Keegan Bradley thrills locals, Rory McIlroy makes history - Five things we learned from Travelers Championship
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 26/06/2023 at 13:53 GMT
We were expecting a birdie-blitz at TPC River Highlands and the world’s best players did not disappoint in the PGA TOUR’s latest designated event. In this article we run out five things we learned from the event including Keegan Bradley thrilling local fans, Rory McIlroy making history and Scottie Scheffler showing his class.
'The pressure of wanting to play well' - Bradley explains what held him back previously
Keegan Bradley knows how to bounce back
As a result of missing the cut at the U.S. Open, Keegan Bradley’s preparation for the Travelers Championship included a round of mini-golf with his family - and it is an approach he may want to repeat after clinching his sixth PGA TOUR title at the weekend.
An opening round 62 at TPC River Highlands set the tone for an eventual three-shot victory with his consistency through the weekend allowing him to bathe in the adulation of a Connecticut crowd who were delighted with what they considered a win ‘for New England’ with Bradley having been born in Vermont and schooled in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
“My goodness, it's been unbelievable,” Bradley said. “I'm so lucky and thankful to be from this New England area. I just can't believe it. This seems like a dream.”
His second tournament win of the season was also particularly special for Bradley himself with the Greater Hartford Open (as the Travelers was previously known) being the first tournament he attended as a kid.
“This is for all the kids like me who grow up in winters and can’t play,” added Bradley. “I hope they know that they can come from this area and still make it in golf, if you put your time in and work when you can and enjoy the game. I hope they see they can do that.”
As well as $3.6m winner’s cheque, Bradley also revealed he received some congratulatory messages from his celebrity friends including Michael Jordan and Aaron Rodgers.
Scottie Scheffler remains in a class of his own
As if we didn’t know already, Scottie Scheffler is insanely good at golf.
His consistency is awe-inspiring. A five-under-par final round 65 lifted him into a T4 finish - his 14th top ten finish this season from a total of 18 events.
The World No. 1 has also finished in the top five in his last six events and that run alone has seen him pocket over $6m (£4.8m).
He opened his Travelers Championship challenge with an impressive seven-under-par 63 at which point our friends at Golf Digest revealed a stat that underlined just how good he has been.
That round took him to a total of 203-under-par for the season so far - a massive 48 shots better than any other player - all while he has relatively struggled on the greens (he’s currently 130th in the Strokes Gained: Putting stats).
That level of that dominance has surely only been extended by Scheffler’s showing in the subsequent rounds.
But perhaps the most stunning Scheffler fact is that he only has two wins to his name this season.
Rory McIlroy is ‘not sentimental’
It was another largely frustrating week for McIlroy fans with the Northern Irishman flirting with the top of the leaderboard only to come up a little short.
After claiming the runners-up spot at the U.S. Open, McIlroy claimed a T7 finish this past week which was also his sixth straight top 10.
However, unlike those previous tournaments, his Travelers performance was punctuated by a stunning historic first.
McIlroy’s tee shot on the 214-yards, par-3 8th hole found the bottom of the cup to give him his first PGA TOUR hole-in-one.
It was his second ace in a professional tournament following his effort at the 2015 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the DP World Tour but surprisingly his first during his 13-year career Stateside.
What did he do with the ball following his historic feat? He simply threw it to a fan in the crowd which later prompted this mic-drop moment from McIlroy in his post-round press conference.
Asked to clarify what he did with the ball, McIlroy told reporters, “I’d rather have trophies than golf balls” before leaving the stage.
Rickie Fowler continues to trend in the right direction
A return to winning ways is surely just around the corner for crowd-favourite Ricke Fowler.
Many thought - and hoped - it would come at the recent U.S. Open but he ultimately failed to deliver having entered the final round tied for the lead.
Fowler refused to dwell on that setback and while he was unable to extend his recent run of top-10s with an eventual T13 finish, he did offer further evidence that he is playing as good as ever.
In Saturday’s third round, he carded a 10-under-par 60 - the lowest score of his PGA TOUR career.
Fowler’s previous low round was a 62, which he shot on his way to his last PGA TOUR victory at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix in 2011 and also during last week’s U.S. Open at the Los Angeles Country Club.
TPC River Highlands is there for the taking
TPC River Highlands is clearly one of the easiest tracks on the PGA TOUR calendar and the sport’s leading players once again ripped it up.
For all four rounds this year at TPC River Highlands, where par is 70, the scoring average was 68.40, which is the lowest number on tour this season.
While no-one was able to match or eclipse Jim Furyk’s 12-under-par round of 58 at the 2016 Travelers Championship - the lowest ever round on the PGA TOUR - many gave it a good go with the field producing two rounds of 60, a 61 and five 62s.
Denny McCarthy came closest to breaking 60 with his approach to the 18th during the opening round brushing past the cup and his mark was later equalled by Fowler.
Winner Bradley broke the tournament’s 72-hole scoring record (257 strokes) and was just one shot shy of the PGA TOUR’s all-time record low 54-hole total (125 strokes).
However, not all the players are fans with McIlroy commenting post-final round, “I don't particularly like when a tournament is like this. Unfortunately, technology has passed this course by, right?”
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement