Sepp Straka’s 404-Yard Bounce Leads to a Crucial Birdie at Phoenix Open
Sepp Straka, the FedExCup leader, found himself in a tricky situation at the par-5 15th hole during the opening round of the WM Phoenix Open. His tee shot veered right, and he expected it to land in the rough, leaving him with a layup and a wedge approach.
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But then the unexpected happened: his ball hit the cart path—twice—and started bouncing uncontrollably. Straka feared the worst, anticipating that the ball might end up in the dense bushes or cacti, making it a potential lost ball scenario that could ruin his round.
However, when he reached his ball, it was like a miracle. After bouncing off the cart path for a total of 404 yards, the ball had come to rest in a small opening between the bushes, leaving him a clear shot at the green over water. Straka then hit an 8-iron from 161 yards to 33 feet and drained a two-putt for birdie, moving to 3-under for the day.
“It was like the only way this could go wrong was if it hit the cart path, so I just kept telling myself, ‘Don’t hit the cart path,’” Straka explained. “And then, of course, it hit the cart path—twice. When I saw the bushes and trees, I thought it was a bad break. But then I walked up, and I had an 8-iron into a par-5. That was honestly the luckiest break I could’ve gotten.”
Looking back on the sequence, Straka couldn’t help but marvel at how fortunate he had been. “To miss all those bushes and trees, I don’t think I’ve had a luckier shot than that. I was just thinking I’d be laying up from the rough, and then it hit the cart path and ended up in a great spot,” he admitted.
After that fortunate birdie, Straka cooled off a bit, falling back to even-par, but he finished strong with a 16-foot birdie putt, posting a 1-under 70 for the round, four shots behind the leaders, Justin Thomas and Nicolai Højgaard.
The 2025 season has started strong for Straka, who represented Europe in the 2023 Ryder Cup and is aiming for a return this fall. He kicked off the year with a win at The American Express, his third career PGA TOUR victory, and led the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am going into the final round before finishing T7. With a current ranking of No. 16 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Straka’s consistent form suggests that he could continue to rise.
Though he’s not one of the longest drivers on the TOUR, ranking 146th last season and 144th so far this year, his remarkable play on the 15th at TPC Scottsdale shows that his game is well-rounded and could see him climbing even higher in the rankings.
