Woods atop leaderboard, but only briefly in the Bahamas

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CROMWELL, Conn. – There was a ride of roughly 700 miles ahead of them, but after some of the trappings that had punctuated this wildest journey of their lives, Zack and Courtney Sucher said Sunday evening they were going to enjoy the car time with daughters Hadley and Claire. Indeed, Courtney said the 9-to-10-hour drive from this bucolic town to Detroit’s Motown was going to feel like a sunset cruise compared to the stressful roller-coaster excursion their life has been of late. After all, it is easy to drive hundreds of miles with money in the bank and job security in the trunk, next to the golf clubs. You can float on your blessings. But to try and go from nowhere to somewhere on interest-free credit cards is a rough ride. You have to embrace faith. “I know with Zack, he doesn’t ever give up,� said Courtney. “He’s a true believer. I have faith in him, and I had faith in God that he would get him there.� Specifically, by “there�, Courtney Sucher didn’t mean Detroit Golf Club for this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic. She meant to a place where you have peace of mind and the relief to know all your perseverance and trusts have been rewarded. It is a far more beautiful place than a golf course, no disrespect to venerable Detroit GC, which will host a PGA TOUR tournament for the first time. The peace of mind and relief are owed to the way the numbers fell in Sucher’s favor in a whirlwind of weekend golf at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands. He arrived at the tournament on one of two exemptions extended to players on the Korn Ferry Tour list; that spot appreciated because Zack Sucher is also on a medical exemption dating back to 2017 and knew he had just two tournaments left to generate 347 FedExCup points. If Sucher didn’t get overwhelmed by the task of piling up that many FEC points in such a short amount of time, perhaps it’s because real life had hit hard. “Coming back from medical,� he said, “we had seven months with no income at all coming in two years ago. During that time, we had to take out some credit cards.� Not a recommended course of action, but in 2017, Sucher had missed the cut in 11 of 14 starts before opting for surgery. Doctors in Birmingham, Ala., where he and Courtney live, went into Zack’s left leg to repair extensive ligament and tendon damage, and while they were there they fixed some issues his bad knee, too. The recovery time kept him out the rest of 2017 and all of the next season. When he returned to golf in 2019, Sucher tackled the Korn Ferry Tour and produced a T-2, a T-4, and enough money to sit 32nd and assure himself status out there for this year and next. Then, the former University of Alabama-Birmingham standout set his sights on the PGA TOUR, where he knew he was a long-shot. Which is OK, because a long-shot with an inner belief, a supportive wife, and a small circle of friends is in position to script an intriguing story. And Craig Mullinax, for one, couldn’t wait to be part of it. “Zack is as good as gold, a really good man,� said Mullinax, whose nephew, Trey Mullinax, also plays on the PGA TOUR. “I got to know Zack about two-and-a-half years ago. We hang out at Shoal Creek a lot and when he asked me to caddie for him, I was excited for the chance.� By now, the particulars to the story have been well documented: How Sucher in Round 3 went from six in the lead to six behind playing competitor Chez Reavie, thanks in large part to a horrific meltdown of a three-hole stretch and a back-nine 41, and how he played those same nine holes in 5-under 30 Sunday to sprint into a tie for second behind Reavie, rake in 245 FedExCup points and put himself in position to secure a PGA TOUR card for the rest of this year and in 2019-20. Yes, you can cue up any of the underdog music you prefer, but amid the wild scene in the scoring area Sunday, Courtney Sucher and Mullinax stood to the side and sang the praises of their husband and friend, not words to a song. And they focused not on the blur of that back-nine 30, but on the darker moments that Zack had to navigate to get here. “At Wells Fargo, when he made that double-bogey (on the 13th hole in Round 2 to fall one outside the cut), he didn’t give up,� said Courtney. “He told me the eagle he made two holes later changed his whole perspective to this comeback.� That eagle got Sucher into weekend play, but more importantly, it ignited a confidence within. “He’s never doubted his ability to stay in it,� she said. As for Mullinax, he watched as his man bogeyed the 10th hole Saturday, then followed it with ugly double-bogeys at 11 and 12. “It was a huge moment, but at the 13th tee I told him, ‘Look, we’ve got to get together here and work to make pars to settle this thing,’ � said Mullinax, whose older brother (and Trey’s dad) is Chip Mullinax, a former NASCAR driver. “When a car spins out, you get it back in gear and get back into the race,� Mullinax said. And clearly Sucher understood, because he made six straight pars after that stunning third-round stretch at 10-11-12 and that went a long way toward vaulting him into Sunday’s spectacular finish. “I wasn’t sure how I would handle it this weekend,� said Sucher. “I’ve done it on the Korn Ferry Tour a few times, but this was (different). Crowd-wise, everything is 10 times bigger out here, so to be honest, it was so much fun.� To study the logistics of his status Sunday night was to deflect enthusiasm away from a story that deserved good cheer. Courtney choked back tears, Mullinax kept shaking his head, and the man of the hour, having acknowledged that the share of second was worth $636,000, was true to his embrace of simple means. “I know that like two months ago, we had credit-card debt, so I know we don’t have that anymore.� While he’s still shy by 77 FedExCup points of what he needs to satisfy his medical-exemption target, it’s almost irrelevant. Having earned 126-to-150 status, Sucher will be able to play more than two tournaments, if he chooses, and the likelihood of finishing within the top 125 (he’s currently 126th on just four starts) is very good. A story with so many layers of inspiration and warmth, though Zack Sucher – who only moments earlier had bumped fists with Bryson DeChambeau who smiled and let out with a “Hell, yeah� – stood in the scoring area and tried to absorb it all. “It’s huge for us. It’s exciting. It’s awesome. (but) you know, honestly, I can’t wrap my head around it,� he said. Which is OK. That’s what the long drive to Detroit was for.

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Notes and observations from Saturday’s third round of the Wyndham Championship, where Henrik Stenson went 4-under for his last six holes to shoot 66 and take the lead at 16-under. Kevin Na (65), Ollie Schniederjans (66) and Webb Simpson (68) were just a shot back. For more coverage from Sedgefield Country Club, click here for the Daily Wrap-up. LOVE, 53, SOLID THROUGH 54 There are few sure things in golf, but one is that Davis Love III will thrive in Greensboro. The 21-time TOUR winner and upcoming World Golf Hall of Fame inductee likes the place almost as much as the late Sam Snead, who was 52 when he won for the eighth and last time here in 1965. Snead has long held the record for oldest PGA TOUR winner, but it is a record that may not be long for this world. Love, 53, would break it with a fourth Wyndham victory Sunday. “I spent a lot of time with [Snead], actually,� said Love, who struggled on the back nine (36) but still shot 67 to stay within three of the lead. “Because he was doing a bunch of Golf Digest [instructional] stuff when my dad was teaching. And I had a lot of summers, like in Pinehurst, where I got to hang out with Sam and actually play and work with him. I was kind of like his caddie a lot at the Golf Digest schools. I was very blessed. … He gave me some tips and some lessons, some inspiration. It’s nice to be chasing that record.� Saturday saw Love get into the lead at 14 under, but he bogeyed the par-4 14th hole and failed to birdie the par-5 15th. The two holes, he said, “have killed me every day.� (He is 2 over on them for the week.) Still, Love could still win if he replicates his final-round 64 in 2015. “I’m still feeling good,� he said. “I’m confident. I got in the bunker on 18 and was thinking about making it.� (He splashed out to just over a foot and saved par.) Length is less important than guile at Sedgefield, and Love’s course knowledge is so deep that while others grinded on the range here early in the week, he rested. It had been a long week (78-75) at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, and he’s been playing a lot of golf. “He showed up after midnight Tuesday,� said Dru Love, Davis’s son, who also made it to the weekend rounds but shot 75 to miss the 54-hole cut Saturday. “I never played with him. He’s been very, very excited to get back to this tournament. I’m not surprised at all. He was bummed he couldn’t defend last year, so he feels like this is his chance to defend his title.� In light of his recent health woes, Davis credits his coaches and trainers for keeping him going. “It takes a lot at 53,� he said with a laugh. His struggles on the back nine Saturday owed not to being tired but to being out of position, he said. He admitted to being briefly put off when he saw Dru’s score on the 11th or 12th hole. Like so many other Wyndham watchers, Dru knows it would be unwise to turn his back on his dad. He’ll be here Sunday, watching. He has seen his dad win THE PLAYERS Championship (the second one, in 2003) and other tournaments. This one, though, would make history. NA, SCHNIEDERJANS SURPRISE ON GREENS At first glance, Kevin Na (65) and rookie Ollie Schniederjans (66) don’t seem to have much in common. Forget about character; check out the number of characters in their last names. But look closer and it becomes apparent that they’re both atop the leaderboard for the same reason. Both have struggled on the greens all year; both are in the top 10 in putting at the Wyndham. “Probably the best putting since [The RSM Classic at] Sea Island,� Schniederjans said of the tournament in Georgia last November, when he tied for sixth. “That’s been the difference.� Part of golf’s vaunted Class of 2011, Schniederjans came into the Wyndham at 74th in the FedExCup standings and still in search of his first win. He’s in good shape to make it into at least the first two playoff events, and maybe even the first three, but he’s been getting by despite often shoddy work on the greens. He is 128th in strokes gained: putting (-0.65) for the year. Using a new Callaway Toulon putter, he is seventh (+1.792) this week. (He also is releasing his right hand through the hitting area on short putts, finishing the stroke with only his left.) Na, who drained a 44-foot birdie putt at the 14th hole Saturday, is enjoying a similar putting metamorphosis. He made an adjustment to his setup on the greens last week in an effort to recreate what he felt with the putter in 2009, when he finished 26th in the FedExCup. So far, so good. Na, 93rd in this year’s FedExCup standings, came into this week 112th in sg: putting (-.012), but with the adjustment to his setup, he’s ninth (+1.761) at the Wyndham. “I feel really good about the putter,� said Na, who has made 300 feet of putts over three rounds. “I hope I can keep rolling those putts in, and at the end of the day I’m in a good position.� His lone victory on TOUR: the 2011 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. CALL OF THE DAY ODDS & ENDS: Johnson Wagner (65, two back), who Friday became just the ninth player since 1983 to record an albatross and an eagle in the same round, holed out from 95 yards on the first hole Saturday. He is the eighth player to record an albatross and an eagle on a par 4 in the same event since ’83. … Webb Simpson (68, one back), the 2011 Wyndham champion, bogeyed the 17th hole to fall out of the lead but still has an excellent chance to put a Wake Forest alumnus in the winner’s circle for the fourth time here (Lanny Wadkins/1983, Scott Hoch/2001, Simpson/2011). “I would have liked to have shot a little bit better today,� Simpson said, “but overall, I’m one back, I guess, which we’ll always take starting the week.� … Harold Varner III of Gastonia, North Carolina, played the back nine in 4-under to shoot 66 and get to 13-under overall, just three off the lead. Although he entered the week 141st in the FedExCup standings, he is projected to move to No. 115. … Keegan Bradley (67), Chad Campbell (68), Bud Cauley (68), Patton Kizzire (64), Jason Kokrak (63) and Richy Werenski (64) all went bogey-free. … Saturday 54-hole cut came at 1-under and claimed 11 players, among them three-time major champion Padraig Harrington (76) and 2011 FedExCup champion Bill Haas (72). SHOT OF THE DAY

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