Travelers Championship: What To Expect From TPC River Highlands

The PGA Tour schedule is a grind, one that doesn’t let up for months, and there are few better examples of that than the Travelers Championship, set for this weekend just outside of Hartford, Conn.

The Tour’s lone New England stop has received the seemingly unfortunate distinction of falling the week after the U.S. Open. Theoretically, that should make the Travelers a lame duck on the schedule, as one might imagine the sport’s top players might want the week off after putting a ton of effort and preparation into winning the season’s third major.

Anyone familiar with the Travelers Championship, however, knows that’s not the case. Despite its spot on the calendar, the artist formerly known as the Greater Hartford Open remains one of the most popular stops on Tour. That gets even bigger this week with the Travelers among the Tour’s designated events with a $20 million purse up for grabs.

This is a familiar track for Tour veterans and New England golf fans alike. TPC River Highlands has hosted the Travelers — under its various names and sponsors — since 1984. To say it will play differently than last week’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club is a slight understatement, to say the least.

TPC RIVER HIGHLANDS
Par: 70
Yardage: 6,852
Architect: Pete Dye
Number of holes water in play: five
Bunkers: 69

After getting kicked in the teeth by a par-70 course that played to more than 7,400 yards last week at LACC, the Tour’s stars will find a nice place to land this week in the shadows of Hartford. TPC River Highlands is set up to play as a par-70, as well, albeit on a shorter 6,800-yard layout. A week ago, we saw two par 3s play in the neighborhood of 285 to 290 yards in California; this week, in Connecticut, one of River Highlands’ signature holes is the 296-yard par 4 where eagle is certainly in play, but so is double-bogey with water hugging the left side of the green and bunkers protecting the right.

Where length maybe isn’t as important off the tee this week, accuracy is one of the important traits to have. The average width of fairway landing areas is 30 yards this week, and that could feel even tighter after the relatively spacious LACC fairways that averaged 40 yards wide. Put another way, don’t expect the leader on 18 to get away with a squirrelly drive the way Wyndham Clark did last week on his way to winning the U.S. Open. His drive on the final hole of the tournament would likely be off the planet at TPC River Highlands.

“I think (the course) rewards driving the ball in the fairway, and if you can do that, you can make a lot of birdies around here,” Patrick Cantlay, who shot a 60 as a 19-year-old amateur at the 2011 Travelers, said ahead of last year’s tournament. “I think it’s a good design. It usually holds its own, despite being a shorter golf course and having some reachable par-5s and a reachable par-4. It’s just a fun golf course to play, and I think one of the better ones we play all year.”

There’s a reason players were keen to play this tournament the week after the season’s toughest major test even before there was $20 million on the line. Players have praised the Travelers for putting forth a first-class experience for years, getting amateurs and rookies into the mix, too. The efforts certainly seem appreciated.

“This is a really good golf course,” world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler said prior to last year’s tournament. “There’s really nothing tricky about it. You’re not going to have guys complaining that it’s either too hard or too easy or whatever it is.

“This is one of those golf courses throughout the year where you’re not going to hear many complaints from people, and I’m sure that’s why a lot of the top players will come. It’s also a very simple week for us. Like I said, Travelers does a really good job of taking care of us as players, taking care of our wives, taking care of our trainers, taking care of our caddies, and it’s a really simple week for all of us.”

Scheffler added: “Being able to come up here to Connecticut and just have a nice relaxing week and enjoy the competition is really fun.”

Scores have reflected as much in recent years. The winning score has been 16-under or better in five of the last eight Travelers Championships, with Xander Schauffele holding off J.T. Poston and Sahith Theegala last year with a score of 19-under.

As always, expect fireworks on the Connecticut River this week when the world’s best golfers make their lone New England stop of the year.