Travelers Championship Preview

Two weeks in and now two positive coronavirus tests later, the PGA Tour continues this week at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut. Given the furore that surrounded the announcement that Nick Watney had tested positive for COVID-19 prior to the RBC Heritage last week, the last thing PGA Tour officials would have wished for was another this week. So it would have come as a bitter blow when it was confirmed on Tuesday that Cameron Champ had become the latest participant to have contracted the virus and has been forced to withdraw from this week’s event. Most onlookers have felt the American attitude towards the pandemic has been lax to say the least, exemplified by President Trump proceeding to stage an indoor rally in Tulsa accompanied by the scarcely believable comment that they were actually planning to slow down the rate of testing in the coming weeks. That viewpoint has clearly extended to other parts of the country with Justin Thomas describing the scenes around Hilton Head as “an absolute zoo” as bars, restaurants and beaches were packed with locals all week. Luckily, Cameron Champ wasn’t actually playing last week which reduces the possibility of a more widespread outbreak amongst PGA Tour pros but one feels that as more players start to return to action, the possibility of a wider outbreak and potential stoppage of future events is becoming more stark. For the moment though the show rolls on and if the last two weeks are anything to go by, we should be set for more thrilling viewing. On the course, at least.

What will it take to win here?

The last two tournaments held since the resumption of golf have provided us with a rarity on the PGA Tour these days in that both required more than an element of strategy and rewarded accuracy rather than length for the most part. TPC River Highlands should provide a more rounded test, even though it is short by modern standards with a Par of 70 measuring 6,841 yards. A number of different approaches have been rewarded here and there is no set way to tackle the course, as can be seen with the list of the last ten winners:

2019 Chez Reavie

2018 Bubba Watson

2017 Jordan Spieth

2016 Russell Knox

2015 Bubba Watson

2014 Kevin Streelman

2013 Ken Duke

2012 Marc Leishman

2011 Freddie Jacobsen

2010 Bubba Watson

Very much a horses-for-courses man, Bubba Watson has won three of the last ten renewals by overpowering the course, his bomb and gouge style paying dividends on the course’s short par 4s. Jordan Spieth and Freddie Jacobsen would be more noted for their prolific short-games while last year’s champion Chez Reavie consistently ranks as one of the most accurate drivers on the PGA Tour without being particularly long. As is the case with most par 70’s, par 4 scoring has tended to have a strong bearing on the outcome with six of the last ten winners coming out on top in that stat. Reavie’s game was in good nick all round at this event last year, ranking 1st for strokes gained tee to green backed up by finishing 10th for strokes gained putting, while second placed Keegan Bradley led the field in that category in finishing second. While this is by no means a bomber’s paradise, it does feel as if those who would have been slightly hand strung by not being able to take advantage of their most potent weapon the last couple of weeks will have the chance to cast off the shackles a bit more this time around. One other aspect to note this week is the change of grass type on the greens from bermuda the last two weeks to a bentgrass/poa annua combo. While this may seem insignificant, a lot of players have a clear first choice when it comes to their preferred putting surface usually stemming from what they grew up on or now practice on regularly. If you'd like to see which players perform best on which green type, the excellent Future of Fantasy have summed it up nicely here and return to the bentgrass/poa combo could provide a resurgence for those struggling on bermuda of late. This event has provided more than it’s fair share of entertainment over the past few years with Jim Furyk setting the record for the lowest round in PGA Tour history with a 58 in the final round of the 2016 edition before Russell Knox’s epic hat-toss as he holed a putt for victory the same year, as well as one of the most iconic moments in recent golf history with Jordan Spieth’s chest bump with caddie Michael Greller after holing his bunker shot on route to playoff victory the following year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MH2qvCrpJ0M

The Field

More often than not, this tournament has been a victim of it’s proximity to the US Open which is normally held the previous week. That has meant that many of the big names would choose to take this week off to recuperate from the stresses of a major championship but while crowds will still be absent, organisers have at least been rewarded with a high quality field. Last week’s champion Webb Simpson is again in action but has tended to not back up his victories in the past with the exertions possibly taking their toll, while Justin Thomas and the beefed-up Bryson DeChambeau possibly represent two of the most in-form players having both recorded top tens in both events since the resumption. Thomas’ course form has been poor thus far but can be excused given it usually comes off the back of a tough week at the US Open and he looks on the verge of another victory soon, while DeChambeau might have a better chance this week to utilise his new found length off the tee after posting consecutive top tens on his last two visits to River Highlands. Bombers Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson both looked in fine fettle at Harbour Town and look to be trending towards a big performance which may come this week as they have more of a chance to take advantage of their length, while the hottest man in golf at the moment Daniel Berger has course form to his name having narrowly missed out to Spieth in the aforementioned 2017 renewal. Two of the higher profile absentees in Patrick Cantlay and Paul Casey also return to the fold this week with good recent records at this venue if they can shake off the rust. Casey led going into the final round in 2018 before being overhauled by Bubba Watson and finished fifth last year, while Cantlay shot what was then a course record of 60 as a 19 year old amateur in 2011. Predicting how players will perform after the break is difficult though, with Justin Rose showing sparkling form having been playing poorly prior to the lockdown while Hideki Matsuyama, who actually led after Round 1 of the abandoned Players Championship looked in need of the outing when missing the cut at Harbour Town last week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsAythDzjXg

Irish Interest

The Irish triumvirate who have participated in both events so far are all in action again with Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell ready to play for the third consecutive week. McIlroy has shown glimpses in both events so far that he can reproduce some of the form he was showing earlier in the year when presented with a more suitable test this week so this could be classified as a good opportunity for the world number one to contend again. He drove the ball very well at Colonial as we would expect but only performed averagely in all areas of the game at Hilton Head so will need to find some improvement this week if he’s to reassert the dominance he was threatening to show earlier in the year. As for Lowry and McDowell, it’s not been the return to golf they would have hoped for with two missed cuts out of two for Ireland’s major champions. Getting over the small hurdle of making it to the weekend would represent a positive return to form for both with bigger targets lying in wait at the end of the summer.

Rising Stars

It would be remiss of us to go through all of this preview without mentioning Abraham Ancer, who very much put himself in the spotlight with a spectacular tee to green performance in finishing runner up at the RBC Heritage last week. Ancer, who was actually born in Texas, grew up in Mexico and has been on the PGA Tour since 2016 is pretty well established within the game having enjoyed a steady progression through last season which saw him qualify for the International President’s Cup Team, but is yet to win on the PGA Tour. He was pretty much flawless last week tee to green, hitting 82% of fairways and a staggering 65/72 greens in regulation, but a cold putter meant he just failed to repel Webb Simpson’s back nine surge. While his diminutive size means he will struggle to contend on the longer courses on tour, the quality of his ball striking should give him plenty of chances to break his PGA Tour duck soon if he starts to hole some putts. Another eyecatcher last week was Harry Higgs, who has already posted a number of good finishes on his first season on the PGA Tour. Higgs has shown glimpses he is ready to contend with a decent finish at the Farmer’s Championship earlier this year, and he also ranks 7th for the season in par 4 scoring which should be a good indicator towards a decent showing this week. He has endeared many fans this year with his refreshing attitude and less refined look, to put it kindly, compared to some of his peers and looks like the kind of guy who would rather be going around in a buggy with a six pack of cans. If he does manage to win on the PGA Tour, don’t be surprised if he shotguns a beer on the 18th green.