The feel-good story of the week is Zack Sucher: ‘Two months ago we had credit card debt…we don’t have that anymore’

Zack Sucher was well aware that FedEx Cup points earn valuable PGA Tour status, but on Sunday night, after his final-round 67, he was focused on simpler math.

“I’m not sure what all this does for points-wise, for next year; I don’t even know how that works,” he said. “I know that like two months ago we had credit card debt, so I know we don’t have that anymore.”

Sucher tied for 2nd at the Travelers Championship on Sunday in Cromwell, Conn., in what was a life-changing victory.

The 32-year-old held the 36-hole lead and was up by as many as five on Saturday, only to shoot 40 on the back nine and give it away. He entered Sunday six behind eventual-winner Chez Reavie, and while he never sniffed the lead he did exact some revenge on the back side: he shot a five-under 30, which included a chip in for par on 18.

A chip-in on the 72nd hole gave @ZackSucherPGA a T2 finish @TravelersChamp.

He leapt from No. 222 in the #FedExCup standings to No. 126.

The top 125 reach the FedExCup Playoffs. He's never qualified. pic.twitter.com/Zu7vuoqT5h

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 24, 2019

“It’s been a lot of highs and lows,” he said. “I can’t wrap my head around it.”

Sucher earned $633,600 for his T2 after previously earning $856,017 in his pro career dating back to 2009. The majority of that cash came on the Korn Ferry Tour, but he’s endured some major road bumps along the way.

He played the Travelers on a sponsor’s invitation and is playing this season on a major medical extension. He has six events to earn 347 FedEx Cup points, and in his first four he’s grabbed 270 — 245 of which came on Sunday.

In 32 PGA Tour starts in 2015 and 2017 he made just eight cuts and a little over $100,000 (he spent 2016 on the Korn Ferry Tour). After the 2017 Travelers he decided to fix his lingering ankle and knee issues and have surgery, leading to his major medical extension. Four months later he tore his plantar fascia in his other foot. It all led to 13 months without swinging a golf club.

“Coming back from medical, we had seven months with no income at all coming in two years ago,” he said. “During that we had to take out some credit cards, get some interest-free credit cards. With some good Korn Ferry Tour finishes this year I got out of that, which was a huge relief. So, yeah, this is unbelievable.”

Earlier this month on the Korn Ferry Tour he tied for 2nd at the Rex Hospital Open. That was good enough for a Tour card on that circuit for next year. To retain his PGA Tour card he has two more starts to meet his points requirement.

“It’s life changing, to be honest,” he said. “It changes the rest of our year. We’ve got to change up plans and have lots of work to figure out what else we’re going to do now. All of our schedules are done. To be honest, I don’t know where it puts me, but it’s huge for us. It’s exciting. Yeah, it’s awesome.”