A string of in-tournament WDs at the Travelers Championship this past weekend appears to have been caused by a stomach bug that, according to Michael Kim, came from the U.S. Open through “kids and players.” Kim had only a mild case, while others like Eric Cole and Matti Schmid had to pull out of the final Signature Event of the season on Sunday.
England’s Harry Hall was also among the group to pick up the illness, and it got so bad that he went into an ambulance before Saturday’s third round to receive two IVs and debated whether he’d even play that day or not.
“I didn’t feel great at all,” said Hall, who was sick all night on Friday and woke up feeling the same.
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Knowing how much money was on the line, however, Hall decided to try and tough it out, heading straight to the first tee from the ambulance and completely skipping out on any warmup. He went on to shoot a one-under 69 to stay in the tournament.
“Just battled my way around for 1-under yesterday,” he said Sunday. “I think that kept me in the tournament. I think I just did well to play, to be honest.”
Hall then went on to shoot a final-round five-under 65, vaulting him into a tie for ninth. He was asked afterward what inspired him to battle through the sickness and he couldn’t help but answer as honestly as possible.
“I did think, like, you know, it’s a Signature Event if I can just survive 18 holes and not give up any ground or have a chance to have a decent tournament, obviously the points and the money,” he said. “If anyone else, I think anyone else would turn up to work sick if they could make a quarter of a million I think is what I was in. So, yeah, I’m definitely turning up.”
Correct. Especially if that work involved playing golf. We’d all sign up for a stomach bug and 18 holes for $250,000.
The thing is, Hall made a hell of a lot more than $250,000, securing a $540,000 payday for his final-round efforts. Inspirational stuff. As for the FedEx Cup points, Hall earned just over 150 of them, moving him from 55th to 47th in the standings as we close in on the final quarter of the season. Should he make it to the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in his career, and perhaps even the Tour Championship, he’s going to remember that one-under, under-the-weather third round 69 for a long, long time.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
