By Christopher Powers

Standing on the 10th tee on Saturday at the Travelers Championship, Chez Reavie, playing in the final pairing, trailed Zack Sucher by six. A couple of hours later, Reavie holed a six-footer for birdie on the par-4 18th at TPC River Highlands to extend his own lead to six shots. No, that is not a typo.

With the help of a mid-round meltdown from Sucher, who went out in 31 to reach 15 under but then went bogey-double bogey-double bogey to begin his back nine, Reavie was able to quickly close the gap with four consecutive birdies. Only he didn’t just close the gap, he leap-frogged Sucher and then some, carding a course-record back-nine 28. He finished with a seven-under 63, putting him alone at the top at 16-under 194, six clear of Sucher and Keegan Bradley, who are tied at 10-under 200.

Reavie, 37, is looking for just the second win of his PGA Tour career, the first coming more than a decade ago at the 2008 RBC Canadian Open. He’s had plenty of close calls since then, including a pair of playoff losses, most recently at the 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open and before that at the 2011 Deutsche Bank Championship. Last week, he tied for third at the U.S. Open, the best finish of his career in a major, and the only one inside the top 10.

He’ll play in the final group alongside Bradley, who got up and down for par at the 18th to post a 69. Sucher, who could have gone completely off the rails after the debacle at 10, 11 and 12, was able to settle in and make six consecutive pars to close his round. He finished with a one-over 71.

Roberto Diaz (67) and Jason Day (68) are tied for fourth at nine-under 201, while Bryson DeChambeau is among a group at eight under thanks to his third-round 64, which would have been the low score of the day if not for Reavie.