Pro’s seven-bird streak ends with ‘devastating’ level

IN Kapalua Plantation Course on Friday, good conditions made scores extremely low. In fact, of the 59 players on the field, only two have scored above the norm. Thirty-two players shot rounds of five-under (68) or better, and eight outstanding players signed for 64s – that’s nine under par!

Posting opening rounds of 69-65 (-12) would normally put you well in the mix on the leaderboard. But this week, Sepp Straka is still outside the top 10 after 36 holes, trailing Hideki Matsuyama’s lead by four strokes. But Straka gained a huge margin on Friday, making seven incredible birdies in a row on the back nine before finally ending his run with a par on the 17th.

“Well, I love a turkey, so I made three in a row on 12 and I was very happy about that,” Straka said after his round. “Then birdies 13, 14, 15, which were pretty reachable, so I was thinking about six in a row, I never got to seven, but, yeah, I kind of got hot there with the irons and hit some nice shots and I was able to shoot”.

When the series finally ended in a tie on the par-4 17th hole, Straka told his playing partner, Patton Kizzirewas more disappointed than he was.

“I made a 17-putt and missed it, and he told me right away he was mad at me,” Straka said.

So what happened?

“I hit it like 20 feet and missed the putt,” Straka said.

A sequel: Was this devastating?

“It was devastating,” he said. “It was a difficult scene, but I will make it.

“(Partners Kizzire and Stephan Jaegar) were both quite disappointed in my conclusion (laughing).

Making seven birdies in a row is quite an accomplishment (the PGA Tour record is nine in a row), and one Straka says he can’t remember ever making before.

“I definitely haven’t gotten eight, so I think seven is definitely my best,” he said.

Although Straka had to return seven putts to keep the streak alive, he attributed the flurry of birdies to excellent iron play.

“I was hitting my iron shots too close,” he said. “10 I hit it at five feet. 11 I hit it to 10 feet. I just got within 10 meters. This can be difficult with the wind here, it wasn’t that windy today, but it’s also kind of hard to tell exactly where it’s coming from, so it’s hard to really get it within 10 feet, and I was able to do that for a bit of a stretch there.”

While he is currently in a chaser’s position on the leaderboard, when the score is this low, anything can happen over the course of two rounds.