The Shag Bag
26 JUN 2019
Trading Places
Journeymen Zack Sucher and Chez Reavie did the Saturday swap at the Travelers Championship. Sucher started his third round with a two-shot lead over the field after impressive rounds of 64 and 65 to start the tournament, and continued to press with birdies on three of his first four holes on Saturday afternoon. The Alabaman then nearly aced the 8th hole with this remarkable tee shot, collecting an easy birdie in the process to extend his lead to five strokes over second-placed Reavie.
But the good times ended abruptly for Sucher on the 10th hole when an errant drive caused him to make a bogey. On the very next hole, all hell broke loose for the 32-year-old. He found the greenside bunker off the tee, whiffed on his sand shot, skulled his next attempt to the back of the green and two-putted for a double bogey.
Sucher continued to muck things on 12 with another double bogey that included a fairway bunker, two greenside bunker shots and two putts. While Sucher floundered, Reavie caught fire and made four birdies in a row starting on the 10th hole.
In a span of just 30 minutes, Reavie went from five shots back to three shots ahead! It was insanity. Even Jim Nantz couldn’t believe it. Reavie obviously smelled blood in the water and continued to attack, pouring in three more birdies down the stretch en route to a 28 on the back nine and a 7-under 63 on the day.
Reavie took a six-shot lead into the final round and closed out the victory, the second his career, with a 69 on Sunday.
Phil’s Terrible Nine
Phil Mickelson got off to a great start at his first Travelers Championship in 16 years with a 67 on Thursday but undid all of that good work in just nine holes on Friday. Mickelson started on the back nine and fired his first shot of the day out of bounds, resulting in a double bogey. From there, he bogeyed the 11th, 13th, and 16th holes, and then doubled the 17th hole to go seven over in his first eight holes. A birdie on the 18th brought his score back to six over, where it remained for the rest of the day. Mickelson closed out his round with nine straight pars on the front nine and missed the cut by four strokes. “I didn’t really right the ship very well,” Mickelson said after the round. “It’s a little disappointing because I really felt like my game was coming around.”
Michelle Wie
Could Michelle Wie be on the final stretch of her career? After carding an opening round of 84 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last Thursday, the Hawaiian superstar spoke to a few members of the media. At first, Wie expressed how happy she was to be playing despite her struggles, given that she had just sat out the U.S. Women’s Open a few weeks ago. But the joy in her face quickly turned to sorrow when she started talking about the extent to which her injuries have derailed, and continue to derail, her career. “I’m not entirely sure how much more I have left in me,” Wie said with tears in her eyes. “Even on the bad days, I’m just like trying to take the time to enjoy it. But it’s tough.” The 29-year-old then abruptly cut the media scrum short and ran off to be with her parents, leaving those in attendance to wonder if this would be her final appearance at a Women’s PGA Championship. (She went on to shoot an 82 on Friday and missed the cut by 16 strokes). Wie first made headlines as a 10-year-old in 2000 as the youngest player ever to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Two years later she made history again as the youngest player ever to qualify for an LPGA Tour event. Huge expectations were placed on her as a result and Wie unfortunately never really lived up to them, winning only one major and four LPGA Tour events over the course of her career. Nevertheless, for more than a decade, Wie was essentially the face of women’s golf in the U.S. and inspired an entire generation of female American golfers with both her swing and swag. We sincerely hope this isn’t the final chapter for her.
Bad Bounce of the Week
This poor guy did everything right here, flipping his right-handed club over and making impressive contact with this lefty punch shot. Unfortunately, it hit the post directly in front of him squarely and came careening right back at him! Ouch!
Unexpected Outburst of the Week
You just don’t see this one coming with the tranquil music playing in the background, but this guy clearly did not like his drive or driver, or both, and decided to do something about it:
