An exciting finish in place at the Travelers Championship

CROMWELL, Conn. – Given that the world’s greatest minds have enough on their plate with timeless mysteries such as Dark Matter, the Voynich Manuscript, Phaistos Disc and Gilligan’s Island, we won’t saddle them with this final-round wonderment about TPC River Highlands.

We will, however, ask 2012 Travelers Championship winner Marc Leishman to try and unravel this: Why do 54-hole leaders stumble so frequently here at TPC River Highlands and open the door to come-from-behind wins?

“It’s one of those courses where you feel like you should shoot 65 every single time you play – and you don’t,” said Leishman. “But someone does.”

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Leishman is a proud member of the “someone does” fraternity, a guy who nine years ago was tied for 20th and six shots off the lead when he arrived at TPC River Highlands that Sunday morning. Was he thinking he could win?

“No,” he said. “I knew I could go low, and I was hoping I would go low. I shot the type of score I was thinking about (8-under 62) but thought it would be a top five.”

Shockingly, Leishman’s sizzler kicked open the door to the winner’s circle for the first time on the PGA TOUR. All these years later, it is a warm and pleasant memory and, understandably, he’s become a staple here.

Still, he was surprised to hear that the 54-hole co-leaders that year – Brian Davis and Roland Thatcher – are part of another Travelers Championship brotherhood: Third-round leaders who struggle to break par on Sunday.

In the last 11 Travelers Championships (2010-2020), only three 54-hole leaders – Chez Reavie in 2019; Jordan Spieth in 2017; Freddie Jacobson in 2011 – held on and won. More perplexing, there have been a total of 14 players who’ve held at least a share of the 54-hole lead in that period and only four have broken par on Sunday.

Jacobson burned it up 10 years ago, a 66, and Reavie held on to win with a 69. Brian Harman (in 2015) and Graham DeLaet (in 2013) both finished with 69s but did not win. An array of other quality names with the 54-hole lead – Brendon Todd last year, Paul Casey in 2018, Daniel Berger in 2016, Ryan Moore in 2015, way back to Justin Rose in 2010 – failed to break par on Sunday and let victory slip away.

Riddle us why?

“It’s just hard to have the lead (at TPC River Highlands),” said Leishman, “because you feel like you should be making birdie on every hole, but if you start trying to birdie every hole, you can get yourself in really bad spots.”

All of which introduces us to the 2021 Travelers Championship, which was enveloped in a blanket of warm familiarity in Saturday’s third round. That’s because there were plenty of birdie bursts early and midway in the rounds to enable six different players (Jason Day, Bubba Watson, Harris English, Brice Garnett, Russell Henley, Kramer Hickok) to get into at least a share of the lead, but a series of hiccups late that created a creaking noise that was loud and emphatic.

It was a door being opened to a great many pursuers, which is another way of saying that Sunday has the potential to be the latest in a long line of wild and improbable finishes.

Of the storylines that will gather the attention Sunday, most flavorful to many will be Bubba Watson’s pursuit of a fourth Travelers Championship. His love of TPC River Highlands was tested on a roller-coaster back nine – bogeys at 11, 14 and 16 countered by birdies at 15 and 17 – and brought the final-round picture into focus.

Tied for the lead at 10-under 200 with Hickok, Watson is trying to return to the winner’s circle for the first time since he prevailed right here in 2018. That would seem like a massive drought, but not when put up against Hickock, the 29-year-old who is yet another former University of Texas (Class of ’15) standout in pursuit of his first win.

Of course, Watson is trying to win for the first time here as a co-leader; his three triumphs came from six off the lead (2010), one back (2015), and six behind (2018). Not that he was thinking of anything but the solo lead when he lined up a 5-foot birdie putt on 18, only he slipped it wide.

No worries, he’s in contention – again. But the rich plots are elsewhere, too.

There is Day, who started atop the leaderboard, but gingerly limped off the 18th hole after his only bogey of the day dropped him back to 9-under. He, too, hasn’t won since 2018 and the back remains a sore spot for the 33-year-old former world No. 1 now ranked 71st.

There is Henley, who played beautifully for three rounds at last week’s U.S. Open, and is right back at it this week, tied with Aussies Cameron Smith and Day at 9-under.

There is one of the season’s best stories, the rejuvenated English, who is tied with Garnett and K.H. Lee at 8-under.

There is the defending champion, Dustin Johnson, and the explosiveness of Bryson DeChambeau, two of eight players who are tied at 7-under.

And there, down in the nine-way tie for 17th, is none other than Leishman. Yeah, yeah, he’s got 16 players ahead of him, and he’s four off the lead, and he’s only had three quiet days of 69-66-69.

But . . . well, the history has been discussed and you know he’ll be swept onto the grounds Sunday with memories of 2012.

“It’s a really fun course, but it goes quick,” said Leishman. “You’re on the 15th tee when it feels like you’ve only played six holes.”

And what makes it even more fun is this: You can be a handful of strokes behind, then be handed the trophy.