Reavie shoots 64 — best score of weekend
After a slow 2-under start to the tournament, former ASU Sun Devil Chez Reavie turned up the heat in the final two rounds of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Reavie shot a 64 on Saturday -- tied for the lowest round of the tournament -- and a 68 on Saturday. He finished the tournament at 12-under-par and his 10under-par weekend was the best in the field.
"I've finally picked a game plan that works for me," Reavie said. "I try not to play too aggressive and that way I don't make too many bogeys."
Reavie finished second in last year's Phoenix Open, losing to Gary Woodland in a playoff.
Weather had an effect
All week long, golfers kept one eye on the ball and the other eye on the weather forecast.
They knew the rain was coming, but maybe they could will it away?
“It would be nice if the rain kind of held off,” tournament champion Rickie Fowler said on behalf of the precision delegation. “It’s a lot more enjoyable for the fans, and the golf course plays better when it drys out. But we’ll kind of see what we get.”
The guys with big drivers didn’t want any parts of a desert downpour, either.
“If it rains it’s going to soften up, which benefits me,” Gary Woodland said. “So, it is what it is. But hopefully it misses us. Hopefully, it stays out west, and we have a good time.”
Matt Kuchar said it best.
“I’m hoping it clears out,” he said. “Nobody likes playing in the rain.”
He had been hoping it would rain early Sunday then dry up, but that didn’t happen.
It was miserable out there. It might have been hard to read on TV, but everyone and everything was soaked.
Course marshals were wrapped in plastic – and so were their cellphones.
Fans in the galleries – what few there were – wore hoodies or carried umbrellas.
And every so often someone would trudge past with mud all over their pants.
Putting problems were a pandemic: There were 22 total 3-putts in Round 3. There were 54 in the final round.
But mostly, it just made everything uncomfortable.
“I hope I never have to go through that again,” Fowler said. “The way I was playing this week, I mean, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I thought it was going to be a lot easier than that out there today. We got dealt a tough day of weather and conditions. There weren’t many low scores.”
Tournament numbers
Longest Drives
Hideki Matsuyama, 392 yards, 13th hole, first round
J.B. Holmes, 387 yards, 2nd hole, second round
Ollie Schniederjans, 386 yards , 2ndd hole, first round
Longest Putts
Lucas Glover, 81 feet, 11 inches, second round
Chesson Hadley, 80 feet, 9 inches, second round
Ryan Blaum, 68 feet, second round Most Eagles
Branden Grace, 3
Chesson Hadley, 3
Martin Laird, 2
Adam Schenk, 2
Lowest rounds
There were seven rounds of 64 by six different golfers.
Rickie Fowler, first and third round Justin Thomas, first round Harold Varner III, first round Chez Reavie, third round
Trey Mullinax, second round Branden Grace, second round Highest Round: 8-over-par 79 Two golfers posted the week's high score of 79.
Michael Hopper, first round
Kim Whee - first round
FedEx Cup update
In an effort to condense the schedule, the tour reduced the playoffs this year from four events to three, which will be played in August.
Following the Phoenix Open, here are the top seven in the FedEx Cup race: 1. Xander Schauffele, 1193 points 2. Matt Kuchar, 116
3. Gary Woodland, 930
4. Marc Leishman, 804
5. Charles Howell III, 796
6. Justin Rose - 720 pts
7. Rickie Fowler - 668 pts
Nine of the 12 winners of the Phoenix Open have gone on to qualify for the finals of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the Tour Championship, including the last four Phoenix Open winners.