Sepp Straka Victorious at The American Express

The American Express took place in La Quinta, Calif.

Austrian Sepp Straka picked up his third career PGA Tour win at the American Express in La Quinta, Calif. With his score of 25-under, Straka beat Justin Thomas by two strokes. Going into Sunday’s round, Straka had a four-stroke lead but knew playing the final round on the Pete Dye Stadium Course meant anything could happen. 

“I think the Stadium Course is the type of course where no lead is safe,” he said after his third round. “My first win I got at the Honda Classic, it’s a very similar golf course, and there I was five shots back at the start of the day. So no lead is safe.”

Straka did not waste any time Sunday as he birdied his first hole to maintain his four-stroke lead. After his opening birdie, he made two more and six pars for a front nine score of three-under-par. He made the turn with a three-stroke lead over Charley Hoffman. Hoffman fell out of contention after hitting two balls in the water on hole 13. Straka’s lead never got fell below three strokes until his bogey putt fell on the 72nd hole. 

After the final round, Straka said, “Stomach in a knot, the whole nine. So, yeah, just really excited about the way I handled the pressure today.”

With Thomas’s runner-up finish this year, he has now finished in the top-three two years in a row at this event. He started his final round with birdies on hole 1 and 2. His opening nine score of 31 moved him into a tie for second at the turn. After making six birdies in his first eleven holes, Thomas made all pars his last seven holes. 

“It wasn’t, obviously, a great one on the back nine, but I was proud of myself. I did what I needed to do on the front nine today to at least be making some noise and moving up the leaderboard. It was unfortunate to kind of stall there after 11. Really, really played some great golf today,” Thomas told reporters after his final round of 66. 

Last year’s champion Nick Dunlap finished T-34 with a score of 13-under-par.

Next week, the California swing of the PGA Tour season continues down in San Diego for the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Last year’s champion Matthieu Pavon will look to defend his maiden PGA Tour win. 

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