Zack Sucher: Coming back from injury on the PGA Tour

How do you finish 2nd at the Travelers after not playing golf for 18+ months? We talk with Zack Sucher during the 3M Open week about his journey after injury and how his come back season has been going.

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Coming back from injury, Zack has spent a lot of time rehabbing his body to get the strength and speed back he once had. At the start (around the time of our last podcast with Zack) he talks about being sore after every round.

We walk through how he practiced, what kind of fitness work he was doing, and the reality of playing in his first tournaments after being away from tournament golf for so long.

TRAINING GAME EXAMPLE:

Zack and coach Tony Ruggiero created a game to help tighten up his game as he was coming back from his injury as the small misses add up quick.

Every birdie I make more than a bogey = $10
Every bogey free round = $50 bonus
Every three putt = -$20
Every bogey with a wedge -$20
Every bogey on a par five = -$20

The whole goal was to help Zack focus in on the little stuff that he was missing and make sure he was taking care of the low hanging fruit.

One of the first events back in San Antonio… My 15th hole. I hit a wedge into a pretty bad spot and hit the chip to like, six feet.

I had this six footer to keep the bogey free round going and not make a bogey with a wedge. It was like a $70 six footer.

In the big scheme of things… compared to finishing in the tournament it’s not that big of a deal. But it helped me focus on it and I made it. There were 3-4 times that week that I had moments like that.

I mean, that’s, that’s how I focus. I focus far more when I have a game going like that. You can get in the routine out here, just playing golf .

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