SILVER LININGS

Sepp Straka aims to shine in the showers at Emirates Golf Club this weekend

Rain is rarely a golfer’s best friend, but one man who was beaming at the prospect of a damp week at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic is Austrian Sepp Straka.

The 29-year-old may hail from Vienna, but he plies his trade mostly on the PGA tour, having remained in the United States since graduating from the University of Georgia and turning professional in 2016.

That decision has certainly not done him any harm as he has risen to No. 27 in the world and comes to Dubai on the back of a stellar 2022, which saw him just miss out on the FedEx St Jude Championship and Sanderson Farms Championship in playoffs to Will Zalatoris and Mackenzie Hughes respectively. But the crowning achievement was claiming his maiden crown at the Honda Classic at the PGA National in Palm Beach, Florida, back in February.

As luck would have it, Straka’s fortunes changed that week almost exactly a year