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His accent is as American as his caddie, but Sepp Straka believes he has gone the extra mile \u2013 thousands of them in fact \u2013 to prove his dedication to Europe\u2019s Ryder Cup team.<\/p>\n
Straka was asked to compete in the Hero Cup in Abu Dhabi in January, a team event between Continental Europe and Great Britain and Ireland which it was felt necessary to revive in the wake of 2021\u2019s record Ryder Cup defeat.<\/p>\n
The only problem was that the Austrian was contesting the Sentry Tournament of Champions the week beforehand in Hawaii, which meant undertaking an epic journey across 14 time zones.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrancesco (Molinari, captain of Continental Europe) was the first person to talk to me about the trip,\u201d Straka told the PA news agency.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMy first reaction was that I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll make it because I don\u2019t think that I can get there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen I looked into the flights a little deeper and realised that I could make it for the Tuesday and it didn\u2019t start until the Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce I realised I could get there in time to prepare then I wanted to make the trip because it was huge in terms of getting to Rome and also getting comfortable playing team golf. I think that is something we don\u2019t get to do a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be a part of it. I kind of put myself in a place last year for consideration for the team and I knew that would show my commitment.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom there on, I could focus on just trying to play my best golf and put my name out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Straka won two points from his four matches in the Hero Cup, including a foursomes victory over Ryder Cup team-mates Shane Lowry and Tyrrell Hatton, but then missed the cut in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and Dubai Desert Classic.<\/p>\n
However, he claimed his second PGA Tour title in the John Deere Classic in July and two weeks later finished joint second in the Open at Royal Liverpool, his second top 10 in a major in 2023.<\/p>\n
Such performances meant Europe captain Luke Donald felt he \u201ccouldn\u2019t leave\u201d Straka off his team and duly gave him a wild card, making Straka the second Austrian after Bernd Wiesberger to play in the contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been an incredible ride,\u201d said Straka, whose family moved from Vienna to Georgia when he was 14\u00a0 \u2013 he went on to play on the University of Georgia with twin brother Sam.<\/p>\n
\u201cKind of all started by winning the Honda (Classic) last season and thankfully I was able to ride that and gain confidence and just keep improving my golf game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like it\u2019s in a place where I give myself a lot more chances now than did I early in my career and yeah, it\u2019s been an incredible ride the last few years.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for having a southern accent and an American caddie in Duane \u201cDewey\u201d Bock, Straka joked: \u201cI was thinking about maybe getting a translator. Maybe my brother can translate for me for the week just so we don\u2019t have to hear it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDewey is a great caddie. He\u2019s been awesome to have on the bag and it\u2019s helped me so much over the last few months.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe is definitely red, white and blue. A bunch of the European caddies have been giving him crap about having a US yardage book cover but he\u2019s already changed that. We\u2019re working on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a professional. He\u2019ll do his best job that he can and it will be great.\u201d<\/p>\n