Reavie Cops Second Career Tour Title at Travelers

By Bob Phillips

Chez Reavie held off a late charge by Keegan Bradley and Zach Sucher
to win the 2019 Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands.

CROMWELL—Even though he nearly blew a six-shot lead, Chez Reavie held on and emerged victorious and win the 2019 Travelers Championship. On a hot, sunny Sunday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Reavie’s skill, endurance and hard work were crucial in his victory against one of the strongest player fields in TPC River Highlands history.

Revie’s heroics at the Travelers led to his second career PGA Tour victory in his 250th Tour event. His first PGA Tour victory was in 2008 at the RBC Canadian Open. By shooting a 69 on Sunday, Reavie finished 17-under-par, four shots ahead of Keegan Bradley (67) and Zack Sucher (67). Vaughn Taylor shot 65 in the final round to finish alone in fourth place at 12-under.

“I knew Keegan was going to come out firing today and ready to go,” said Reavie. “I've played a lot of golf with him. He's a fantastic player. I just was fortunate enough to stay patient and make that big putt on 17 to give myself a little cushion on 18.”

Reavie, who came to Connecticut after tying for third place last week at the U.S. Open, continued his strong play with rounds of 65-66-63-69 at the Travelers. Indeed, his six-shot lead after three rounds represented the largest margin in tournament history. Indeed, on Saturday, the red-hot Reavie went from six strokes behind the leader to six strokes ahead by shooting a record-tying back-nine 28—a round that included seven birdies.

But on Sunday, Bradley made a challenge, cutting Revie’s the six-shot advantage to just one after making a birdie on 15. Then, after both players (who were paired together in the final group) parred at 16, Reavie birdied the par-4 17, while Bradley made a double bogey. The three-shot swing gave Reavie breathing room on the last hole. Reavie finished with a four-stroke advantage over Bradley and Zack Sucher.

The Travelers was the second career victory
for Reavie, who broke a 250-tournament
dry spell.

For Reavie, who had gone 250 tournaments without a victory—the 11th-longest dry spell between a maiden victory and an encore win in PGA history—victory was sweet, indeed. Consider that Reavie, a former U.S. Amateur Public Links champ, underwent surgery on his left wrist in January 2014, cutting his Tour play that year short. He returned to play two events in the fall, but then suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee and underwent the knife. Again.

"Those were probably the darkest days," Reavie said. "Just the unknown and sitting at home, not being able to do anything and your mind wandering... "OK, if it didn't work, if I can't play golf, what am I going to do?"

Reavie began his long climb back in 2015. He issed the cut in 11 of 19 tournaments that season—including a really dark streak in which he missed 10 of 11 cuts during the early part of the year, before he started to find any sort of consistency.

“Had long years there in the middle,” Reavie said of his 11-year dry spell on the Tour following his one-over final round. “It was great because it gave me good perseverance and good perspective of what life is and what golf is.”

This year, Reavie opened with a tie for third at the Sony Open in Hawaii and played well again in Phoenix, tying for fourth. He also played steady at the Wells Fargo Championship and at the PGA Championship, finishing in the top 20 in both. Then at last week’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, he tied for third. It was his first career top-10 finish in a major.

“Being in the second-to-the-last group at the U.S. Open last week, that definitely gave me a lot of confidence coming into this week, and in particular today,” Reavie said Sunday from TPC River Highlands. “I played really well on Sunday at the U.S. Open, and I tried to treat this the same as I did then.”

His win in Cromwell propelled Revie into the 12th spot in the FedExCup standings. Reavie has made consistent progress in the FedExCup since his return from wrist surgery. His Travelers ltitle sets him up well for the rest of the season.

“Yeah, making it to Tour Championship would be a goal of everyone at the beginning of the year, and fortunately I'm a long way towards that goal,” said Reavie. “Hopefully I'll be inside that top 30 and be off to the Tour Championship and hopefully make the Presidents Cup team.”

The 2009 Travelers generated approximately $2 million for more than 150 local charities, including the primary beneficiary, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. In addition, Sunday morning began at TPC River Highlands with the 18-Hole Stroll, which benefits pancreatic cancer research through the Lustgarten Foundation, another beneficiary of the tournament.

The tournament annually generates about $70 million of economic activity for the state.

PRIZE MONEY PAYOUT FOR 2019 TRAVELERS

—with staff reports

@TravelersChamp // #FedExCup // @TPCRH // @pgatour // @chezreaviegolf

UConn Announces Women’s Hoops Schedule

The UConn women's basketball team has several top-ranked opponents
on its schedule this year, including three 2019 Final Four participants.

STORRS—UConn head coach Geno Auriemma announced the 2019-20 UConn women’s basketball schedule today, and it includes several formidable opponents. Indeed, the Huskies will host fellow 2019 NCAA #FinalFour participants Baylor, Notre Dame and Oregon this season. Additionally, the Huskies will renew their rivalry with Tennessee in Connecticut.

The 2019-20 schedule includes an attractive and competitive home schedule that features the likes of long-time arch-rival Notre Dame, Baylor, Tennessee and Oregon.

Highlights of the 2018-19 season include:

• The season opener vs. California on Nov. 10.
• The Huskies travel to Vanderbilt on Nov. 13 before hosting Virginia on Nov. 19.
• Gampel Pavilion will serve as host venue for Notre Dame (Dec. 8) and Oregon (date TBA), while the Huskies will entertain Baylor (Jan. 9) and Tennessee (Jan 23) at the XL Center.
• The team travels to Ohio to take on Ohio State on Nov. 24 and Dayton on Nov. 26. UConn will face Seton Hall on Dec. 4 or 5 (TBA).
• The Huskies will compete at DePaul on Dec. 16 before facing Oklahoma in the 2019 Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Dec. 22.
• UConn will face Oregon and South Carolina in January or February—the dates are still to be determined.
• Five of UConn’s non-conference opponents finished last season in the final RPI top-25: Notre Dame (1), Baylor (2), Oregon (5), South Carolina (17) and DePaul (18).

TV info, game times, locations for the remaining home games and dates for the South Carolina, Oregon and DePaul games will be announced at a later date. The team will play eight games at Gampel Pavilion and eight at the XL Center.

Season Ticket Info
 

Tickets for the upcoming women’s basketball season are on sale. To purchase tickets now, click HERE, contact the UConn Ticket Office 1-877-AT-UCONN or visit in person at 2111 Hillside Road, Storrs, CT 06269, Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

The schedule is as follows:

NOVEMBER

10 – CAL*

13 – at Vanderbilt

19 – VIRGINIA*

24 – at Ohio State

26 – at Dayton

DECEMBER

4/5 – at Seton Hall

8 – NOTRE DAME (Gampel Pavilion)*

16 – at DePaul

22 – vs. Oklahoma (Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase, Mohegan Sun Arena)

JANUARY

9 – BAYLOR (XL Center)*

23 – TENNESSEE (XL Center)*

TBA

OREGON (Gampel Pavilion)*

at South Carolina

*Home Games in CAPS

—Staff Reports

@uconnwbb // #uconnwbb // #UConn // @UConnHuskies // #HookC // #RollSkies // @mohegansunarena // @xlcenter // #mohegansun

Sun Survive Scare, Stop Storm

The Sun overcame a poor third period and outlasted the WNBA defending
champion Seattle Storm, 81-67, on Sunday.

By Bob Phillips

UNCASVILLE—The Connecticut Sun usually dominate the third quarter. That’s definitely not what happened on Sunday. After being outscored in the third period by a 21-12 margin and leading by just two points headed into the fourth, the Sun finally kicked it in and outscored the Seattle Storm 25-13 en route to an 81-67 victory before 7,7,73 fans at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Father’s Day.

Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 20 points, while Shekinna Stricklen added a season-high 16 and Jonquel Jones contributed 13 points for the home team. J.J. also hauled down 14 boards for the Sun, who improved to a league-leading 8-1. Rookie Kristine Anigwe had a career-high of six points, three rebounds and a steal against the Storm

Natasha Howard led Seattle with 20 points followed by Jewell Loyd with 15 and Shavonte Zellous with 14. The Storm fell to 5-4. It was the fifth time this season Howard has hit the 20-point bar.

This game had been anxiously anticipated by the Connecticut basketball world since the schedule first game out since it represented the return to the Nutmeg State for two of it’s all-time favorite players—former UConn legends Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart. Both, however, missed the game because of injuries sustained earlier in the season, although Bird did travel with the team and sat on the Storm bench, lending her support to her teammates throughout the contest. And Seattle was also without the services of starting point guard Jordin Canada, who suffered a bone bruise on her knee on Friday against Washington.

The Sun led 28-17 at the first turn, and took an 11-point lead, 44-33, into the locker room at intermission. And then the unthinkable happened. The Sun—the team with the best record in the league—got hammered in the third quarter by a team that may be the defending WNBA champs and were 5-3 coming into the contest but were playing without three of its top players.

The Sun came into the game outscoring opponents 165-124 in the third quarter—and 94-65 at the Mohegan Sun Arena. But that trend didn’t hold up on Sunday as the Seattle came storming out of the locker room with 12 unanswered points to open the period, and then proceeded to outscore the home team 21-12 in the third stanza.

“It was us,” said Sun power forward Alyssa Thomas about her team’s poor performance after intermission. “We came out flat (in the third), we weren’t playing the way we played in the first half, so once we settled down and started playing defense, we were able to pull it out.”

In the end, however, it didn’t make much of a difference. Even though Connecticut led by just two, 56-54, at the third pole, the Sun rebounded big time to win the fourth quarter by a 25-13 margin and ultimately win comfortably.

“We are excited to finish off that tough stretch with a win tonight, our fifth game in 11 days, never in the same location twice,” said Sun head coach and general manager Curt Miller. “We really grinded through that first nine games. That was our most compete win tonight in terms of some stretches where our starters were fantastic, and then some stretches where our bench carried us. We’ve had different things happen in our wins this season where the bench may struggle but the starters were good, but that was our most complete game in player personnel.”

The Sun stay put at the Mohegan Sun Arena and will host the Atlanta Dream on Friday.

—with staff reports