“It’s really hard to get to Atlanta” - Sepp Straka opens up about qualifying for the Tour Championship as the 30th on the FedEx Cup standings

Sepp Straka made the Tour Championship on Sunday by finishing T37 at the BMW Championship. The 30-year-old Austrian golfer qualified for the final FedEx Cup Playoffs event as the 30th golfer on the FedEx Cup standings. He is now set to travel to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia for the Tour Championship.

Opening up on the thrilling news, Straka on Sunday revealed that he learnt about his qualification just a minute before his phone died. The PGA Tour golfer revealed that his phone’s battery drained while at the Chicago O’Hare airport security line after he ‘refreshed the PGA Tour app so many times’ to check his standings.

Speaking about his tension at the time, Straka stated that it was “really hard to get to Atlanta” with big names like Hideki Matsuyama in competition.

Speaking about his Championship qualification on Sunday evening, Sepp Straka said, as quoted by PGA Tour:

“I guess I refreshed the app so many times, my battery drained. It’s really hard to get to Atlanta (for the Tour Championship) … I just think about Hideki (Matsuyama)’s run that he had of never missing the Tour Championship until this year; that stat is unbelievable because it’s so hard to get to Atlanta.”

He further added:

“You’ve got to have a great year, and then you have to play well in the Playoffs come crunch time.”

---

Sepp Straka qualifies for the Tour Championship as 30th on the FedEx Cup standings

It is important to note that Straka spent so much time refreshing the FedEx Cup projections as he was sitting 33rd on the list at Sunday’s start. The Austrian moved to 30th on the FedEx Cup standings after carding a 4-under 66, on the strength of a front-nine 30. The golfer delivered to find the right side of the bubble and is set to take on the heavyweights for the ultimate prize.

Commenting on his qualification, Straka added:

“I needed a lot of help this afternoon to get me there, and any way you can get there, you’ve got to take it. I’m excited to be going.”

Straka taking the final spot on the Tour Championship field meant a player being flushed out. Interestingly, the player going out was Sahith Theegala.

The 25-year-old American golfer made three consecutive birdies late Sunday (Nos. 15-17) and was projected inside the top-30 bubble. However, he made a bogey on the par-4 18th hole, settling for a finish 8 points shy of Straka. The young golfer will now have to wait yet another year for his FedEx Cup Playoffs return.