Sepp Straka has experienced two completely opposite moments today on the second day of the US Open on course No. 2 at Pinehurst. First, there was a moment of utter disbelief, what have I done to deserve this. And then, just a few holes later, it was the complete opposite, absolute glory and happiness. Something like ‘divine justice’.
Let’s review the events chronologically. Shortly after starting his round, hole 3, Straka had some real bad luck. He hit a shot from the fairway, straight to the flag, looking for a clear birdie opportunity. The shot was spectacular, to the point that the ball, when it was already falling to the green, hit the flagstick. The rebound was not too violent, but it fell into a part of the green with a lot of slope and expelled the ball towards the bunker. A clear birdie opportunity turned into a struggle to make the cut.
From there, quite a bit of drama, not so much because of the course but because of Straka himself. He hit a thin shot from the bunker, flew over the green. From the native area, he just topped the green, fourth shot. The fifth and first putt was not good, he left himself a double bogey opportunity of about six meters and still went over by about two and a half for a triple bogey. He made that one. In a moment of bad luck, he lost almost four strokes. Cruel.
However, six holes later, on the 9th, the Austrian golfer received his compensation. And in what a way. It was on the par 3. He hit a great shot, bounced short of the flag and went straight into the hole. Hole in one. Sensational. The damage from the triple bogey was not all corrected, but it’s not bad at all. He celebrated it in style. With that, he got back into the fight for the tournament. Something like what goes around, comes around.
