Sepp Straka described the support he received on his homecoming as “incredibly special” as he made a strong start in his pursuit of a first DP World Tour title at the Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol.
Straka is making his first start in Austria since the Shot Clock Masters in 2018, since when he has become a global star as a two-time Ryder Cup winner and four-time PGA TOUR winner.
A runner-up finish at The Open Championship in 2023, the year he made his Ryder Cup debut in Italy, is his best finish to date on the DP World Tour where he is this week making his 37th start.
The World Number 18 is the top-ranked player in the field at Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith and he described the prospect of landing an elusive first win on golf's global tour on home soil as "incredible".
This is his sixth start at his national open, where his best finish was tied seventh in 2017, and Straka was feeling the love from the home crowds in the alpine setting of Kitzbühel as he carded a first-round 67 that featured ten straight pars to start his day to sit at three under.
"It's incredibly special. I mean, it was even a bigger turnout than I expected," he said.
"It was awesome to kind of get cheered on. Honestly, it kind of helped me hang in there a little bit through that stretch in the beginning."
Starting at the tenth among the morning wave of starters, Straka said he was indebted to his short game for helping him avoid any dropped shots through his first nine.
But the 33-year-old soon found some confidence off the tee as he mixed five birdies with two bogeys coming in, before Chinese DP World Tour rookie Yanhan Zhou carded a brilliant 62 to lead in the clubhouse at eight under.
While well versed in the pressures of competing on the biggest stages, Straka admitted it was a "stressful" performance and he later headed out onto the range in a quest to finetune his game.
"Front nine, I really didn't play very well at all," he reflected. "I felt like I was getting up and down from everywhere.
"And then back nine, it was a little bit easier in general, but I was able to hit a few shots and make some birdies, but still hit enough bad shots to kind of make a few bogeys to stumble there.
"Honestly, I was pretty happy with the ten pars in a row, because I was always in trouble. I was making putts for par, so I really didn't think about staying patient too much. I was just trying to kind of figure out how to get the ball in play.
"I'd say the driver was definitely a lot better on the back nine. I hit some fairways with the driver, and then iron play I was able to just kind of get it close, but on the front I really didn't have that many chances.
"Yeah, just able to take advantage of some good drives."
