The First Look: Travelers Championship

The Travelers Championship has done a fabulous job offering opportunities to some of the game’s best up-and-comers over the years. This year’s impressive crop of youngsters will take on the TOUR’s top players at TPC River Highlands, as the Travelers Championship also is a Designated event.

The top eight players in the world are all scheduled to tee it up at TPC River Highlands, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, FedExCup leader Jon Rahm and defending champion Xander Schauffele.

The contingent of kids in the field includes Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen, who finished fourth in last year’s Travelers.

“It was surreal,” he said about contending in a TOUR event. “It's better than … how I dreamt about it. It's so loud. It was very welcoming. I can't wait to come back next year and the following years.”

Thorbjornsen won this year’s Pac-12 Championship and was the conference’s player of the year. His peers in the field include Benjamin James, Sam Bennett, and Ludvig Aberg (more on them later).

Will youth be served at TPC River Highlands? Or will one of the game’s top names capture one of the biggest titles of the season?

Regardless of who lifts the trophy Sunday, it’s set to be a special week in Connecticut.

FIELD NOTES: Xander Schauffele, who was tied for third through 36 holes at the U.S. Open, will return to try to successfully defend his title at the Travelers Championship. Schauffele hasn’t missed a cut this season and has seven top-5 finishes… World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, winner of this year’s THE PLAYERS, and FedExCup leader Jon Rahm, who counts the Masters among his four wins in 2023, are also in action at TPC River Highlands…The top eight in the world ranking will all be in Connecticut… There will be six former champions teeing it up, led by Schauffele and 2021 winner Harris English. English finished T8 in the U.S. Open after sitting in fifth place at the halfway point… Sahith Theegala will return as he looks to avenge last year’s loss. He double-bogeyed the 72nd hole after leaving his approach shot in a fairway bunker, finishing two shots behind Schauffele. The second-year TOUR member is looking for his first TOUR title… Rickie Fowler, who was tied for the lead at the U.S. Open through 54 holes, is one of the many notables set to tee it up at the Travelers. In all, the tournament will have 14 of the top-20 ranked golfers in the world. Fowler finished T5 at Los Angeles Country Club after holding the lead through three rounds.

SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Ludvig Aberg will make his second start as a TOUR member after finishing first in this year’s class of PGA TOUR U graduates. He finished tied for 25th at the RBC Canadian Open in his debut… Sam Bennett, the only golfer to be inside the top 10 at the halfway point of both this year’s Masters and U.S. Open, is back in action. Bennett, who won the 2022 U.S. Amateur, turned professional after the NCAA Championships. He has made the cut in his first three starts as a pro, including a T20 at the RBC Canadian Open and T43 at the U.S. Open… Ben James, this year’s NCAA freshman of the year, will tee it up for the second time at his home-state event. James, who hails from Connecticut, was the game’s top junior golfer before joining the University of Virginia last year. He was the only freshman in the final Haskins and Nicklaus awards watch lists this year… Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen returns to the Travelers Championship after finishing fourth a year ago… Charley Hoffman and Dylan Wu round out the sponsor invite list. Hoffman has three top-25 finishes so far this season while Wu has five top-25s, including a tie for 10th at The Honda Classic. He was T12 after two rounds at the U.S. Open, eventually finishing T49.

STORYLINES:

A major week after a major week

Each champion of the Travelers since 2016, including defending champion Xander Schauffele, teed it up at the U.S. Open the week prior. There’s a different layer to the logistics this year, with those who played at Los Angeles Country Club needing to fly across the country to get to Connecticut. Still, the precedent has been set. Those who play in the U.S. Open find themselves well-prepared for the Travelers. Scottie Scheffler claimed another top 3 in a major, Sahith Theegala came in at T27, while Xander Schauffele extended his streak of strong U.S. Open performances with a T10.

Next-gen talent

The Travelers Championship has long been a jumping off point for some of the game’s brightest new stars. While Michael Thorbjornsen will look to build off his fourth-place result last season, the hearty list of sponsor invites from this year join the long list of impressive stars to tee it up at TPC River Highlands early in their career. It includes Collin Morikawa, Sahith Theegala, Chris Gotterup, and Cole Hammer. Patrick Cantlay famously shot a 60 at TPC River Highlands in 2011 as an amateur.

Designated hitter

The Travelers Championship is the last of the four events that were elevated to designated status this year. The first three all produced thrilling results, with Scottie Scheffler defending his title at the WM Phoenix Open, Matt Fitzpatrick winning at his beloved Harbour Town in the RBC Heritage and Wyndham Clark claiming his first title at the Wells Fargo. The Regular Season is rounding to a close and as the summer progresses players will be pursuing spots in the smaller Playoffs field. Only the top 70 in the FedExCup will qualify for this year’s FedExCup Playoffs.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: TPC River Highlands, par 70, 6,852 yards. Still one of the TOUR’s shortest layouts, this marks the 40th year as a TOUR venue for TPC River Highlands. The key stretch at TPC River Highlands comes late in the round as golfers play around a four-acre lake on Nos. 15-17. Jim Furyk shot the TOUR’s lowest round, a 58, at TPC River Highlands in 2016.

72-HOLE RECORD: 258, Kenny Perry (2009)

18-HOLE RECORD: 58, Jim Furyk (4th round, 2016).

LAST TIME: Xander Schauffele won by two shots over J.T. Poston and Sahith Theegala for his sixth PGA TOUR title, and second of the season. Schauffele opened with back-to-back rounds of 63 but got caught by the chasing pack heading into Sunday’s finale. The win was a product of a three-shot swing on the 72nd hole in the final round as Schauffele hit it to 3 feet and made birdie, while Theegala needed two shots to get out of a bunker en route to making double bogey. Theegala was in the group ahead and nabbed a share of the lead on No. 15 after driving the green. He leapt Schauffele after making birdie on the penultimate hole of the championship but couldn’t hold on. Amateur Michael Thorbjornsen finished at 15 under and was in fourth alone – the best such result by a non-pro on TOUR since 2016. Chesson Hadley finished fifth alone at 14 under.

HOW TO FOLLOW:

Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS)

PGA TOUR Live:

PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+

• Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course
• Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group
• Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups
• Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes

Radio: Thursday-Friday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio