[PHOTO: Richard Heathcote]
Even before locking up his second victory of 2025 at the Truist Championship yesterday, Sepp Straka was hardly a lock to make the European Ryder Cup team. In fact, he was nowhere near the top 12 of the European team standings, and miles away from the top six that earn automatic spots.
Wait, what?
How is it possible that a top 20 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, even prior to now, who had already won this calendar year and who played on the winning European side in 2023 and earned a point as a rookie, was not even close to the top 12?
Well, as seven-time European Ryder Cupper Rory McIlroy reminded Straka on Sunday afternoon, his Truist win meant just a little more than his American Express victory in January.
“He told me at least this win counts for Ryder Cup points,” Straka said. “Yeah, really, really happy for that. I’ve been kind of behind in the points because of that win at AmEx not counting.”
Not just behind, but 20th in the standings before outlasting Shane Lowry at Philadelphia Cricket Club. Lowry and Straka played together twice in Rome in 2023, going 0-2. With Lowry second in the European standings behind only McIlroy, the Irish-Austrian duo may have a chance to rectify that at Bethpage Black this September.
“I knew that, if I just kept playing good golf, I would have a chance to be there,” he added. “I’m sure this will probably help me out with the rankings a lot. So very grateful, and hopefully I can keep the good play going and keep getting some more points.”
More than a lot. Straka is now fifth in the standings, a 15-spot jump that places him among the six automatic qualifiers, a group filled out by Lowry, McIlroy, Rasmus Højgaard, Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose. Behind them in seventh and eighth are Ludvig Aberg and Tommy Fleetwood. A squad is forming, to say the least.
Of course, there is still much to be decided and many more points to be accumulated. The top six does not lock in until the end of the Betfred British Masters, which ends on August 24. But yesterday’s win will go a long way for Straka, who would love to add two-time Ryder Cupper to a résumé that includes four PGA Tour victories, a pair of major top 10s and the distinction of world No.9, the highest ranking of his career in the OWGR.
