SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Host Arizona State has a lot of support this week at Grayhawk Golf Club in its quest to win the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship.
Add former Sun Devil and PGA Tour pro Chez Reavie to the list, three different days this week.
“It’s everything for me. I’m actually in town, they’re playing here, it kind of worked out well and the least I can do is come out here and holler at them and give some support,” said Reavie on Tuesday afternoon during Arizona State’s semifinal match against Oklahoma.
A three-time All-American during his time in the desert, Reavie competed in three NCAA Championships – logging individual finishes of T-4 in 2001 and sixth place in 2003 – so he knows the pressure that comes with competing for a national title. That’s why he’s out cheering this week, with the hopes of making the team feel a bit more comfortable with some extra support.
Chez Reavie says #ForksUp on our match play Tuesday in!!! pic.twitter.com/1POyGWmerj
— Sun Devil Men's Golf (@sundevilmgolf) June 1, 2021
“You never know how much that can help,” said Reavie, who returned to school six years later after turning professional in 2004 to finish his degree in political science. “You’re so interested and you want to see them succeed so bad and you want to help them and do as much as you can, but at the same time I have to stand back and not be too much and not get in the way either.”
The two-time winner on the PGA Tour also has some inside knowledge about this year’s NCAA Championship, seeing as he used to live on the 11th hole at Grayhawk’s Raptor course.
“I just loved it. It’s a great golf course, great people, when I come out here it’s all friends and family. That makes it fun,” said Reavie, who noted the stark difference in the course he knows, a par-72, and the course this week, playing as a par-70.
“It makes it a lot tougher. I like it for them, not so much for myself.”
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