FedExCup No. 5 Sepp Straka has withdrawn from the BMW Championship due to a private family manner and will not play the second and penultimate event of the FedExCup Playoffs.
“For personal reasons, Sepp is unable to play this week. He intends to compete at the TOUR Championship, but requests privacy at this time as he attends to a family matter at home,” Straka’s manager, Butler Melnyk, said in a statement.
By nature of his FedExCup ranking, the 32-year-old Straka will mathematically qualify for the TOUR Championship. There are no alternates in the postseason, so the BMW Championship will have a 49-player field.
The four-time PGA TOUR winner and OWGR No. 11 has had an ascendant 2025 season with two wins — at The American Express in January and the Truist Championship in May — and 13 top-25 finishes, including a T17 at last week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship. This will be the fourth consecutive time, and fourth time overall, that Straka has qualified for a TOUR Championship. His highest finish is a T7 in 2022.
The Austrian is also currently sixth in the European Team’s Ryder Cup standings, hoping to solidify his spot on the team after his successful rookie debut in Italy in 2023. The top six in the European standings after the TOUR Championship will qualify automatically for next month’s matches at Bethpage State Park.
The Truth Behind the Rumor
A viral video claimed to show a killer whale trainer named Jessica Radcliffe, aged around 23, being attacked and killed on stage at the so-called “Pacific Blue Marine Park.” However, investigators have confirmed that the footage was entirely AI-generated, including both visuals and audio (New York Post, The Economic Times).
In reality, no person named Jessica Radcliffe exists, nor is there any marine park called “Pacific Blue Marine Park” (The Economic Times).
There have been no official reports from the media, marine facilities, or law enforcement confirming such an incident. No news briefs, obituaries, or press statements exist related to this case (The Economic Times, New York Post).
Why Did the Video Go Viral?
The clip tapped into genuine public fear stemming from real past incidents involving killer whales—such as the death of Dawn Brancheau caused by Tilikum at SeaWorld—making it easy for many to believe before fact-checking (The Economic Times).
Its realistic visuals, coupled with sophisticated AI-generated sound design, gave the video a sense of authenticity that fueled rapid sharing without verification.
Some versions even added sensational—and baseless—details, such as claims that the whale was drawn to the trainer’s menstrual blood, a fabrication meant solely to shock and attract attention (The Economic Times).
