FLOURTOWN, Pa. — Sepp Straka had his entire team on his mind as his final putt dropped on Sunday.
He thought of his wife, his parents, his coaches, his usual caddie Duane Bock — out this week with a back injury — and his friend Drew Mathers, subbing in on the bag. They all had a role to play in molding Straka into a top-10 player in the world.
The 32-year-old from Austria outlasted Ireland’s Shane Lowry in a Sunday duel at the Philadelphia Cricket Club to win the Truist Championship and add a PGA Tour signature event to his growing resume.
“This year has been pretty good to me,” Straka said, reflecting on his second win of 2025. “Just really grateful for all the hard work from the people that don’t get to stand on that 18th green and celebrate.”
Straka and Lowry shared the lead after three rounds at the club’s Wissahickon Course, and they stood tied at 16 under through 15 holes before Lowry lipped out a par putt at the par-3 16th.
Straka held steady the rest of the way in, carding a 2-under-par 68 to finish 16-under 264 for the tournament. He landed in the sand off the 18th tee but hit a great recovery shot onto the green and saved par.
Lowry missed birdie at No. 17 and three-putted for bogey at No. 18 for a round of 70. He and Justin Thomas (67) tied for second at 14 under.
Straka won The American Express in January and is now the second player with multiple wins on the PGA Tour this season. He’ll rise to second place in the FedEx Cup race, crack the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time and take momentum into next week’s PGA Championship.
Limiting mistakes was a key for Straka throughout the week. He totaled just three bogeys from Thursday to Saturday, but another three bogeys Sunday threatened to derail his final round.
Lowry birdied two of the first five holes, and Straka matched him at 16 under with a 20-foot eagle putt at No. 5. The Austrian bogeyed the next hole, but the pair flipped places at the par-3 eighth when Straka birdied while Lowry missed the green and failed to save par.
At No. 9, Straka nailed a 28-foot birdie putt for a two-shot advantage but squandered it with back-to-back bogeys. He was short and in the bunker on No. 11 and watched his par putt slip left of the hole.
“After that, I just told myself just to keep at it, keep just trying to execute each golf shot for what it is,” Straka said. “Fortunately, that was good enough.”
Lowry still has not won an individual event on the PGA Tour since his 2019 Open Championship victory. He did not speak with reporters after the round.
Straka praised Lowry after acknowledging that the good-natured Irishman was one of the fan favorites all week.
“Shane’s an awesome guy. He’s one of my favorites too,” Straka said. “So it was fun to hear support for him out there. He’s one of my favorite people to play with. He’s a fiery competitor but a really good friend as well. It was really fun battling with him.”
Lowry will also crack the top 10 in the world for the first time on Monday. His close friend Rory McIlroy credited Lowry for moving to the United States full time.
“I just feel like I’ve seen such a big improvement in (Lowry’s) consistency week to week because of where he lives, being able to practice in great conditions on great golf courses … It’s been amazing as his friend to see him play so well and so consistently,” the Northern Irishman said.
Thomas birdied Nos. 5, 7 and 8 to get to 14 under and apply pressure behind the leaders before stalling out, parring the next seven in a row. He missed a birdie from inside 4 feet at the 15th, prompting him to go pin-hunting at the par-3 16th. It didn’t pay off, as he missed the green and bogeyed.
“I definitely was more aggressive because of (15),” Thomas said. “Like I said, I wish I wasn’t, but it’s easy to say that looking back. It doesn’t matter too much. I ended up finishing two behind. Just need those two to go differently. Hopefully they’ll just go my way next week.”
Patrick Cantlay, Jacob Bridgeman and England’s Tommy Fleetwood all shot 65 to tie for fourth at 12 under. McIlroy posted a bogey-free 68 and tied for seventh at 10 under with Cameron Young (66), Germany’s Stephan Jaeger (66) and Keith Mitchell (71).
–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media
