It was a pretty good weekend on the PGA Tour for former Georgia Bulldogs, but no one had a better weekend than everyone’s favorite Austro-Valdostan.
Sepp Straka forged an impressive -16 total through four days at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, securing a two stroke victory over runners up Shane Lowry and Justin Thomas.
Straka had already earned entry to the remaining Signature events on tour this season, as well as the rest of 2025’s majors and the 2026 edition of The Sentry. However this win moves him back into 2nd in the FedEx Cup standings behind Masters champ Rory McIlroy, and officially gets him into The Players Championship next year. It also extends his PGA Tour membership exemption as a winner through the year 2028 (not that he was in any real danger of losing his card before). Sepp Shady also banks $3.6 million as the winner of this invitation-only event. So, in the words of the great Carl Spackler, he’a got that going for him. Which is nice.
Perhaps an even bigger winner than Straka? His caddie Drew Mathers. Mathers actually filled in on Straka’s bag this week when his regular caddie suffered an injury. Mathers, a mini tour golfer himself, had been planning to play a U.S. Open qualifier this weekend but agreed to jump on the bag for his buddy Straka instead.
It was a rewarding decision. Assuming the customary 10% caddie’s share for a win, Mathers just earned $360,000 for his one week gig. That should be enough to keep the former UAB golfer’s PGA Tour hopes alive.
Back among the Bulldogs, Keith Mitchell only made the field via the last sponsor exemption. However he jumped out to the first round lead with a blistering 61, then held the lead Friday. Mitchell fired a pair of 71s on the weekend to fall out of the lead, but still finished 7th, It’s his second top 1 of the season and moved him up to 47th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Harris English carded a solid final round 68 to finish tied for 11th and take home a tidy $440,000. It ain’t much, but at least it’s honest work I guess. Fellow Classic City Canine Davis Thompson turned in a final round 67 to end the weekend in 23rd. Chris Kirk shook off some rough golf on Saturday to fire a final round 65 and land in 42nd at -3, one shot ahead of fellow ‘Dawgs Russell Henley and Brian Harman, who tied for 46th.
Next up on the schedule is the season’s second Major, the PGA Tour Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte. We’ll be back later this week with a Bulldog-centric preview, as several ‘‘Dawgs will be in the field, some of whom have a fair shot at being in the hunt for the title come Sunday. Until then, congrats to Sepp Straka and…
Go ‘Dawgs!!!