve got to be on my game to play well in most majors.”
That explanation feels plausible (it a little inadequate), especially coupled with a short game that can be hit or miss. But he’s also correct that it’s a pretty small sample size, and the image it conjures can be shattered with one great weekend. You can’t have a great weekend unless you make the weekend, and he’s checked that box admirably. His next big chance starts on Saturday.
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Is it the British Open or the Open Championship? The name of the final men’s major of the golf season is a subject of continued discussion. The event’s official name, as explained in this op-ed by former R&A chairman Ian Pattinson, is the Open Championship. But since many United States golf fans continue to refer to it as the British Open, and search news around the event accordingly, Golf Digest continues to utilize both names in its coverage.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
