Keegan Bradley ‘Cherishes’ Being Back In New England At Travelers Championship

CROMWELL, Conn. -- Keegan Bradley will tee it up Thursday at the 2023 Travelers Championship for the 13th consecutive year. But this time around, Bradley, a New England native who moved to Jupiter, Fla., more than a decade ago, had a much shorter commute to TPC River Highlands, which is located just outside Hartford, Conn.

"We always look forward to this tournament, but this year we just drove from our house so it makes it even better," Bradley told NESN.com outside the players clubhouse Wednesday, sharing he and his wife recently purchased a house in the Boston area.

Bradley, who turned professional in 2008, attended Hopkinton High School in Hopkinton, Mass. after growing up in Vermont. He's a die-hard Boston sports fan who threw out the first pitch at Fenway Park last summer when he was in Boston for the 2022 U.S. Open.

"We're both from New England and it was very important to my wife and I that our kids got to experience New England, and the summer in New England and being around family," Bradley said. "Nothing means more to my wife and I than this area."

"Nothing means more to my wife and I than this area."

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Keegan Bradley on being back in New England

The Travelers Championship marks the PGA Tour's lone stop in New England this season. Bradley played -- and played very well as he tied for seventh place -- at the 2022 U.S. Open held at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. last June. He called it one of the greatest memories of his career. Bradley then earned a top-20 finish at the Travelers Championship the following weekend, which marked the most recent PGA Tour event held in New England.

Bradley said the fact this is the Tour's lone New England stop this season makes it all the more special for him.

"What the Travelers has done to this tournament since the first year I played in 2011 to now is remarkable," Bradley said. "They've turned it into one of the premier PGA Tour events in the world. This was the first PGA Tour event that I ever came to, it was called the GHO (Greater Hartford Open) back then.

"It's something that, it's an event that I always really cherish and look forward to."

Bradley, who currently is ranked 28th in the world, is in the midst of a stellar season. He won the ZOZO Championship in October, his first Tour win since the 2017-18 campaign, and has claimed three top-5 finishes, four top-10s and seven top-25s in 17 events this season.

Bradley's best finish at the Travelers Championship came in 2019 when he tied for second behind champion Chez Reavie. Bradley undoubtedly will draw a crowd this weekend due to his New England ties. But the fact he'll be paired with World No. 6 and defending Travelers champion Xander Schauffele certainly adds to the excitement.

"It's great," Bradley said of playing with Schauffele. "Played with Xander is awesome and I appreciate the tournament putting me in a pairing like that. But for me, it doesn't matter as much. I just am excited to come out and play."

Especially since it's so close to home.