The First Look: Travelers Championship

The top four players in the FedExCup standings will tee it up at the Travelers Championship, led by No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

Harris English returns to defend his title from 2021, which he won in an eight-hole playoff over Kramer Hickok.

FIELD NOTES: English is back in action after making the cut at the U.S. Open. He was on the shelf from January until the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday as he recovered from hip surgery … Scottie Scheffler, who finished second at The Country Club, will look to extend his substantial lead in the FedExCup and Official World Golf Ranking … Sam Burns, ranked second in the FedExCup, is also set to tee it up … Others in the field include last season’s FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay, and Rory McIlroy, who is playing his fourth week in a row on TOUR. He's up to third in the FedExCup and second in the world after finishing T5 in the U.S. Open … Cantlay shot a 60 at TPC River Highlands in 2011 as an amateur … Jordan Spieth, who won the Travelers in 2017, was a late entry Friday afternoon … University of Texas standout Cole Hammer will make his TOUR debut as a professional … Other young stars at the Travelers will include Ben James, Michael Thorbjornsen, and Haskins Award winner Chris Gotterup. James, of Milford, Connecticut, is the top-ranked junior in the country, while Gotterup won the Haskins Award as the top player in college golf this year. Gotterup, now a professional, made the cut at the U.S. Open … Others in the field include Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele and U.S. Open gate-crasher Joel Dahmen, who finished T10 at The Country Club.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: TPC River Highlands, par 70, 6,852 yards. One of the TOUR’s shortest courses yields low scores but still presents a tricky challenge to the game’s best. This marks the 70th anniversary of the Travelers Championship, with TPC River Highlands being a TOUR venue for 39 years. Bobby Weed was the last architect to work on an upgrade of the Connecticut course, with TOUR players Howard Twitty and Roger Matlbie as consultants. The key stretch comes as players navigate around a four-acre lake on Nos. 15-17. TPC River Highlands is where Jim Furyk fired the TOUR’s lowest round, a 58 in 2016.

STORYLINES: This is the first year since before the COVID-19 pandemic that the Travelers will have full attendance … There is plenty of firepower in the field at TPC River Highlands, with six of the world’s top 10 teeing it up … The Travelers has a history of giving opportunities to the game’s bright young stars. This year is set to be no different with James, Thorbjornsen, Gotterup and Hammer in the field. Past exemptions have gone to Sahith Theegala, John Pak, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Cantlay, among others … Each champion at the Travelers since 2016 has played the U.S. Open the week prior. English finished third at Torrey Pines a year ago before winning at TPC River Highlands … The Travelers has gone into extra holes 25 times, with last year’s eight-hole playoff being the longest.

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

18-HOLE RECORD: 58, Jim Furyk (Round 4, 2016)

LAST TIME: Harris English emerged from the second-longest playoff in TOUR history to claim the 2021 Travelers. After both English and Kramer Hickok birdied the 72nd hole in regulation, the duo went back-and-forth for seven holes before English finally birdied the eighth extra hole from 5 feet. Hickok had missed a 36-footer just prior. It was English’s second win of the season. Hickok’s runner-up was his best career result on the PGA TOUR. Marc Leishman finished third.

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