Reed wins Masters over Fowler for first major

Forget the set of cut-down golf clubs. And don’t expect to hear tales of a pint-sized Tyler McCumber tagging along every day as his father Mark, a 10-time winner on the PGA TOUR, hit balls on the practice range at TPC Sawgrass. The beach was Tyler’s happy place when he was a kid, and truth be told, it still is. The PGA TOUR rookie started surfing when he was five or six, first learning to stand up on a boogie board and now riding waves in such far-flung places as Australia, Peru, Portugal and Barbados. “I just fell in love with the ocean,â€� Tyler says simply. “It became my favorite hobby. I wish I could have made a career out of it, but that wasn’t going to happen.â€� Tyler had two older sisters whose boyfriends at the time surfed, so he was exposed to the culture at a young age. A babysitter actually taught him to surf, and by the time he was around eight or nine, Tyler was paddling out to catch a set of waves just like other enthusiasts more than twice his age. By the time he was a teenager, though, Tyler had also started playing golf. He’s come a long way from the all-star baseball player who used to hit the golf ball with no backswing, too. Tyler played at Florida, twice earning honorable mention All-America recognition. He won three times on PGA TOUR LatinoAmerica and then three more times on the MacKenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada when was named the 2018 Player of the Year. He earned his TOUR card for the 2019-20 season when he finished 22nd on the Korn Ferry Tour points list. But Tyler still loves to surf. The 28-year-old had actually planned a bucket list trip to Indonesia during what he thought was going to be a gap in the TOUR’s fall schedule. But when the fall lineup included three more events than the previous year – with those all-important FedExCup points on offer, he knew he had to choose business over pleasure. “It’s pretty much the quintessential trip for a surfer,â€� Tyler says wistfully. “You know, the once in a lifetime opportunity, unless you’re obviously professional, you’d probably go there quite a bit. … “It takes forever to get there, almost a day and a half. You’re flying multiple places and then taking a boat to an island and then you’re on this boat for 10 days. You’re catered, eating fish and surfing perfect waves and it’s cool and it’s world-class. “It’s like taking a guy’s, you know, a group trip to go play St. Andrews or go play Augusta. It’s just as good as it gets.â€� Tyler has surfed the Soup Bowl – which legendary Kelly Slater, who is also an avid golfer, has called one of his top three waves in the world — on the eastern coast of Barbados. Three winters ago, he hitch-hiked the south coast of New Zealand with his surfboard in tow. And he absolutely loves the North Shore of Kauai. “The waves have so much power,â€� Tyler says. “It’s definitely the biggest, most respectable surf that I’ve been in. You know, you really have to respect the ocean out there and be, in my opinion, an above, a way above average, water man.  …. You really have to learn the ocean in the art of sort of where the tides are and in where all the water’s going in and using it to your favor, but also, you know, staying safe. … “So, it takes really a lifetime of learning. It’s like playing golf, you know, you just kind of feel it and respect it, because it’ll really slap you around if you don’t.â€� Speaking of staying safe, Tyler – a classic adrenaline junkie who has also gone skydiving and BMX trail riding – did tear the labrum in his shoulder surfing in Hawaii three years ago, missing seven months of golf. But after surfing for more than two decades, he feels like he understands the sport and doesn’t take undo chances. “Knock on wood, but you know, you sort of learn how to fall and I feel like for the, for the rush, like the adrenaline rush is probably the least dangerous sport,â€� Tyler says. “Not when you get to surfing crazy stuff … you know, over in Hawaii and all. But for the most part, you know, like a solid wave you can have a lot of fun on and it’s minimal, somewhat minimal risks.â€� So, which is better – surfing or playing golf? Well, Tyler, who once rated himself a 5 or 6 handicap on the waves, says both sports serve a different purpose in his life and as a result, comparing the two is difficult. “They both give you a little bit of a rush, but one’s definitely a hobby and one as a profession,â€� Tyler explains.  “… But if I had to do one for the rest of my life, I’d pick surfing. Then he paused and added “if I couldn’t make money playing golf.â€�

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Kizzire holds off furious Fowler charge

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CROMWELL, Conn. – Pretty much, the stars all seemed aligned against Chez Reavie in Sunday’s final round of the Travelers Championship. To wit: He was starting the fourth round with a six-shot lead, but TPC River Highlands is a place where four times in the previous 14 years, the winner had started Sunday six or seven behind. Reavie was head-to-head with Keegan Bradley, whose four PGA TOUR wins had all been of the come-from-behind fashion, furious finishes almost part of his persona. Related: Leaderboard | Winner’s bag There had been eight birdies in his final 11 holes Saturday, and you have to figure that somewhere, Golf Gods gathered to remind one another that they have quotas for this sort of stuff. Oh, and Reavie is the definition of “unheralded,â€� a man whose only PGA TOUR win came in his rookie season 11 years ago. So, as Bradley whittled the deficit to five at the turn, then to four, then three, then two and, finally, to one at the par-4 15th hole, it was worth a big exhale and a reminder what people who know Reavie say about the 37-year-old. “He’s tough as nails,â€� said Paul Casey, who was a senior at Arizona State when Reavie arrived as a freshman in 2000. “He doesn’t have the physical attributes that seem to be what you need to play nowadays (Reavie is 5-9, about 160 pounds), but he’s always nipping at your heels, like a Jack Russell (Terrier).â€� Pausing to smile and catch his breath, Casey, who had just shot 5-under 65 to nail down a share of fifth, said it was a joy to speak about Reavie. “He’s brilliant.â€� As a person, Casey meant, but on this day, he was as a front-runner, too, and because he was a mere 11 years and 258 tournaments since his first TOUR win. “I was fortunate enough to stay patient,â€� said Reavie, who had to be, because he kept hitting fairways and greens and missing birdie chances. That was a recipe for danger, Reavie reasoned, “because I knew Keegan would come out firing.â€� So, when the birdie tries misfired – from long distance at the 10th, then from 28, 21, 12, 12, 10, and nine feet on each of the next six holes – Reavie stood on the 17th tee, his lead a fragile one. To some, it was time to drag out that list of those who had come from at least six shots back after 54 holes to win the Travelers – Brad Faxon back in 2005, Bubba Watson twice, Marc Leishman, too – and start to engrave Bradley’s name to the rollcall. Those folks clearly don’t know what Justin York knows – that it was the perfect time for Reavie to step up. “He’s a bulldog,â€� said York, who has caddied for Reavie for nearly six years. “He’s as mentally tough as anyone out here.â€� Indeed, it was Bradley who blinked, not Reavie. From 160 yards out in a fairway bunker, Bradley bladed a 9-iron long, made double-bogey, and when, finally, Reavie’s fairway-and-green routine led to a birdie, the game was over. With 69 for 17-under 263, Reavie finished four clear of Bradley (67) and Zack Sucher (67). What came with the $1,296,000 prize and 500 FedExCup points were accolades that might be more valuable – if you cherish the character of a person, that is. “He is,â€� said longtime PGA TOUR caddie Jim “Bonesâ€� Mackay, “off the charts as a person, an awesome human being.â€� For all the times Mackay crossed paths with Reavie for more than 10 years on the PGA TOUR, it’s a small corner of the golf universe where he truly got to appreciate this quiet young man who was born in Kansas, grew up in Arizona, and honed his golf game at Dobson Ranch GC in Mesa. It’s Whisper Rock in Scottsdale, which attracts competitive golfers as members the way the Louvre houses priceless artifacts. “If you golf competitively there, you become mentally tough,â€� said York, who swears that his boss’s improvement as a player is two-fold – the work he’s done with Mark Blackburn and the many days and months and years he has spent at Whisper Rock. “The Rock,â€� as it is called, is where guys you’ve never heard of, amateurs for the most part, don’t want shots and don’t need ‘em. “The members can beat you up – in a nice, friendly way,â€� said Casey, who is one of a long list of PGA TOUR guys who play there. Phil Mickelson, Martin Kaymer, Kevin Streelman, Aaron Baddeley, Geoff Ogilvy, Gary McCord, Peter Kostis … they’re just a sampling of the golf talent that shows up where an unwritten rule greets everyone. “You check the ego at the door,â€� said Casey. Ah, no wonder Reavie loves it. After all, he’s as unpretentious as anyone you’ll meet. For sure, “there were some long years in the middleâ€� of his career, as a wrist injury derailed him, and four times between 2009-2015 he failed to make the FedExCup playoffs. But even Bradley cited Reavie’s doggedness. “That’s the way he plays; he’s tough,â€� said the co-runner-up. “I wasn’t surprised.â€� Back in the days before the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, word got around “The Rockâ€� that Reavie was in great form, having shot 61, 61, 64. “Obviously,â€� said Mackay, “he was playing very, very well.â€� When Reavie took that action to Pebble Beach and finished tied for third, his best performance in a major, no one back at Whisper Rock was surprised. And when Reavie fought off Bradley and closed out a 72-hole tournament with just three bogeys against 20 birdies, Casey, representing Whisper Rock GC and probably a long line of friends who have met Reavie along the way, was there to offer a warm embrace. “He’s a great friend, someone you can trust,â€� said Casey, “and he’s getting better with age.â€�

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