The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A happy Weekley having fun again, and it shows
CROMWELL » As a boy in the tiny Florida panhandle city of Milton, Thomas Brent Weekley had a slight obsession with Boo Boo Bear, the ubiquitous cartoon sidekick of Yogi Bear.
Other kids around town picked up on it. In no time, they christened him with a nickname that’s stuck for some 25 years. As one might expect from a 43-year old man known only as Boo, Weekley is oozing with personality and always up for fun.
He gained notoriety for “riding the bull” Happy Gilmore style down the fairway at the 2008 Ryder Cup. At the Travelers Championship on Saturday at the TPC River Highlands, he played long portions with a plug of chaw wedged between his cheek and gum.
Weekley fired a 5-under 65, a score that places him at 11-under for the tournament and one stroke off the lead.
In the media room afterward, he noted — in a thick Southern drawl straight out of Mayberry — that “I change putters like I change underwear ... this year I’ve gone through probably 20. Yeah, that’s a lot of
FROM PAGE 1 “I change putters like I change underwear ... this year I’ve gone through probably 20. Yeah, that’s a lot of washing.”
He also remarked just how nice it was to be in front of so many cameras again. Weekley hasn’t won a PGA Tour event since taking the 2013 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
“I think that was the last time I did any kind of media stuff besides getting in trouble or something or saying something wrong,” Weekley said. “It’s been a while.”
The Travelers, enjoying a resurgence in popularity the past couple of years, found itself with its most star-studded field in 15 years. Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day all made their debuts on this often nondescript tour stop along the Connecticut River.
On Saturday, just when it appeared Spieth was on the verge of an almost insurmountable lead, Weekley birdied five of the final eight holes while Spieth gave two strokes back with bogeys on 13 and 14.
The turn of events presents the opportunity for Sunday drama, while the final pairing of Spieth and Weekley presents an interesting confluence of characters and careers.
With Tiger Woods out of the picture, Spieth, ranked sixth in the FedEx Cup standings, is making a strong case to claim the title as the new face of American golf. Practically groomed for the game, he won the U.S. Amateur at 16, then took it again two years later, the only two-time winner not named Tiger.
At 23, he’s won two majors, 12 tour events and was named by Time one of the world’s 100 most influential people.
Weekley, ranked 193rd, is the very definition of golf journeyman.
He began playing by chance, discovered when his high school shop teacher noticed his natural swing at a local field. It was the first time Weekley had ever tried the sport. Golf lessons were squeezed between time hunting and fishing. He worked menial jobs before seriously pursuing golf as a career.
Spieth has won nearly $30 million since turning pro, more than double Weekley’s earnings despite Weekley having a full decade’s worth of tour experience. They’re on opposite ends of the spectrum, in personality and performance.
“I hope I’m having as much fun each day as Boo’s having,” Spieth said. “I mean, he lives it up. It’s fun to be around Boo. He always has some kind of joke. If he’s had a couple pops you barely understand him with his country accent. He’s a guy everybody respects and really likes being around, and that’s fun.”
There hasn’t been a lot of fun, on or off the course, for Weekley this year. He’s suffering through a brutal stretch in which he’s made the cut only eight times in 21 starts. The Puerto Rico Open represents his best performance of 2017. He finished tied for 37th.
Much of the struggles, Weekley says, are due to personal problems he declined to expound upon. They’ve since been straightened out. Boo is happy again. And happiness does wonders for his game.
“I mean, that’s the bottom line for just about any of us out here,” Weekley said. “When you ain’t hurt and you’re happy, you can get away with a lot of things because you don’t think about it as much as when you hit a bad shot. Where if you’re in a bad spot in your mind or your heart, you just get down. When you get down, it’s hard to crawl yourself back out of it, man. I’m proving that right now.”
For the past three days, crowds at River Highlands have followed Spieth step for step, jamming fairways and greens. He said the roars for his birdie putt on the 15th hole, and another for his 20-footer for bird on the 18th, were as loud as any he’s heard in his career. As loud as they were two summers ago for his successive major wins at the Masters and the U.S. Open.
They’ll be there again today, in Spieth’s corner, and rightly so. He’s a star and a role model. Hopefully, they’ll pick up on his playing partner and save some roars for him. Because, in some little way, we’re all Boo Weekley.