CROMWELL, Conn. — Every year during the Travelers Championship, player after player showers the event with praise. Following U.S. Opens at venues like Pinehurst No. 2, Pebble Beach and Shinnecock Hills, where birdies can be as rare an occurrence as shorts worn inside the USGA headquarters, TPC River Highlands feels like sweet relief.
From the tips, TPC River Highlands is short by tour standards, playing to just 6,841 yards with a par of 70. While some holes are tight, and the rough can be thick in areas, it can be had and the pros know it.
“It’s a fun place to play because if you get hot, you can shoot 9-, 10-under no problem,” said Brooks Koepka before the start of last year’s Travelers. “If you’re just a little bit off, you seem to shoot even par at this place, which can be quite frustrating. But, that’s the sign of a really good golf course.”
There has been at least one 62 shot in eight of the last 10 Travelers Championships. Four years ago, after finishing 1-under-par (279) and tied for second at the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, Jim Furyk shot the PGA Tour’s first 58. That day, the 2003 U.S. Open champion hit all 18 greens in regulation, made an eagle and 10 birdies and needed just 24 putts.
The chart below shows the winning score of each of the last 10 Travelers Championship winners.
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That brings us to the 2020 edition. The field at this year’s event is the strongest in the Travelers Championship history, with seven of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking in the field — Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed and Xander Schuaffele. That group is being joined by three-time champion Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth (the 2017 champion) and Bryson DeChambeau.
Those guys know how to make a lot of birdies, and with the humidity and temperatures forecasted to be high all week, the players will likely get more distance off the tee, allowing them to attack more hole locations.
So, a week after Webb Simpson won at 22 under at Harbour Town Golf Links, a tight, short course, look for the birdies to keep flying in New England.
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