BlogTravelers Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

I don’t know what to say about the PGA Championship.  I think it was a loser in this make room for the Olympics season as it became just another tournament.  Majors are suppose to be special and something that players work hard and think about.  I found this year’s PGA Championship as something that was stuck into the schedule and everyone from players to officials to media to even fans didn’t really treat it like a major.  We have had way too many “majors” and big events in the last six weeks.  I have to wonder how important the Olympics will be when players like Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar play in the Travelers and not getting the true Olympic experience.  To be an Olympian is to experience the opening ceremony and be a part of the walk-in of the athletes.  By playing in the Travelers these three won’t experience that and just fly down like it’s just a normal tour event.  Love the respect that defending champion Bubba Watson is giving the Travelers but he may regret not being part of the whole Olympic experience.

But let’s go back to the PGA Championship. I can only hope that in 2020, the next time the Olympics comes around the PGA of America shift the PGA Championship to a March, April or May date.  Since the venue is Harding Park in San Francisco, maybe they can be the last event on the west coast swing.  By placing the PGA first in the schedule it will get the attention it needs.  If you think the schedule is brutal now, the 2020 Olympics will be between July 24th and August 9th so it will put pressure on the schedule again.

I was very surprised to see Jimmy Walker win the PGA Championship.  Not that he didn’t have the talent, since winning for the first time at the Frys.Com Open two years ago he has made big strides with his game, winning four other events after that.  But I never figured him to contend at Baltusrol since his last top-ten was the first week in March and historically he struggles in the summer.  When a reporter asked him on Thursday what the difference was that got him going, he really couldn’t answer other than he didn’t like his position on the FedEx Cup points list (50th) and the Ryder Cup list (29th).  It’s safe to say that with him climbing to 4th he will be on the team again and will probably play in all 4 FedEx Cup events since he is now 14th on the point list.

One other thing I was very surprised at the poor play of both Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy.  For Rory I could understand it since his putting has been poor and he did miss the cut at the U.S. Open, but Johnson I can’t fathom what happened to him.  I could see that Royal Troon may not of been Johnson’s cup of tea, but he still did well and going into the PGA I couldn’t see a better course for Johnson than Baltusrol.  Who knows maybe it was the weather I have no idea and he didn’t either.

One other player that surprised me was Jason Day, with the problems of his wife going to the hospital on Tuesday night, with Day not feeling that great and not getting prepared like he did, it through a lot of betters off on Jason.  But he got it together and came very close to sending the tournament into a playoff.

Lastly with the majors going the way it has, Player of the Year is still in doubt.  Yes Dustin Johnson and maybe Jason Day have an edge, but nobody has come out and said, hey I am the player of the year.  Guess it will be determined by the FedExCup playoffs, because right now it’s a wide open race.

Tournament information:

• This is the 65th annual Travelers Championship. The tournament was founded by the United States Junior Chambers in 1952 after an attempt to raise money from a turtle race the previous year failed. The Cromwell, Connecticut-based tournament was originally known as the Insurance City Open. The chief goal of the tournament since its inception has been to raise funds for the USJC’s philanthropic endeavors. In the inaugural tournament, war-hero Ted Kroll captured the crown, the second of his career. Four years later, the Insurance City Open served as a launching pad for Arnold Palmer as he notched his second win on the PGA Tour and the first on American soil in the 1956 Insurance City Open.
• The Insurance City Open underwent a name change in 1967 when it became the Greater Hartford Open. The tournament’s original goal was given a boost when, in 1971, defending champion Bob Murphy donated $20,000 of his 1970 winnings to start the Greater Hartford Chapter of the “Jaycees.” The year 1973 was momentous for the Greater Hartford Open. In an effort to further boost tournament notoriety, entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., who frequently participated in the Pro-Am events, lent his name to Greater Hartford Open. Also in 1973, Billy Casper won his record fourth and final Greater Hartford Open. In 1985, the first major corporate sponsor for the event surfaced in the form of Canon USA.
• Starting in 1985 the event added Canon to the its name; however, the name would be altered just three years later. In 1988, Sammy Davis Jr. was removed from the name, and beginning in 1989, the tournament was became known as the Canon Greater Hartfod Open. By 2001, the tournament had grown to previously unrealized levels. Phil Mickelson’s personal best 61 as well as appearances by Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino headlined the tournament, which saw a record 318,000 spectators come out to watch the 50th annual Canon Greater Hartford Open. In 2004, a three-year partnership was forged between Buick and the GHO. The result was the Buick Championship. After the three-year contract expired, however, Buick decided not to renew the contract. Consequently, St. Paul Traveler’s stepped in to become the new title sponsor.

Course information:

TPC River Highlands

• Cromwell, Ct.
• 6,854 yards     Par 35-35–70
• The TPC River Highlands has experienced as many changes as the name of the tournament it hosts. The original piece of property was designed in 1928 by R.J. Ross, cousin to the more notable golf course designer Donald Ross. The course was tied to the Edgewood Country Club. However, when the Greater Hartford Open was searching for a larger venue than its home at Wethersfield Country Club in 1982, the Edgewood Country Club seemed like a perfect fit. Before the venue was fit to host a major PGA Tour event, course renovations were necessary. The Greater Hartford Chapter of the USJC hired Pete Dye to renovate the Edgewood Country Club golf course. Dye’s finished product, known as The TPC Connecticut, hosted the Greater Hartford Open in 1984. One of the key features to the new course, especially the back nine, was the incorporation of amphitheatres to improve a fan’s viewing experience. In 1989, a re-design team that consisted of Bobby Weed, and consultants Howard Twitty and Roger Maltbie, made some additional changes. After the renovation, the course became known as the TPC River Highlands.
• The golf course itself is forgiving. The par-70 course, measuring at 6,841 yards, has a Course Rating of 72.7 and a Slope Rating of 131. The tees and fairways are a 3/8″ cut of Bent Grass, while the greens are a 1/8″ cut of Bent Grass. The rough consists of a mixture of Kentucky Blue Grass, Perennial Rye Grass, and fine Fescue cut at just over 6 inches. The 132-acre venue has 69 bunkers and five water hazards that come into play on six holes. Golf Digest rated TPC at River Highlands as one of the six best courses in the state of Connecticut. Another notable achievements for the TPC at River Highlands was that it was the 49th course to become fully-certified in the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses (ACSP), which promotes ecologically sound land management and the conservation of natural resources.
• Holes No. 4 and 10 provide the biggest challenge. The fourth hole is the most difficult on the golf course. It’s a severe dog-leg right that measures 460 yards. The tee-shot requires a heavy fade to reach the fairway, while avoiding the tree-line on the right-hand side. From there, the approach shot goes into a tight green with a bunker guarding the front left. As for the 10th hole, the 460-yard par 4 requires a slight draw to the left-hand side of a tiny fairway to avoid the large fairway bunker on the right. From the fairway, the player aims for a green that is protected by a front left and back right bunker. The most famous portion of the course, the three-hole stretch from 15 to 17, incorporates a four-acre lake that is affectionately dubbed the “Golden Triangle.” Those three holes, along with the 18th, make up one of the top finishing stretches on the PGA Tour.
• In summer 2008 the new practice facility opened. The 23.5-acre facility is adjacent to the new First Tee of Connecticut nine-hole golf course that is in its initial phase of construction.
• Last year TPC River Highlands played to a scoring average of 69.38, almost a three quarters of a shot under par.  It ranked as the 29th hardest course on the PGA Tour.  In 2014 it played to a 69.69 average while in 2013 TPC River Highlands played to a 70.25 scoring average, just a quarter of a shot over par.    So it has played easy of late.

Let’s take a look at key stats that are important for those playing at the Travelers:

This is based on the most vital stats from TPC River Highlands, based on data from last year’s Travelers and using data from all the players in the field with stats from 2016.
The most important thing to realize about TPC River Highlands, its a course that is very forgiving, you don’t kill a lot of brain cells in getting your way around it and if you drive it long and reasonably straight you can win. Just look at the roll call of past champions, guys like Bubba, Kenny Perry, Phil Mickelson, Kevin Streelman, Marc Leishman and J.J. Henry, guys that hit is far and go chase it for their next shot. Now this doesn’t eliminate short hitters, guys like Brad Faxon, Woody Austin and Olin Browne have won and they are not long hitters.
So your first choice should be guys that hit it a long way, guys that are hot right now and guys that showed some promise at Baltusrol.
The tournament is being played two months later than usual. In a way it was a good compromise, they wanted to do some rebuilding of the course and the extra time help them so they are now in August and before the Olympics. I am very surprise that three of the four Americans in the Olympics, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar have decided to play at the Travelers instead of going down to Rio and being a part of the opening ceremonies on Friday. But there is a very good reason why these three are playing in Cromwell and that is the course is perfect for all three, gosh Bubba is not only defending but has won it twice.
Talking about the work and enhancements done of the course since the last time it held the event, they have removed 50 bunkers along with repositioning others in order to make the course a bit tougher. They have also rebuilt several tees and greens, but the course will play basically the same yardage wise, just the new changes make it different and a bit tougher.
So in making your picks think outside the box for this week, I like some of the younger players like Justin Thomas along with guys like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.

So in looking at our four categories, we have to also go outside the box. Remember this isn’t a tough course, last year it played to a 69.38 average making it the 29th hardest on tour. Hitting it long is important, making birdies are important as 1,599 were made last year making it the 40th hardest on tour, not bad for a course that only has two par 5s. To score low you have to play good on it’s 12 par 4s, last year the par 4s average was 3.99, only a half dozen full field tournaments had lower par 4 averages. So our first category is Strokes Gained Off the tee because those that it is long and far have a big advantage. Next is Par Breakers which is a combination of birdies and Eagles, you have to make a lot of them this week to have any chance. Our third category is scrambling, that is getting it up and down when you miss a green last year Bubba Watson led this stat. Our last category is par 4 average, last year Bubba was 12 under on the par 4s and led that stat.
*Strokes Gained off-the-tee: Combination of distance off the tee and accuracy

*Par Breakers: Who makes the most birdies and eagles per round.

*Scrambling: The percent of time a player misses the green in regulation, but still makes par or better.

*Par 4 averages: Players that do the best on par 4s.

Players from this year’s field with stats from 2016:

Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.

For the rest of the players, hit this link:

Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at the Travelers:

Key stat for the winner:

The TPC at River Highlands is a different type of TPC course.  It was a reconfiguration of a traditional, old style course, but it still has some of that flavor.  Most of the greens are small, raised or crowned, making it a scrambler’s delight.  The tournament is well supported in the community — as many as 80,000 spectators could be in attendance this week — so the timid need not apply.  Another factor that comes into play is the fact that the tournament has close finishes every year (except of course in 2009 when Kenny Perry won by three).  Since it moved away from Wethersfield in 1983, 24 of the 33 tournaments have been decided by either a shot or a playoff, including in 2010 when Bubba Watson beat Scott Verplank and Corey Pavin in extra holes.  In 2012 Marc Leishman was a shot better than Charley Hoffman and Bubba Watson.  In 2014 it was another playoff, with Ken Duke getting the better of Chris Stroud. Last year Bubba Watson won again in a playoff, this time against Paul Casey.  Here is a chart that shows exactly how close tournaments have been in the 64-year history of the Travelers Championship:

• Tournaments tied after 72 holes: 22
• Tournaments won by one shot: 22
• Tournaments won by two shots: 8
• Tournaments won by three shots: 5
• Tournaments won by four shots or more: 7

Here are some more key stats to look to for this week:

• So what is the most important element for the most recent past champions of the Travelers?  Putting and hitting it a long way.  Look at Bubba Watson last year, he not only was the longest driver in the field, but also had the best overall putting average. Kevin Streelman in 2014, he was 1st in putting average, 8th in total putting and 3rd in strokes gained putting.  The year before Ken Duke was 1st in putting average, 3rd in total putting and 10th in strokes gained putting.  To put this into prespective, of the last nine champions in total number of putts, 6 of them were in the top-five and all of them were in the top-13, so putting well is the key to being successful.
• Hitting it far is more important than accuracy because the last 11 of 16 champions have been in the top-13 of the driving distance stat while only six winner have  broken into the top-ten of the accuracy stat just once.  Last year’s winner Bubba Watson was 1st in driving distance and 70th in accuracy, so driving it long does have it’s advantages.
• Playing the par 4s well is another key. Of the last 18 champions, 11 have played those holes in 8-under or better, with Notah Begay III playing them in 16-under in 2000. Last year Bubba played the par 4s in 12 under while the year before Kevin Streelman played them in 11-under par.
• Hitting greens will be at a premium. Just like in a U.S. Open, hitting lots of greens goes a long way in this event.  Normally you would look for the winner to hit globs of greens and last year Bubba hit 50 and was ranked T-38th.  The year before Streelman hit 53 and was ranked T-10th.  But the previous three years the winners were poor in hitting greens, still in looking at the last 14 champions, six of them were in the top-ten.
• Now I don’t want to jinx the tournament, but weather in Connecticut will be good on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, but could be rainy on Saturday.  After a terrible week of rain at the PGA Championship, maybe the players will be use to it.