Straka becomes first Austrian winner on PGA Tour

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida: Sepp Straka booked his ticket to the Masters with a huge  massive to win the Honda Classic.

Trailing by five shots at the start Straka, tapped in for birdie in the rain on the final hole to beat Shane Lowry by one shot. He became the first Austrian winner in PGA TOUR history. He shot a 4-under 66 on Sunday to finish at 10 under and earn $1.44 million.

Lowry shot his third consecutive round of 67, his 9 under total for the week coming up one short.

First-round leader Kurt Kitayama (68) was alone in third at 8 under, and Daniel Berger — who led by six shots with 19 holes left in the tournament — simply fell apart. His round of 74 leaving him 7 under for the week and three shots behind Straka.

India’s Anirban Lahiri had missed the second round cut.

Lowry needed to make a 45-footer for birdie on the final hole to force a playoff. It missed, and with that, Straka, who came into the week ranked No. 176 in the world, grabbed his chance with a PGA TOUR win.

The victory ensures that Straka — who played his college golf at Georgia — will play the Masters in April. His wife took a flight in to be at the course on Sunday, just in case, and Straka hadn’t even seen her until he got to the practice green before teeing off.

Berger needed a miracle at the end, and it didn’t happen. His second shot at the par-5 18th went into the water, and with that his hopes were officially gone.

Lowry also trailed by five shots entering the day; that deficit was gone after just five holes.

The undoing for Berger truly began Saturday when he went to the 18th tee with a six-shot lead, then made bogey. Still, the five-shot lead through 54 holes matched the biggest in Honda history and for a hometown guy the ingredients were in place for a memorable win.

Lowry made birdie on the first; the lead was down to four. Berger put a tee ball into the pine straw on the par-5 third, then had a ball buried in the sand of a greenside bunker and made double-bogey 7 to see the lead trimmed to two.

Lowry tapped in for birdie at the fourth. Lead down to one. Berger three-putted from 60 feet on the fifth for bogey. The lead was gone. And when Berger missed a 15-footer for par at the sixth, Lowry was suddenly up by one.

Straka was in the group five shots back to start the day, then made bogey on the opening hole. But slowly and steadily, he clawed back.

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