Travelers Championship Notes: Keegan Bradley Makes Ryder Cup Case

CROMWELL, Conn. — Keegan Bradley wasn’t privy to one of the most important meetings in PGA Tour history, and the 2023 Travelers Championship winner has used that as motivation.

Now, amid something of a career resurgence, Bradley could force his way back onto one of the biggest stages in professional golf.

Bradley held on to win the Travelers on Sunday at TPC River Highlands. In the process, he further strengthened his case to be a member of the American team for this year’s Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome.

By virtue of his win Sunday in Connecticut, Bradley shot up the Team US rankings to No. 7. There’s still a lot that can change between now and September, but Bradley is well aware he’s now in the running for a third Ryder Cup selection.

“It is the first thing I said to my wife walking up to sign my card: This is a pretty big step toward doing that,” Bradley told reporters after his win Sunday. “I’m 37 years old. I hope to play in multiple more. I don’t know how many more with everybody so good and the younger kids, just the team is incredible.”

Even if Bradley doesn’t get in on points, continuing his impressive play — two wins, four top-fives and top-30s in majors since late September — would be a strong case to be included among Zach Johnson’s captain picks.

“I still got a lot to show the captain,” Bradley admitted. “I would love to go to Rome and be part of that team.”

Bradley said earlier this year that not being part of the now-famous players meeting at Delaware last season gave a little extra motivation for him in 2023. That motivation could push him all the way to Rome, where he’d take his place alongside the world’s elite once again.

Here are some more notes from the 2023 Travelers Championship:

— Bradley’s homecoming win in New England overshadowed another tremendous story, this one involving Zac Blair, who finished tied for second.

What Blair lacks in size and intimidation — he stands just 5-foot-6 — he makes up for in likability. And playing on a major medical extension, his time had been running out to secure his Tour card moving forward. A solo second-place finish would have done just that, but his tie for second on the strength of a beautiful 8-under 62 sets him up real well to earn enough points by the end of the season.

Blair, who loves golf as much as those filling the galleries and religiously watching from home every weekend, had an unusual if not jealousy-inducing week of practice leading up to Thursday. Instead of grinding at TPC River Highlands, Blair played Eastward Ho! (Cape Cod) on Monday, Fishers Island (New York) on Tuesday and Winged Foot (New York) on Wednesday. It clearly worked; Blair showed up and went 65-65-68-62 to post a 20-under finish that earned him a $1.78 million paycheck, easily the biggest payday of his career.

That could go a long way in Blair’s foray into golf-course building. He is designing and has been hands-on in the building of The Tree Farm Golf Club in Georgia and has documented his progress on Instagram (where he is a must-follow for golf nerds).

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— Blair’s performance had local ties, too. Blair had Nik Kroisi on the bag this week. Kroisi grew up in Longmeadow, Mass., just 30 miles north of Cromwell, where he was a standout hockey player. Kroisi battled drug and substance problems when he was younger but has been clear for years and clearly is flourishing by Blair’s side, where he, too, will get a nice little payday thanks to their performance in Connecticut.

Mass Golf did a good segment on Kroisi earlier this month.

— Bradley’s winning score of 23-under (257) was part of a record-setting performance for not just himself but the entire field. Bradley’s score was the lowest 72-hole performance in tournament history as part of a field that made 1,844 birdies over the four days. That’s the most in tournament history, breaking the previous record set in 2020 (1,774).

— Scottie Scheffler shot a 5-under 65 on Sunday, finishing tied for fourth. He has now finished T12 or better in his last 17 Tour starts, with 14 top-10 finishes this season alone. Scheffler has lost to just 66 players combined in 15 tournaments this season, as noted by CBS’ Kyle Porter on Twitter.