BOB WEST ON GOLF: Stroud steps up to assist flooded Houstonians

Published 2:58 pm Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Chris Stroud arose in Boston Tuesday morning with an ear ache, a sore throat and an admirable mission to help the many thousands of fellow Houstonians whose suffering from the ravages of Hurricane Harvey flooding becomes more heartbreaking by the hour.

Stroud, who has lived in Spring for several years, is blessed in numerous ways, not the least of which is that his home, as of this writing, was still high and dry. Thousands of miles away, competing in the FedEx playoffs, he aches over what he’s seen on TV and heard from friends and neighbors.

“It is so sad to watch what is going on,” the Groves native said. “It has been really hard to focus on golf. The suffering is just unbelievable. We are so fortunate that our home has been spared thus far. There is flooding in the neighborhood, but ours is the highest house on the street.”

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Chris’ wife, Tiffany, who originally was to have flown to Boston today with their two daughters, has been a welcoming presence for neighbors. He estimated that some 20 folks slept at the Stroud residence Monday night. Others were welcomed to park their cars in one of the few driveways not under water.

Stroud’s mission, meanwhile, is to follow the lead of the Texans’ J.J. Watt and owners of the city’s professional sports teams in raising large sums of money for victims. By mid-morning Tuesday, he had spoken with the PGA Tour about a donation, and was working on a plan involving fellow tour players.

He kicked off the efforts with a pledge to donate $10,000, and contribute 10 percent of anything he wins this week to the Red Cross’ Houston fund. He planned to ask the other two Houston residents playing in Boston — Patrick Reed and Jhonattan Vegas — to do the same.

Beyond that, there will be a request posted in the locker room at the TPC Boston that everyone in the field of 100 players commit 10 percent of their winnings to the Red Cross fund. He has little doubt of a near across-the-board commitment.

“I have a lot of faith in my fellow players,” he said. “I know how generous and caring they are.”

Stroud said he plans to post a link for donations on his Twitter account, and will also be doing a video on Facebook. He added that the PGA Tour will be putting out an official release on Wednesday as to the extent of its involvement.

What Stroud is spearheading with the PGA falls in line with the generosity shown by so many in the Houston professional sports community. Watt has been the leader among players, initially pledging $100,000 of his own money and challenging Twitter followers to pony up $200,000. In less than 24 hours, that figure was surpassed, so he raised the bar to $500,000.

Team owners have also been generous. Both the Rockets’ Leslie Alexander and the Astros’ Jim Crane, along with the team’s ownership group, are down for $4 million. The Texans’ Bob McNair put up $1 million, a figure that was matched by the NFL Foundation, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and now Tennessee Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk.

Chris Paul, the newest Rocket, even pledged $50,000. Other players and team owners from across the country are certain to become involved.

As for Stroud, between fundraising efforts he hopes to sharpen his game after missing the cut in playoff week one. Ironically, had it not been for a charity pro-am Monday in New York, he probably would have caught a plane back to Houston last Friday.

With both of Houston’s airports shut down since Saturday, he might be
stuck.

Now, with the pledge to give 10 percent of his winnings to the Red Cross fund, he has extra incentive to play well. He also has an extra day to rest up, recover from the virus he is fighting and work on his game.

The Dell Technologies Championship, in order to finish on Labor Day, runs Friday through Monday.

Stroud insists that his game is sound and that he will fare better this week, due to course familiarity and good vibes on the TPC Boston. He missed last week’s cut on a course being played for the first time.

“I hit the ball pretty well,” he said. “Once again, it came down to putting.

I didn’t know the greens and had problems with distance control. A lot of strange things happened.”

Among those strange things was shooting even par 35 on his opening nine the second day without making a single par. He had five birdies — all in the first six holes — three bogeys and a double bogey. He ultimately missed the cut by two strokes.

“Like I said, strange things happened.”

Stroud’s goals this week will be much loftier than just making the cut.
Having slipped to No. 80 in FedEx points, he must finish high enough to climb 10 places in the standings. He has to be 70 or higher to move on to the third round.

“I expect to play well,” he vowed.

Whether he does or doesn’t, Stroud’s humanitarian efforts will have accomplished the unlikely feat of replacing that first PGA Tour victory three weeks ago in Reno as his most praiseworthy accomplishment of 2017.

Bob West is the Port Arthur News golf writer.