Welcome to another edition of The Grind where we almost got killed at the Travelers Championship last week. An American golfer who shall remain nameless nearly drilled me with a drive on No. 15. He shall remain nameless because he was only concerned with his lie as he walked right by me and a few others to get to his ball. Meanwhile, European golfers continue to display better manners in these situations. A week after Henrik Stenson laid down on the ground to pose for a selfie with a fan he plunked, Jordan Smith bought his victim (multiple) drinks at the BMW International Open:

Alles wieder gut! @Jsmithgolf entschuldigt sich ordentlich bei Wolfgang. ???#BMWInternationalOpen pic.twitter.com/foc1dAFcAt

— SPORT1 (@SPORT1) June 21, 2019

What’s next, dinner and a movie? Seriously, fans might start trying to get hit by these guys. Anyway, kudos to Smith, Stenson, and others who actually care about the well-being of us little people in the galleries—or, at least yell “Fore!” when they hit an errant shot. And it’s good to know karma exists because of the player in question. . . never mind. He had a good week. Karma is officially dead, but The Grind lives on! Let’s dive into everything else happening in golf.

WE’RE BUYING

Chez Reavie: Is this the dawn of the Chez Reavie Era?! Probably not, but no one should be shocked by Reavie’s Travelers Championship triumph after his T-3 performance at Pebble Beach the previous week. I just hope the guy who bet on Chez to win the U.S. Open bet on him this past week.

Rob Carr/Getty Images

And rejoice, short hitters! His average swing speed is only. . . 108! OK, that’s still a lot faster than mine. . . The diminutive Reavie is never going to overpower a golf course like the typical tour winner, but he has always been one of the best iron players in the game. The most puzzling part of his second PGA Tour title is how long he waited for it. First Tiger snaps an 11-year drought in the majors and now Chez ends his 11-year drought in non-majors. What a time to be alive!

Zack Sucher: This was the rare week on the PGA Tour where you could declare two winners. Sure, Sucher blew a five-shot lead on Saturday in stunning fashion, but his rally to finish T-2 was awfully impressive—and important. Consider that in six years as a pro he had earned about $850,000 and had needed “to take out some credit cards” during a seven-month stretch two years ago in which he made no money. Well, he earned $633,600 on Sunday. “It’s life-changing, to be honest,” Sucher said.

Hannah Green: Also life-changing? How about the 114th-ranked player in the world going wire to wire? In a major? Congrats to this Australian for doing just that, instantly becoming one of the more surprising major champs in golf history. What’s even more surprising is how calm she remained throughout.

Pretty cool moment: Hannah Green walks off 8 and a little girl hands her a blue sheet of paper on which she’d written a poem. Hannah reads it, keeps it, gives the girl a hug and heads to 9th tee w 3-shot lead, going after first major.

— Doug Ferguson (@dougferguson405) June 23, 2019

Can you imagine Brooks Koepka doing that? Better yet, how about Tiger Woods in his prime? That is wild. Of course, considering the pace of play issues during the event, Green could have read a novella between holes.

Andrea Pavan: There was some shaky play from both Pavan and Matthew Fitzpatrick during their playoff at the BMW International Open, but the 30-year-old Italian finished in spectacular fashion with a winning birdie. Even better was his celebration (Check out the 27-second mark) with caddie Alejandro Molina.

It's Play-Off victory for @AndreaPavan89! ?#BMWInternationalOpen pic.twitter.com/pZY39ROLxA

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 23, 2019

So good. Reminiscent of Yogi Berra jumping into Don Larsen’s arms. And this isn’t Molina’s first epic celebration:

Come for the Pavan putt ?

Stay for the caddie celebration ? pic.twitter.com/iQy4XAioO2

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 22, 2019

Also, this dude has some serious soccer skills:

https://www.instagram.com/p/ByF9uFsH59K/?utm_source=ig_embed

OK, so we’re buying Molina as much as Pavan. That guy is awesome.

WE’RE SELLING

Brooks Koepka in non-majors: It was good of Koepka to keep his commitment, but seriously, why bother showing up? Koepka couldn’t have looked more disinterested to be playing at the Travelers and you can’t blame him. That has nothing to do with the tournament itself, but to tee it up at TPC River Highlands just four days after nearly winning the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach? And after a long cross-country flight?

Michelle Wie’s career: Sadly, we’re getting to the point of there being no point for Michelle Wie to show up at any tournament—and she knows it. “I’m not entirely sure how much more I have left in me, so even on the bad days, I’m just like trying to take time to enjoy it. But it’s tough,” said an emotional Wie after shooting an opening 84 at the KPMG PGA Championship. To Wie’s credit, she didn’t WD and spoke to the media the following day after an 82. If this is the end of the road (and hopefully, it’s not), Wie has been a pleasure to watch. Well, not during the table-top putting phase, but you get the point.

Matthew Wolff’s pro debut: From the winding down of one phenom’s career to the start of another, I drove up to the Travelers Championship on Thursday specifically to see what was being billed as an important moment in golf history. Apparently, I was the only one. Let’s just say there wasn’t much of a buzz for the pro debut of this DISRUPTOR, but the Wolfpack will certainly grow.

And Wolff will continue to improve, although a T-80 by the 20-year-old doesn’t sound so bad when you consider that a 20-year-old Tiger finished T-60 in his pro debut in 1996. . .

Holey Moley: I hate to pile on Stephen Curry after he had a tough NBA Finals in which his Golden State dynasty crumbled before our very eyes, but. . . wow, was this bad. Not that we should be too surprised considering most thought the show’s announcement was an April Fool’s joke. But. . . I mean. . .

Congrats to @StephenCurry30 and @ABC for somehow managing to make a golf show worse than #Shotmakers. https://t.co/iZxEqtWKTb

— Club Pro Guy (@ClubProGuy) June 25, 2019

Poor Kenny G. I didn’t think his career could dip any lower than appearing in that Valentine’s Day video for Kanye and Kim. I was wrong.

ON TAP

The PGA Tour heads to Detroit for the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic, AKA that event funded by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert that replaced the Quicken Loans National on the schedule. Gilbert founded Quicken Loans AND Rocket Mortgage (among other things). He has a lot more money than you do.

Random tournament fact: The tournament will be played at Detroit Golf Club and Rickie Rocket Mortgage Fowler is in the field. And. . . that’s pretty much all we know at this point.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Back to Andrea and Alejandro:

Let the celebrations begin ?#BMWInternationalOpen pic.twitter.com/S5UeqMpRzl

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) June 23, 2019

That’s nice to see, especially on a day where Matt Wallace came under fire for berating his caddie during the final round.

VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Bubba Watson’s son Caleb nearly ended Brandt Snedeker’s season (and ability to have kids) with this line drive:

Yessir! Caleb with line drive at @BrandtSnedeker. Great hit!! @TravelersChamp #TravelersFamilyWiffleball #ProudDad #WiffleballLife pic.twitter.com/0sgnNxj9DA

— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) June 21, 2019

Kid’s got some pop.

ARCHIVE VIRAL VIDEO OF THE WEEK

How about this compilation of Gary Woodland high school basketball highlights set to the “Rudy” theme song?

https://twitter.com/CoreyRHolloway/status/1140720163211210752

Impressive! Then again, even my high school basketball highlights would seem a lot better accompanied by the “Rudy” theme song.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Caddying for VJ. https://t.co/T8GbfZm4KY

— KIP HENLEY Blue Check Mark (@KipHenley) June 23, 2019

Boom. Roasted. Of course, Vijay has always had the rep as a caddie killer, but Kip added a little more about the experience:

Watching one of the greatest to ever lace em up, prepare and get after it. Most of working for VJ was so cool. He treated me like a son (even though I’m older than him) away from the course. He never let me reach in my pocket one time. I made almost 50gs in 5 weeks. https://t.co/R7Ds5XUiyJ

— KIP HENLEY Blue Check Mark (@KipHenley) June 23, 2019

Regardless of what people think that part didn’t matter. Sure there were a couple times where I was thinking “damn we been here all day” like every single caddie on the PGA Tour but I have never seen hard work not pay off. https://t.co/bnL0JlpZvm

— KIP HENLEY Blue Check Mark (@KipHenley) June 23, 2019

Fair enough.

THIS WEEK IN CELEBRITY GOLFERS

How about Drake hitting the links? We think. . .

https://www.instagram.com/p/By5icbWgioH/?utm_source=ig_embed

Rory McIlroy’s “Two Gloves Aubrey” comment was classic. And then there’s Dylan Windler, the Cleveland Cavaliers first-round pick out of Belmont who also maintains a one-handicap and practices trick shots in his spare time from shooting jump-shots.

Working on some new swings tonight @Topgolf pic.twitter.com/A6NTxc0bQy

— Dylan Windler (@Dylan_Windler23) September 23, 2018

Have a good rookie season, Dylan, and who knows? You could earn a sponsor exemption from Dan Gilbert into next year’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.

THIS WEEK IN DUSTIN JOHNSON-PAULINA GRETZKY PUBLIC DISPLAYS OF AFFECTION

While Brooks followed up a stressful week at Pebble Beach by playing in another tournament, Dustin and Paulina went to the Bahamas:

Advantage: Dustin.

THIS WEEK IN PHIL BEING PHIL

Introducing the first “Phireside with Phil”:

First edition of “Phireside with Phil.”

I’ll be sharing some interesting stories that have taken place through the years and will hopefully have some guests in the future too. #PhiresidewithPhil pic.twitter.com/4NDVTPNKmt

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) June 18, 2019

Please let this be a weekly thing.

THIS AND THAT

If you haven’t read Joel Beall’s (latest) great piece on Max Roberts, a high schooler who went from being homeless to state champ, check it out. What a story. . . . Jay Bilas mentioned Louis Oosthuizen multiple times during the NBA Draft. Jay Bilas is officially the world’s biggest Louis O fan. . . . With the British Open heading to Northern Ireland, NBC Sports commissioned a flute version of Yanni’s classic “In Celebration of Man” theme. It’s a nice little touch, but nothing tops the original. Not even the “Rudy” theme song. . . . And finally, we celebrated Father’s Day a week late in my house (Thanks, USGA!) and the highlight was waking up to this delicious bacon-and-egg on a bagel:

Well, other than spending quality time with my wife and daughter, of course. But yeah. . . that breakfast sandwich. . . mmm. . .

RANDOM QUESTIONS TO PONDER

Who is the most difficult tour pro to caddie for?

Should I wear a helmet to the next event I cover?

How much leftover bacon is in the fridge?

The post An epic victory celebration, Michelle Wie’s tearful goodbye(?), and a caddie blasts his former boss appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Brian Wacker
Tiger Woods once famously said that second place sucks.

Zack Sucher disagrees.

“It’s life changing, to be honest,” an emotional Sucher said after his tie for second at the Travelers Championship on Sunday.

That’s not an overstatement.

With birdies on four of his final six holes at TPC River Highlands, including a chip-in to see par on the last, the 32-year-old recorded his best-ever finish on the PGA Tour. It was also the biggest payday of his career, by a lot.

Sucher’s runner-up netted him $633,600. Prior to Sunday’s final round, he’d earned just over $850,000 in a career that spanned a half-dozen years mostly on the Web.com Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour).

But this is a story not just about a big payday, though it helped a lot considering the trials and tribulations Sucher endured. In 2017, his second year on the PGA Tour, he missed the cut 11 times in 14 starts, battling ankle problems along the way that were severe enough that the injury also started to affect his knee. After the 2017 Travelers, Sucher underwent surgery and took a medical extension.

It would be another 13 months before the University of Alabama Birmingham alum and Hooters Tour player could swing a club. He also had to wait seven months for the PGA Tour’s disability policy to kick in.

The combination proved a heavy burden.

“We had seven months with no income at all coming in two years ago,” Sucher said. “During that, we had to take out some credit cards.”

When he did return to play, the path was fraught with obstacles. Sucher had just six starts to earn 347 FedEx Cup points and had to endure the difficulty (and cost) of far-flung trips to Colombia and Panama in the early part of the Web.com season.

He continued to bet on himself, though, and the decision began to pay off. He tied for fourth at the Dormie Network Classic at Briggs Ranch in San Antonio in April and three weeks ago finished runner-up at the Rex Hospital Open to lock up his card on the developmental circuit for next year.

Then came the Travelers.

Sucher was initially an alternate in the field before getting in. With just three starts remaining on his extension he still needed to make up 322 FedEx Cup points and by midway, through the third round, he was cruising, leading by five strokes and seemingly en route to a life-altering victory.

Or not.

In the span of just over 30 minutes, he went bogey-double-double and suddenly found himself trailing. Over the course of nine holes, he’d gone from five up to six back.

A day later, though, he’d put the implosion behind him, closing with a 30 over his final nine holes to earn the tie for second. In addition to nearly doubling his career earnings, he nabbed 245 FedEx Cup points to climb to 126th in the season-long race and inside the re-shuffle on the priority ranking, which will provide for additional starts after the medical extension runs out, should he need them.

“To be honest, I’m not sure what all this does for points-wise, for next year,” Sucher said. “I don’t even know how that works. I know that like two months ago we had credit card debt. So I know we don’t have that anymore.

“Yeah, this is unbelievable.”

And second place doesn’t always suck after all.

The post Second-place finish proves life changing for Zack Sucher at Travelers Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Standing on the 10th tee on Saturday at the Travelers Championship, Chez Reavie, playing in the final pairing, trailed Zack Sucher by six. A couple of hours later, Reavie holed a six-footer for birdie on the par-4 18th at TPC River Highlands to extend his own lead to six shots. No, that is not a typo.

With the help of a mid-round meltdown from Sucher, who went out in 31 to reach 15 under but then went bogey-double bogey-double bogey to begin his back nine, Reavie was able to quickly close the gap with four consecutive birdies. Only he didn’t just close the gap, he leap-frogged Sucher and then some, carding a course-record back-nine 28. He finished with a seven-under 63, putting him alone at the top at 16-under 194, six clear of Sucher and Keegan Bradley, who are tied at 10-under 200.

Reavie, 37, is looking for just the second win of his PGA Tour career, the first coming more than a decade ago at the 2008 RBC Canadian Open. He’s had plenty of close calls since then, including a pair of playoff losses, most recently at the 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open and before that at the 2011 Deutsche Bank Championship. Last week, he tied for third at the U.S. Open, the best finish of his career in a major, and the only one inside the top 10.

He’ll play in the final group alongside Bradley, who got up and down for par at the 18th to post a 69. Sucher, who could have gone completely off the rails after the debacle at 10, 11 and 12, was able to settle in and make six consecutive pars to close his round. He finished with a one-over 71.

Roberto Diaz (67) and Jason Day (68) are tied for fourth at nine-under 201, while Bryson DeChambeau is among a group at eight under thanks to his third-round 64, which would have been the low score of the day if not for Reavie.

The post Chez Reavie sets back nine on fire, takes a massive six-shot lead into Sunday at the Travelers Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Not so fast.

After going out in four-under 31 at TPC River Highlands, the 32-year-old’s implosion started on the 10th when he blew his tee shot into a tree just 150 yards off the tee. He went on to make bogey, but that was just the beginning.

One hole later, Sucher dumped his tee shot into the bunker on the par 3, then left his next in the sand before blowing his third 30 feet past the hole and two-putting for a double bogey.

Warning: Viewer discretion is advised.

10th tee: 5-shot lead for Zack Sucher

12th tee: 1-shot lead for Zack Sucher

Winning is hard. pic.twitter.com/MOq8KPVdYS

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 22, 2019

The double-bogey train kept going on 12, where Sucher drove into a fairway bunker, pulled his second shot left of the green, caught his third heavy and left it in a bunker, hit his fourth to 12 feet and two-putted.

“I’ve never seen a five-shot lead disappear faster on the PGA Tour,” Jim Nantz said during CBS’ broadcast. “It’s just lightning quick.”

If you’re timing at home it was just over 30 minutes. Ouch.

Sucher’s collapse got even worse as Reavie, seeking his first PGA Tour victory since 2008 and coming off a great T-3 finish at the U.S. Open last week, started to build on his own momentum, making birdies on Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15. In a six-hole span, Reavie went from five down to four in the lead.

9th hole:
Zack Sucher: -15
Chez Reavie: -9

13th hole:
Chez Reavie: -13
Zack Sucher -10

A 9-shot swing in just 4 holes has Reavie on top of the leaderboard @TravelersChamp pic.twitter.com/4B9JG1NMX2

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 22, 2019

The post You might cover your eyes watching Zack Sucher’s five-shot lead at the Travelers turn into a two-shot deficit appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.