For the third time in his PGA Tour career, Sepp Straka hoisted a trophy at tournament’s end. Converting a four-stroke lead at the 54-hole mark into a victory at the 2025 American Express, Straka fended off a crowded chasing pack headlined by Justin Thomas. Straka’s 25-under tournament total was enough to keep Thomas at bay for a two-stroke triumph at PGA West.
A come-from-behind winner en route to his first two titles, Straka’s first 54-hole lead led to his first victory since the 2023 John Deere Classic. The Austrian has now secured himself a place on the tee sheet at the 2026 Sentry where he will kick off his season for the fourth consecutive year.
Not only does Straka’s win come with 500 FedEx Cup points, a nice paycheck and a ticket to Kapalua, it boosts his Ryder Cup resume as he seeks to represent Europe for the second straight time.
Straka’s final round began in ideal fashion as he tacked on two birdies in his first four holes to maintain his overnight advantage. His playing partner, Charley Hoffman, persisted across the front nine adding four circles of his own to his scorecard and trimming the lead to three as the final trio made the turn home.
With Straka failing to birdie the par-5 8th and the par-5 11th, the door creaked open ever so slightly. Thomas pulled even with Hoffman with his sixth birdie of the round on No. 11, and Hoffman had eyes on adding his fifth on the very same hole a few moments later to trim the lead to two.
Straka breathed a sigh of relief as Hoffman’s 7-foot birdie bid went by the wayside, keeping his lead at three. It remained there up until the par-3 13th where Hoffman’s tee shot (third overall) found the water. Straka stepped to the plate and struck the best iron shot of the afternoon thereafter watching his ball settle just inside 10 feet from the pin.
Hoffman cleaned up for triple bogey, and Straka slammed the door shut with another birdie to push his edge back to where it was at the beginning of the day. His first bogey of the entire week came a few holes later on the par-5 16th, but by then, the tournament was well in hand — and so was Straka’s third career trophy. Grade: A+
Here are the other notable names on the leaderboard at the 2025 American Express.
2. Justin Thomas (-23): Another week and another close call for the two-time PGA Championship winner. Still without a trip to the winner’s circle since hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy in 2022, Thomas tried his best to end that streak for the second straight season at the American Express. Sloppy iron play on Saturday dampened a red-hot putting performance and put him too far behind heading into the final round. His iron play started to cooperate on Sunday, but it was too little too late.
“Just keep doing what I’m doing. I don’t need to change or do anything different. Just keep building, keep working, tighten some things up,” said Thomas in reference to how he can get back in the winner’s circle. “I feel like my wedge game has not been anything close to my level of what I like it being. So, yeah, just kind of keep honing in on that, and work — because we got a big stretch here coming up that I’m excited for.” Grade: A
T5. Patrick Cantlay (-20): He had an outside chance at the onset of the final round, but a couple early bogeys put that thought to bed. Similar to his play at the Sentry, Cantlay wielded his wedges ineffectively at moments and was ultimately his undoing. The result represents his ninth straight top-25 finish dating back to the U.S. Open and his second top 10 during that span. It’s been a lot of good — not great — golf for a former FedEx Cup champion who is winless since the summer of 2022. Grade: A-
Tyrrell Hatton wins 2025 Dubai Desert Classic for record-tying fifth Rolex Series title on DP World Tour
Patrick McDonald
T12. Will Zalatoris (-17): Things are beginning to move in the right direction for Zalatoris. After a decent start to his season at the Sentry where he found some form with the putter, the wiry right hander leaned more so on his ball striking at the American Express. That is a welcomed sight for Zalatoris, whose game is more conducive for quality results at more difficult set ups. He may not have won this week, but he should be licking his chops for next week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Grade: B+
T21. Rickie Fowler (-15): Fowler’s resurgent fall leaked into the new year in his first start of the 2025 season. A second-round 62 catapulted his name onto the first page of the leaderboard, but a so-so 71 on the Stadium Course on Saturday halted any idea of picking up win No. 6. Despite the ease of the scoring conditions, Fowler looked sharp from tee to green and sharp with his full swing. The putter still need to make a leap for him to return to that 2023 form of his, but it’s not far off. Grade: B-
MC. Sungjae Im: Im was among a surprising crop of big names — Wyndham Clark, Tom Kim, Tony Finau and Cameron Young — who missed the cut, but his absence from the final round may have been the most head-scratching. Having finished inside the top 25 in all six of his previous tournament appearance, the pre-tournament favorite began his week in a brutal fashion by opening with a 5-over 77 on the Stadium Course. He recovered with a couple decent rounds, but by then, the damage was already done. Im’s missed cut marks his first early exit since the U.S. Open in June. Grade: F
