Austria’s Sepp Straka bolsters Ryder Cup chances with John Deere title

Sepp Straka earned his second PGA TOUR title in dramatic fashion Sunday at the John Deere Classic, flirting with 59 en route to a 9-under 62 and a two-stroke win at TPC Deere Run.

The Austria native takes massive strides toward an appearance in his first Ryder Cup, as well.

Straka moved from 10th to seventh on the European Team’s World Points List, which is based on Official World Golf Ranking points accrued from Sept. 11, 2022, through Sept. 3, 2023.

The final spot via the World Points List at present would go to Matt Fitzpatrick (149.78 points), with Tommy Fleetwood (135) and Straka (103.32) his two closest pursuers.

With less than two months remaining in the Ryder Cup qualification process – U.S. Team standings are finalized on Aug. 20, with European Team standings finalized on Sept. 3 – there’s a heightened sense of urgency to qualify to compete at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy, and not rely on a captain’s pick.

Straka is now on the verge of creating that reality.

Straka, who moved from Vienna, Austria, to Valdosta, Georgia, at age 14, has described himself as “100% Austrian and 100% American.” But he has always played under the Austrian flag, proud of his heritage. He became the first Austrian-born player to earn a TOUR card in 2018, and he became the first to win on TOUR at The Honda Classic in 2022. He represented Austria at the Tokyo Olympic Games, as well.

Representing his home country at the Ryder Cup would be another notch under that belt – but he knows that much work remains.

“September is a few months away, and I’m glad my game is in good shape,” Straka said Sunday. “Hopefully I can make a push for that.”

Three players will automatically qualify for the European Team through the European Points List, comprising DP World Tour events via the qualification period – these spots are currently held by Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Yannik Paul.

The highest three players on the World Points List, excluding any crossover from the European Points List, also automatically qualify. Rahm, McIlroy, and Paul hold the top three spots on this list, so the automatic qualifiers at present would be No. 3 Viktor Hovland, No. 4 Tyrrell Hatton and No. 5 Matt Fitzpatrick.

Tommy Fleetwood holds the No. 6 spot on the World Points List, with Straka now at No. 7.

The top five on the current European Points List are rounded out by No. 4 Adrian Meronk and No. 5 Rasmus Hojgaard, who won the DP World Tour’s Made in HimmerLand last week to jump nine spots on the standings.

Cameron Young bolstered his chances to represent the U.S. Team with a strong showing at the John Deere, finishing T6 at TPC Deere Run to gain ground in the standings. He remains at No. 10 in the standings but trails No. 9 Collin Morikawa by just 42.5 points.

The current top six in the U.S. Team standings (automatic qualifiers if the qualification period closed now) would be Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa.

Keegan Bradley stands at No. 7, followed by Jordan Spieth at No. 8.

European Team Captain Luke Donald will make six captain’s picks following the automatic qualification period, as will U.S. Team Captain Zach Johnson.

* Excludes qualifiers from European Points List