CROMWELL, Conn. – Chez Reavie was plodding along during the third round of the Travelers Championship, watching playing partner Zach Sucher extend his lead.

Then came the turn, both for the round and in the fortunes of the two players.

Coming off a third-place tie last week in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the 37-year-old Reavie matched a tournament record with a back-nine 28 to shoot a 7-under 63. He took advantage of Sucher’s problems and turned a six-stroke deficit into a six-stroke lead heading into Sunday.

The 2008 Canadian Open winner for his lone PGA Tour title, Reavie had a 16-under 194 total at TPC River Highlands. He birdied Nos. 8, 10-13, 15 and 17-18 and has the largest 54-hole lead in Travelers history.

“Zach got some tough breaks early,” Reavie said. “I was able to kind of keep plugging along and make a few putts and the rest was history. I kind of caught fire at the end.”

Sucher had a 71 to drop into a tie for second with Keegan Bradley (69) at 10 under.

Mackenzie Hughes (69) of Dundas, Ont., was tied for 41st at 3-under par. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., made the cut on Friday night but did not finish the tournament.

Looking for his first PGA Tour win, Sucher – the 32-year-old former college star at Alabama-Birmingham – seemed to have it all going his way, until he didn’t.

He took a share of the lead in the last group Thursday night, came into Saturday with a two-shot advantage and shot 31 on the front nine.

But his drive on the 10th hole went left, hit a tree and bounced backward landing in the rough just 154 yards from the tee. He ended up with a bogey on that hole. He needed two shots to get out of a plugged lie at the lip of a green-side bunker on the 11th and ended with a double bogey, and put his ball into two bunkers on the par-4 13th for another double.

It took just a half-hour for Sucher to go from five strokes ahead of Bradley to four strokes behind Reavie.

“Ten was awful and I deserved bogey, but man, three straight holes I hit shots that weren’t that far off all behind the lip, so two of them plug and, yeah, rough, that’s all you can say about it,” Sucher said. “Other than those three holes, it was a great day.”

Reavie needed just 23 putts in the round, consistently putting his approaches near the pin, despite a strong wind.

“On nine and 10, I kind of started to get a feel for the wind and how it was affecting my golf ball,” he said. “Fortunately, today it kind of stayed steady in the same direction, so I just kind of navigated around in my yardage book to figure out where it was.”

Roberto Diaz (67) and Jason Day (68) were tied for fourth, seven shots back. But Day said he does not think that’s an insurmountable deficit on course where Bubba Watson overcame a six-stroke final-round deficit a year ago.

“There are a lot of emotions that come with Sundays, but I think Chez has been there and won before,” Day said. “But every win is different and how you feel is different, so I just try to stick to what I am doing right now, and hopefully, the chips fall my way.”

Brooks Koepka, coming off his runner-up finish at Pebble Beach, shot a 72 and was 1 under.

“It’s hard to focus,” Koepka said. “I don’t think I am even over the PGA and then to exert all your energy last week – I’m just fried. I caught myself yawning out on the golf course. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.”

Watson was looking for his fourth win in Connecticut to tie the record of Billy Casper. He closed his round of 73 with about a 25-foot putt for birdie to move to 2 under.

“That’s how golf is,” Watson said. “You don’t like golf and then you make that long putt and you’re ready to play the next day. I’d love to shoot that Jim Furyk round (58) just to have a chance.”

CROMWELL, Conn. – Zack Sucher found wrestling with chronic leg problems on the PGA Tour harder than wrestling alligators.

The 32-year-old from Alabama says he’s finally feeling healthy again after knee surgery sidelined him for 13 months following the 2017 Travelers Championship.

He shot a 5-under 65 in the rain Friday morning at TPC River Highlands and his 11-under 129 total held up in the afternoon sunshine for a two-stroke lead midway through the Travelers,

Sucher, who said he grew up in south Alabama doing “swamp stuff” like wrestling alligators and also played high school basketball. Chronic leg problems from that sport led to the surgery for a torn knee tendon and cartilage. Sucher worked his way back and is playing in just his fourth tour event this year. He gained a share of the lead on his final putt Thursday night and kept that momentum going with a 30 on his front nine Friday.

“It’s nice,” he said. “First year I can remember in a long time where I’m pain free and it’s feeling really good.”

Chez Reavie and Keegan Bradley were two shots back. Reavie, coming off a third-place tie last week in the U.S. Open, shot a 64. Bradley had a 66, making an eagle in the rain from about 80 yards on the par-4 15th.

“I was talking to my caddie about how wet it was and it was going to skid,” he said. “We landed a little short of where we normally would and it went right in the hole.”

Jason Day made some adjustments to his putting game after an even-par first round. He made four straight birdies after opening with a par, shot a bogey-free 63 and was among seven players at 7 under.

“Birdieing four early in my round kind of settled everything, because I was on the outside looking in,” he said.

Defending champion Bubba Watson was 5 under. He switched putters after a first-round 69 and had a 66, with bogeys on his final two holes. He had six birdies, including four in a row to start the back nine, rolling in putts from 28 feet on the 11th and 38 feet on the 12th.

“Knowing that we can make birdies in a hurry around here, you know that you have a shot,” he said. “Tomorrow, the wind is expected to pick up in the afternoon, so come up and do the same thing, shoot another 5 under. Always, 15 under is going to be around the lead.”

Brooks Koepka said exhaustion after his runner-up finish at Pebble Beach played a role in his 71 on Thursday. He shot a 66 on Friday to get to 3 under.

“I feel good and I feel like I had way more energy today which was nice,” he said.

Patrick Cantlay lipped out a 2-foot putt on 15, but made a 43-footer on the 17th to just make the cut at 2 under.

Two-time champion Phil Mickelson was among the big names left on the outside of the ropes this weekend. Mickelson, playing in Connecticut for the first time since 2003 and looking for the 45th win of his career, shot a 67 on Thursday, but had a 76 in the second round.

He hit his first tee shot onto the cart path and out of bounds to the right and then missed an 18-foot bogey putt. He hit his second shot on the 17th hole into the water and ended up shooting a 41 on his front nine.

“It was a little bit of a surprise,” Mickelson said. “I have not played great the last three months but I really keyed in on something about 10 days ago that I thought my performance at the U.S. Open and this week was going to be a lot better. Some of the shots I hit and the way I struck it yesterday, I thought I was going to have a really good day and get myself into contention, so that front nine kind of threw me for a loop.”

Jordan Spieth, the 2017 winner, shot 73 and 69 and also missed the cut.

“I just didn’t play well,” Spieth said. “No parts of my game are really where I want them to be. I’ll get some time off here, I’m not sure how much and kind of get away from the game a little bit and get a reset and try to finish the year strong.”

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., were tied at 2 under, nine shots off the lead.

CHASKA, Minn. – Hannah Green keeps getting out of tough spots, and it’s taken her to a place she has never been.

Green twice escaped trouble with unlikely par saves, including one shot she holed from off the green, and made four birdies for a 3-under 69 and took a three-shot lead into the weekend at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

It’s the first time she has held the 36-hole lead in her second year on the LPGA Tour.

The 22-year-old Australian has made one bogey over 36 holes at Hazeltine National, one of the strongest tests of the year. Ariya Jutanugarn, a two-time major champion, closed within one shot until a series of misplays on the back nine. She had another 70.

“Even when you play this type of golf at just a regular event, you’re pretty proud of yourself, but this week especially,” Green said. “I’ve never put myself in this position in any event, so to be doing it this week at such a great venue definitely shows things are going the right way. I’ve had some luck going my way. I do hope that continues.”

Green was at 7-under 137.

Defending champion Sung Hyun Park (71) and Lydia Ko (70) were four shots behind. Fifteen players remained under par after two rounds, with the cut at 5-over 149.

Michelle Wie not only made it to the tee, she played all 18 holes with a right wrist injury that doesn’t seem to be getting any better. She managed only nine pars and no birdies in her round of 82.

“Even on the worst day, it’s still great being out here,” Wie said. “I still had fun today, just stuff is hard. Hazeltine is hard. I just was overly optimistic about how I could play this week and the status of my wrist.”

Green thought luck was on her side when she holed a short-sided bunker shot for birdie on the par-5 seventh near the end of her opening round. Friday was even better.

She didn’t notice the water right of the 12th green during practice rounds. She took a penalty drop, and with the pin on a shelf in the back left of the green, her biggest concern was getting it close without the risk of a big number.

“If I landed it too far there was a possibility of it going over the back. I didn’t want to leave myself with another chip to then possibly make bogey or double at worse,” Green said. “I had to land it perfectly and I guess I did. I knew it was going to be close but I didn’t think it had the chance of going in. I really wasn’t really watching it going into the hole. I just heard the crowd roar.

“I just laughed because with the hole-out on 7 yesterday and with the hole-out today, it’s really going my way.”

After a missed chance at birdie on the par-5 15th, Green was in trouble again on the 16th hole, the signature hole at Hazeltine. Her shot took a surprising kick to the right, leaving the ball between clumps of grass. She got that up-and-down for par and was on her way.

Jutanugarn hit 6-iron to 30 feet for eagle on the par-5 seventh and closed out the front nine to get to 6 under. But her chip came out heavy behind the 13th green and led to bogey, and she turned a birdie opportunity into bogey on the par-5 15th.

After hammering her 3-wood, she hit a piercing 2-iron that stayed down the right edge and went into the first of two bunkers. With the pin tucked behind the next bunker, she went from sand to sand, blasted out to 12 feet and missed the par putt.

“Really tough bunker shot,” she said.

Green is in her second full year on the LPGA Tour, having won three times on the Symetra Tour in 2017 to earn her card. She had such a successful amateur career in Australia that she was awarded the Karrie Webb Scholarship in 2015, and one of the perks was coming to the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster.

The 44-year-old Webb is Australia’s most prolific champion with seven majors as part of her 41 titles on the LPGA Tour. Webb, the only player to win five different LPGA Tour majors, first came to America under a similar program started by Greg Norman, and now has one in place for female amateurs.

Green swam, played tennis and golf as a teen before devoting her time to golf when she was 15. She wasn’t even playing golf when Webb was winning five out of eight majors, giving her the career Grand Slam at the quickest rate. About the time Green realized she might have a future in golf, Webb already was in the Hall of Fame.

“As soon as I had the chance to come to the U.S. Open, that’s when Karrie was my idol,” Green said. “I feel like all other Australian golfers have her as an idol. She had Greg Norman as her idol and had a similar scholarship. She’s done that for us. I’m really grateful that she’s given so much to so many people.”

As for Wie, she was headed to Florida to find answers, unsure when she would play next.

“In an ideal world, I would wake up and my wrist is fine, I play next week and everything would be perfect,” she said.

Alena Sharp of Hamilton was the low Canadian at 3 over while Brooke Henderson was 5 over.

CROMWELL, Conn. – A week of major championship pressure at the U.S. Open and a cross-country trip made for a lot of tired players at the Travelers Championship. Greens made soft by rain on a relatively easy course helped perk up many of them Thursday.

Six players shot a 6-under 64 to tie for lead, with defending champion Bubba Watson (69) , two-time winner Phil Mickelson (67) and 79 others within five shots going into the second round.

Brooks Koepka, coming off a runner-up finish at Pebble Beach, had a 71 and said he was among those fighting exhaustion.

“When you think about all the travel we’ve done and how much last week takes out of you,” he said. “When you are in contention in a major, it’s going to drain you.”

The leaders included Zack Sucher and Kyoung-Hoon Lee, who each shot their lowest rounds on the PGA Tour. Sucher made a 9-foot birdie putt on No. 18 in the last group of the day to join a group that also included MacKenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont. who sank an 18-foot birdie putt on his final hole.

Abraham Ancer shot a 30 on his back nine. Bronson Burgoon birdied four of his first six holes, and Ryan Armour, who has missed the cuts in four of his last five starts, tied his lowest round of the season.

“I gave myself a lot of opportunities, which I hadn’t been doing lately, Armour said. ”I hadn’t been hitting a lot of greens, wasn’t shaping the golf ball the way I want to shape it. We worked really hard the last few days.“

Englishman Paul Casey, who gave up a four-shot lead in the final round a year ago, missed a 17-foot par putt on the 18th and finished in a group of six at 65.

Memorial champion Patrick Cantlay was part of a group of 12 at 66.

Cantlay started on the back nine and was tied for the lead when his tee shot landed in water on the par-3 eighth hole, leading to a double bogey. But that did not affect the confidence of the former UCLA star, who was just 19 years old when he shot a 60 on this course during the second round in 2011, setting a PGA Tour record for amateurs.

“I definitely feel comfortable around here,” he said. “It’s one of the only golf courses I think I get on the first tee at the beginning of the day and think I can birdie every hole.”

Defending champion Bubba Watson opened with a 69 in his bid for his fourth Travelers title. That would put him in the company of Billy Casper, the only golfer to win four times at Connecticut’s PGA Tour stop.

Watson, who came from six-shots back on the final day to win a year ago, seemed relaxed as he participated in an afternoon whiffle ball game with a group of players’ children outside the new clubhouse.

“Around this golf course, you’ve got to just know there’s going to be birdies out there,” he said. “Today was a little more difficult because a little bit of mist here and there just made the ball react different on the greens with some shots.”

Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., was tied for 61st at 1-under 69, Adam Hadwin, also from Abbotsford, was in a group tied for 87th at even-par 70. Ben Silverman of Thornhil,, Ont., and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., were tied for 136th at 3-over 73. Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., was tied for 143rd at 4-over 74.

Mickelson, who won back-to-back tournaments here in 2001 and 2001 was playing in Connecticut for the first time since 2003. On Wednesday, the 49-year-old said he probably would never win a U.S. Open. But he’s in contention again in Connecticut.

“I didn’t hurt myself any,” Mickelson said. “I made a few mistakes out there that I have to clean up tomorrow. I feel like the round should have been three or four lower, and if I can do that tomorrow and shoot three or four lower, I’ll be right in it for the weekend.”

He was playing with 2017 champion Jordan Spieth, who put a shot onto the railroad tracks and another in the water on his way to an eight on the par-5 13th. He finished with a 73.

Chip McDaniel shot a 69 and could also be excused if he was a bit tired. The 23-year-old arrived in Connecticut early Monday morning after taking a red-eye flight from his first U.S Open. He then played in a qualifier that afternoon, making the field after three playoff holes.

“Just because of my situation, one good week out here could change my life,” McDaniel said. “I have to try to get a start in every PGA event.”

Viktor Hovland shot a 67 in his professional debut. The Oklahoma State junior, who was the low amateur at the U.S. Open, received one of four sponsor exemptions into the tournament.

“I try not to think too much about it, but obviously there is a difference,” Hovland said. “I’m just trying to make birdies and avoid bogeys. I think instead of thinking about money, I’m thinking more about I want to have some kind of status for next year.”

The RBC Canadian Open is always an event to remember. To make this a successful championship, RBC and Golf Canada rely on the hard work and dedication of volunteers.

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Brooke Henderson is now the undisputed monarch of Canadian golf. Her predecessors can’t wait to see what she’ll do next.

The 21-year old from Smiths Falls, Ont., won the Meijer LPGA Classic on Sunday to break the Canadian record for professional golf titles. The victory elevated her over Sandra Post, Mike Weir and George Knudson, who have eight wins apiece on their respective tours.

“I knew it was coming,” said Post on Monday. The Canadian Golf Hall of Famer noted that normally Henderson wins by a wide margin, rather than the one-stroke victory she earned over Lexi Thompson, Nasa Hataoka, Su Oh and Brittany Altomare. “I think I was looking at it as more a tournament rather than the ninth win because in my mind that was a given.

“I hope she goes to double figures with the wins and runs it up as high as she can for the next Canadian.”

Weir also wasn’t concerned about his record. Instead, he was excited to see an elite golfer at the top of her game.

“I don’t really pay that much attention to records and things like that, that’s more for other people’s water-cooler talk,” said Weir, also a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. “I just appreciate watching good golf and I appreciate excellence in all sports. When you see a player really excelling themselves and improving their own game and seeing them round into form, as Brooke has, it’s great to see.”

Although Henderson’s nine career wins is impressive, she is a ways off from reaching the all-time mark on the LPGA Tour.

Kathy Whitworth holds the all-time professional record with 88 wins on the LPGA Tour. Sam Snead has the most among men with 82. That record may fall, however, with Tiger Woods picking up his 81st PGA Tour win at this year’s Masters.

Golfing great Annika Sorenstam, third in LPGA Tour history with 72 wins, tweeted her support of Henderson on Monday afternoon.

“Congratulations to ?BrookeHenderson on winning the #meijerlpga,” said Sorenstam, adding an emoji of a champagne bottle popping and a trophy.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also voiced his support on Twitter.

Congratulations on making history, @BrookeHenderson! We can’t wait to see what’s next for you. ??⛳https://t.co/xalwKnhyGQ

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) June 17, 2019

Henderson also won the Lotte Championship in April in Hawaii.

Just six months into the year, she is an early contender to win the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s athlete of the year and the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as the Canadian female athlete of the year. Henderson has won the Rosenfeld three of the past four years, including in 2017 and 2018.

Post, who won the Marsh in 1979 and back-to-back Rosenfelds in 1979 and 1980, didn’t want to make any bold predictions just yet though.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen in sport this year, do we? It’s not an Olympic year, that’s a good thing,” said Post. “All I’m saying is that she’s got a good shot at it. But I think it’s great that we can have that conversation.”

Weir, who was awarded the Marsh in 2003 after winning the Masters, also likes Henderson’s chances.

“Her odds are great, she’s playing great,” said Weir. “There’s still a lot of the year left in other sports but clearly in the golf world Brooke’s setting herself apart from any other player, man or woman, in this country. She’d be a real deserving recipient.”

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Gary Woodland denied Brooks Koepka’s bold bid at history with two clutch shots and made U.S. Open memories of his own, starting with that silver trophy in his hands at Pebble Beach.

Woodland finished in style Sunday. He holed a 30-foot birdie putt for a 2-under 69, giving him the lowest 72-hole score in six U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach and a three-shot victory over Koepka, who was going for a third straight U.S. Open.

Koepka had to settle for a footnote in history as the first player with all four rounds in the 60s at the U.S Open without winning. But he made Woodland earn every bit of his first major championship.

Clinging to a one-shot lead with more pressure than he has ever felt, Woodland seized control by going for the green on the par-5 14th hole with a 3-wood from 263 yards, narrowly clearing a cavernous bunker and setting up a simple up-and-down for a two-shot lead.

Even more significant was a shot from 90 feet.

Woodland hit the edge of the green on the par-3 17th all the way to the right, with the pin on the hourglass green on the other side.

Ahead on the 18th, Koepka’s 3-iron went just over the back of the green, leaving him a chip for eagle to tie, with a birdie likely to do the trick considering what Woodland faced. Koepka chipped to just inside 10 feet and missed the putt.

PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 16: Gary Woodland of the United States poses with the trophy after winning the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links on June 16, 2019 in Pebble Beach, California. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

Woodland delivered again. Unable to use putter to get it close, he perfectly clipped a pitch over the mound, and it checked about 12 feet short of the hole and trickled down to tap-in range.

That effectively ended the U.S. Open. Woodland played conservatively down the 18th and made one last birdie that only mattered in the record book. He finished at 13-under 271, one shot better than Tiger Woods’ historic rout in 2000.

The difference was Woods won by 15 shots and was the only player under par. With a marine layer blocking the sunshine, and no significant wind at Pebble Beach all week, 31 players finished under par.

Koepka closed with a 68 for his second runner-up in the majors this year, along with his second straight PGA Championship title.

Justin Rose was the only one who caught Woodland, with a birdie on the opening hole. Rose bogeyed from the bunker on No. 2, and fell out of the race with three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the back nine. He shot 74 and shared third with Xander Schauffele (67), Jon Rahm (68) and Chez Reavie (71).

Brooke Henderson wins the Meijer LPGA Classic (for a second time), collecting her 9th career LPGA title — the most ever by a Canadian.