Sepp Straka strolled to victory in the La Quinta desert, earning his third title on the PGA TOUR with a two-stroke win at The American Express. Displaying a dramatic new hairstyle heading into the new year, shaving his head wasn’t the only change that seems to have helped Staka return to the winner’s circle.

The soft-spoken Austrian moved into the recently released Srixon ZXi iron lineup to start the season at The Sentry. A combo set with ZXi5 4- and 5-irons and ZXi7 6- to 9-irons are making a difference for Straka, who in his first three starts has put on strong ball-striking displays with the new irons. At both The Sentry and the Sony Open, the Georgia Bulldog ranked 10th in the field for Strokes Gained: Approach to Green, before heading to The American Express where he once again gained multiple strokes with his approach play, tied for first in Greens in Regulation and fifth in Proximity to the hole.

Straka opened the final round at PGA WEST’s Pete Dye Stadium Course hitting the first 13 greens in a row, with his best shot of the day coming at the par-3 13th with major champions Jason Day and Justin Thomas both trying to close in on the lead. On a hole with water left, where his playing partner Charley Hoffman had just deposited a ball, Straka hit a crisp, high-draw iron shot from 208 yards to 8 feet, setting up birdie and moving him four shots clear again.

"I'm not a tinkerer," Straka said after the victory. "Once I'm set, like I'll play these irons probably the rest of the year without even thinking about switching. Yeah, I don't like to really switch a whole lot, but these numbers were really similar, pretty much the same on the irons, and so it was a really easy switch for me.

"I always tell the Srixon guys, just don't change anything about the irons, they're great, just keep re-marketing."

The now three-time TOUR winner also changed golf ball heading into 2025. Straka switched from the Srixon Z-Star Diamond to the new Z-Star XV. The new ball creates the highest compression of the three Z-Star models recently released and helps maximize distance, while also producing the highest spin with irons.

Straka rounded out an excellent week tee-to-green, leading the field in Driving and gaining over three strokes on the field with the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond driver. While struggling around and on the greens last year, ranking 95th in Scrambling and 104th in SG: Putting on TOUR, Straka found his range with his Odyssey Tuttle Stroke Lab putter gaining nearly four strokes on the field and finishing seventh in strokes gained on the greens.

See the clubs he used below.

Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue (2024) 6 X

3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Red 80 TX

7-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (20 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Orange 80 TX

Irons: Srixon ZXi5 (4, 5), Srixon ZXi7 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (46, 52, 56, 60)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Odyssey Tuttle Stroke Lab
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol Tour

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Midsize

Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV