Heading into the final round of the Memorial Tournament earlier this month, we noted how a Rory McIlroy victory would have lifted him into rare territory on the PGA Tour. A win that week would have been his 24th career tour title, but it also would have come with a $3.6 million first-place prize money payout that would have lifted him past the $75 million mark in career PGA Tour earnings, making him just the fourth player to break the milestone mark.

Well, it didn’t work out that Sunday for McIlroy—a closing 75 left him T-7—but with his finishes at the RBC Canadian Open (T-9) and U.S. Open (solo second to Wyndham Clark), McIlroy finally ran through the $75 million mark barrier last week.

Now fast forward to the final round of the Travelers Championship, where McIlroy starts the final round nine shots back of 54-hole leader Keegan Bradley. A victory would come with a similar $3.6 million given this is also a designated event … but that’s asking a lot given how far back he starts Round 4, even after making birdies on five of the first seven holes of his round to only trail by four when Bradley teed off. But even just a solid finish now would allow the 34-year-old Northern Irishman to achieve a different money milestone. You see, McIlroy right now is fourth in all-time earnings, sitting $248,530 behind the player in third place, Dustin Johnson. Since DJ can only add to his totals at majors right now, having been banned from PGA Tour events for the joining LIV Golf League, McIlroy passing DJ this weekend would leave him ahead of DJ in perpetuity.

What does McIlroy need to overcome DJ? A solo 20th-place finish earns him $265,000.

Should McIlroy accomplish that, there would remain two golfers still ahead of him on the all-time money list, both still a little far away for McIlroy to catch in the short term. No. 2 is Phil Mickelson at $96,572,310.

And No. 1, of course, is Tiger Woods, who is currently at $120,954,766. Woods passed $75M with his win at the 2007 BMW Championship, which was his 229th career tour start and his 60th career win. (McIlroy broke the $75 million mark in his 232nd tour start.) If McIlroy were to win on Sunday, he would still be $42 million behind Tiger in all-time earnings. Just how much is that in context? Well, McIlroy would have to win 11½ more designated events at the $3.6 million first-place payday to catch him.

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Sunday wasn’t so much a win for Keegan Bradley at the Travelers Championship as it was the culmination of a life-long pursuit. Yet the dream had barely set in on the 18th hole before Bradley turned his attention to another dream, one he considers unfinished business.

With his second victory of the 2022-23 season, Bradley is now squarely in the mix for the United States Ryder Cup team, ranked seventh in the American standings with less than two months to go before automatic qualification ends. Bradley has played on two American Ryder Cup teams and quickly became a crowd favourite at the event, not afraid to reciprocate the emotion and vigour of those outside the ropes. “That’s one of the reasons why I love the Ryder Cup, because you let it all out at all times,” Bradley said on Sunday.

However, Bradley has not been a part of the Ryder Cup since 2014. Asked if he’s had a moment to think what his Travelers victory will do for his chances to make the American team, Bradley nodded his head in approval.

“Yeah, I mean, it is the first thing I said to my wife walking up to sign my card: This is a pretty big step towards doing that,” Bradley said about making the team. “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.

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

Despite ranking seventh in the current standings, a lot remains in Bradley’s path. Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are outside automatic qualifying, and both are considered near-locks to make the team. Same with Collin Morikawa. Rickie Fowler is making a viable case for inclusion. Cameron Young, Tony Finau, Sam Burns, Harris English and Dustin Johnson are other formidable candidates with recent Team USA experience.

Conversely, the projected team is short on veterans (at least in terms of age) and the status of LIV Golf members for the United States still remains unclear. Should they not be allowed—thus knocking off Brooks Koepka from automatic qualification—Bradley could find himself representing the red, white and blue.

Bradley has scored four points in seven Ryder Cup matches. He was also a part of the winning Presidents Cup team in 2013.

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In a week infatuated with low scores, Bradley’s was the lowest, his 257 total besting Zac Blair and Brian Harman by three to win the 2023 Travelers Championship.

“My goodness, it’s been unbelievable,” Bradley said. “I’m so lucky and thankful to be from this New England area. I just can’t believe it. This seems like a dream.”

What Bradley did to TPC River Highlands and his competition can be told in statistics or sights, but given the voices—so strong in number and volume—that followed and carried him through Cromwell, perhaps Bradley’s day is best told by the soundtrack he produced. Starting at the first.

“DO IT FOR NEW ENGLAND!”

Bradley was born in Vermont, went to school in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York, and calls Florida home. So why was this tour stop in Connecticut a home game for the former PGA champ? Because New England is not composed of six states but one soul, and that is something that follows no matter when you go.

This crowd also knows what this tournament means to Bradley. The Greater Hartford Open was the first tour event Bradley attended as a kid; on Saturday evening he recalled how he was so excited to follow David Duval that he camped out at the old range to make sure he could see the then-World No. 1 warm-up. Aside from the majors, Bradley said, the Travelers is the trophy he wanted most.

“It’s an event my first handful of years on tour I really struggled at because the pressure of wanting to play well for wow family and the local community was too much,” Bradley said. “I had to learn how to do it.”

So when Bradley made his way from the range to the first tee on a golf cart Sunday afternoon the fans let him know he wouldn’t be alone, showering him with cries of “New England!” and “The local hero!” And while there was plenty of applause at first for the likes of Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and Scottie Scheffler, the loudest welcome was saved for Bradley. Chez Reavie, paired with Bradley and ostensibly the only player in Bradley’s way, was second to the tee and the volume went from 10 to 2. The crowd was still cordial, but the message was clear: Reavie had to win in front of a gallery that didn’t want to see him do it.

“YOU GOTTA LOCK IT UP!”

Bradley started strong, two pars and two birdies, to stretch his lead to three. But starting hasn’t been the issue for Bradley. He’s held the 54-hole lead four times in his career, and in all four times, he left without the victory. Sundays have been especially brutal this season: Despite ranking 32nd in total scoring average, Bradley has gone south on the final day, ranking 123rd in Round 4 scoring.

Maybe that’s why, after a small fist pump from Bradley and the howl of cheers after his birdie at the fourth, a voice cut through the ovation, telling Bradley to “Keep the pedal down” because “You gotta lock it up!”

“ROLL … THE … ROCK!”

Putting. That’s what has kept Bradley from rediscovering the heights he reached a decade ago, with golf’s anchor ban doing a number on his short game. But he’s recently found success on greens thanks to a longer, counterbalanced grip on an Odyssey Versa Jailbird putter, a trend Bradley says he started and has found acolytes in Rickie Fowler and U.S. Open champ Wyndham Clark.

Bradley, up five on Reavie after seven holes, made his first mistake by short siding himself at the par-3 eighth, and could only get his second to 12 feet. Normally, that is a distance that would give Bradley the shakes. This Bradley, however, poured it in with conviction, the ball going 360 degrees around the cup before dropping. The man could not be stopped.

“I was playing great,” Bradley said. “I didn’t look a little many leaderboards because I knew I sort of had control of the tournament if I just played my best. With Chez, who was kind of right behind me who was a little bit back, I knew that I sort of had control.”

Patrick Smith

“HE’S PUTTING ON A CLINIC!”

Was he ever. Bradley hit his approach from 260 yards at the par-5 sixth to 20 feet, his tee shot at the par-3 11th to five feet, and his second at the par-4 12th to eight feet. On the week Bradley led the field in SG/approach, gaining a whopping eight strokes on the field. Turns out putting is pretty easy when you don’t have to putt that far from the hole.

The birdie at the 12th seemingly put the tournament on ice. “Seemingly” is the operative word, however.

“PLUG THE LEAK!”

Bradley went 66 holes with just one bogey. He proceeded to make three in his next four, and in ugly fashion. He hit his drive at the 13th in the water. His ball was in a pitchmark by the 14th green and he failed to get up and down. His tee shot barely found land at the 16th and his attempt for par didn’t come close.

The five-shot lead was down to three over the likes of Blair, Harman and Patrick Cantlay, and a birdie-birdie finish by Cantlay could make things tight. Bradley looked wobbly as he walked to the 17th tee like he knew things weren’t going his way and was unsure how to get right. There were only a few fans scattered around that part of the property, but the ones who were there provided the encouragement Bradley desperately needed. “You’re still good!” shouted one fan. “Let’s go plug the leak!” Bradley did, finding the tight fairway at the 17th. Cantlay didn’t birdie the 17th and made a mess of the final hole. Bradley, after an hour holding his breath, could exhale.

“It was what was going to win or lose me the tournament, so I remember when I won the PGA I made a triple on 15 and then my tee shot on 16 was a regular tee shot, but, again, I always used to say that was the best shot I’ve ever hit and not one that anyone would remember,” Bradley said. “That 17th hole is for sure up there because you have to take an aggressive line. And I did an interview with Chamblee and he said it played as the second hardest hole on the course, or maybe the first, 44 balls in the water today. What a great shot, one of the best I’ve ever hit in my life.”

“KEE-GAN BRAD-LEY! KEE-GAN BRAD-LEY!”

Bradley is naturally fidgety, forever looking like a kid told not to run by the swimming pool. Yet as he walked up the 18th hole with thousands chanting his name, that frenetic spirit was contagious, Bradley madly pumping his fist in the air as the gallery serenaded him with his name.

“You know, I had a bunch of people say they’ve never heard the 18th hole sound like that. It was just so fun to have a three-shot lead where I could enjoy it and mess up a little bit and still win,” Bradley said. “I could let my guard down a little bit.”

Those roars died down momentarily so Bradley and Reavie could finish out, and once they did the roars returned.

“KEE-GAN! KEE-GAN!”

Whenever a player wins—especially when the tournament is big, which the Travelers now is as a designated event—there’s a want to put said win in context or perspective. The victory is now Bradley’s second of the year, putting him squarely in contention for a Ryder Cup spot and inside the top five of the FedEx Cup rankings. At 37 he’s in the best shape of his career thanks to a radical diet that shed 30 lbs., afforded for more flexibility and refilled his proverbial tank. If he’s truly discovered something with his putting perhaps Bradley can be the player we thought he’d be following his stellar run a decade ago.

That is all well and good, and time will tell if it becomes true. Conversely, what happened this week was more than just a victory. It was the culmination of a life-long pursuit, which is why Bradley was brought to tears when he looked at the scoreboard and the scoreboard nodded back, knowing the dream he always wanted had finally come true.

As soon as his ball disappeared Bradley’s arms went up. Those arms were soon filled by his wife and children, and you didn’t need to be a lip-reader to understand “I love you” was bouncing back and forth.

As they made their way up the 18th green, a fan yelled “Can you believe it?” just feet away from Keegan’s face. Keegan had his mouth open but just shook his head. Probably for the best; the roars were too loud, and some things are best left unsaid.

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Perhaps it was just a speed bump after all. That’s how Butch Harmon described Rickie Fowler’s final-round 75 at last week’s U.S. Open, where he entered Sunday in a share of the lead. Less than a week later at the Travelers Championship, Fowler came to about a foot from being the 12th player to go sub-60 on the PGA Tour, instead settling for a third-round 60 to bolt into contention.

At TPC River Highlands, Fowler started on the 10th hole on a rainy Saturday morning at five under and in a tie for 41st, 10 shots back of the lead. He would make his first of eight birdies at the par-4 12th, where he spun a fairway bunker shot back 30 feet before rolling in the seven-footer. Fowler two-putted for birdie at the par-5 13th and the drivable 15th (the latter from off the green) before quality wedge shots to inside 15 feet set up two more on 17 and 18. After making the turn in five-under 30, the magic number first popped into Fowler’s head.

“After birdieing 18 I knew I could potentially get six on the front,” Fowler said. “Especially after birdieing 1 and 2, my 10th and 11th. Seven under through 11 is a pretty good spot to be in.”

The lowest round of his career ?@RickieFowler fires a 60 on Moving Day @TravelersChamp ? pic.twitter.com/JzoblZIO3U

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 24, 2023

With a trio of pars on three of the most difficult holes at River Highlands, Fowler was thinking “birdie the last four.” He did one better at the par-5 sixth, where he holed his eagle chip to get to nine under on the round at the par-70 layout. He needed to play his final three holes in two under to shoot the second-ever round in the 50s at the gettable 6,800-yard course. In 2016, Jim Furyk shot 58 at River Highlands, the lowest-ever round on the PGA Tour.

Fowler, whose last of his five PGA Tour victories came at the 2019 WM Phoenix Open, added another birdie on the par-3 eighth, rolling in a downright right-to-left seven footer to keep his 59 hopes alive heading to his final hole of the day.

When he struck his 126-yard approach on the ninth, he thought he had stuffed it in tight to clinch the historic round.

“It started right where it landed and we had, not windy [conditions], but it’s blowing between five to 10 out there, so I thought the ball was going to drift a few yards,” Fowler said. “Thought it was going to come down right on the stick. … I hit a great shot; executed what I wanted to. If I went back out in the same conditions, I would’ve told you this is where I want to start it and it should move to the hole; it just didn’t.

His ball stayed right, leaving a short but delicate chip from just 13 feet, which he left a foot short, leaving a tap-in for his lowest-ever round on tour. Fowler’s previous low round was a 62, which he shot in Phoenix in 2011 and of course in last week’s opening round at Los Angeles Country Club.

When Fowler finished his round, he’d had moved inside the top five, and though he’ll likely start the final round a few shots back, he will have an opportunity to deliver on Harmon’s prophecy. “He’ll win this year,” Harmon told Golf Digest after the U.S. Open. Harmon was right about the speed bump, and there’s no reason to think he isn’t right again.

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Every golfer knows that one of the most difficult things to do is back up a stupid-low round with another good one. That’s certainly held true at the Travelers Championship, where Patrick Cantlay shot 60 in the second round in 2011 and followed it with a 72. Mackenzie Hughes did only slightly better in 2020 when he opened with a 60 and backed it up with a 68. (OK, a 72 and a 68 is hardly a chop-fest, but for tour pros its close enough).

Denny McCarthy, however, avoided the dreaded post-60 eff-up. On Friday, McCarthy bushed off a “sloppy bogey” at the second hole and no birdies over the first seven to rattle off six over his final 11 holes to shoot 65 and set the tournament 36-hole scoring record at 15 under par (matched later in the day by Keegan Bradley).

“It was a little slow out of the gates,” said McCarthy. “We did a really good job of just settling into the round. I wasn’t hitting any bad, loose shots. Just wasn’t going my way like it was yesterday early on.”

It went exactly his way like Thursday on the back nine, however. McCarthy matched his 30 on the second nine from the day before with birdies on 13, 14 and 15, bookended by birdies on 10 (thanks to a 42-foot putt falling) and 18. It was a fitting display of golf considering McCarthy’s fondness for the incoming nine at TPC River Highlands.

Denny McCarthy walks on the first hole in the second round of the Travelers Championship. Rob Carr

“It’s probably my favorite nine holes on tour because there is such a variety of holes, and it’s fun and entertaining for us players and the fans,” McCarthy said. “You get a short par-3 on 11; 12 is a cool little hole; 13 is a gettable par 5. There is a lot of risk in those holes, too. And, obviously ,15, the drivable one. It’s just a fun nine holes to play. I look forward to it every time I get there.”

Along with a penchant for playing the back nine well, history seems to be in McCarthy’s favor as well. A non-winner so far on the PGA Tour, the Travelers has produced 18 first-time winners in its history, while his 15-under-par total through 36 holes would be enough have been the winning 72-hole total in half of the previous 10 Travelers.

McCarthy, who lost this year’s Memorial in a playoff with Viktor Hovland when a par on the 72nd hole would have won it, knows not to look ahead.

“Yeah, it’s nice, but golf tournaments aren’t 36 holes, unfortunately, so I know there is still a lot of golf left,” he said.

Bradley’s flat stick is on fire

Bradley tied McCarthy’s tournament-record 125 total for the first 36 holes by dropping a nifty 63 in the second round. The fact he leaned on his putter to do it, however, might be a surprise.

Since the USGA banned anchoring in 2016, Bradley, who won the 2011 PGA Championship using an anchored stroke, has struggled on the greens. And that might be saying it kindly.

In 2018 Bradley ranked 174th in strokes gained /putting and was modestly worse in each of the next three seasons, basically dropping a half-shot to the field on the greens in each round. Spotting the field a couple of blows over 72 holes doesn’t often equate to success on the PGA Tour.

In late 2021, Bradley made the move to the AimPoint method of green reading (effectively using your feet to feel the slope, then using your fingers to measure how much break there is) and switching to an Odyssey Versa Jailbird mallet putter. Last season, Bradley finally got on the plus side of the ledger in putting and this season he ranked T-42 coming into the Travelers, gaining a third of a stroke per round on the field.

“I had some pretty dark days with the putter,” Bradley told Golf Channel after the round. “I couldn’t figure out the switch from the belly putter. It was more difficult than I was expecting. It turned out it was pretty simple with AimPoint and [better] alignment. It’s so much more fun to make putts.

Friday merged solid ball striking (17 of 18 greens in regulation, but only 34th in strokes gained/approach) with putting only the bishop from “Caddyshack” could appreciate, rolling in more than 170 feet of putts, including a 58-footer at the third and a 34-footer at the 12th for birdies.

Such success led Bradley to pay homage to his putter by handing it to his caddie as if he were presenting a gourmet meal—level with two hands on it. “You have to pay your respects the putter,” Bradley explained. “She was hot today.”

Hot, but, like the bishop, not everything went down. Had Bradley made one more birdie he would have accomplished something done only once on the PGA Tour since 1983—shooting 62-62 to start a tournament. David Toms accomplished that at the 2011 Colonial, but Bradley couldn’t get a 16-footer to go at 17 or a 13-footer to fall at the last.

Thomas’ best round of the year: progress or a tease?

Max Homa and Justin Thomas had to use their umbrellas at one point in the second round. Patrick Smith

Justin Thomas’ game has been in a funk. How big of one? Consider no top-10s since the WM Phoenix Open in early February. Consider eight consecutive rounds over par coming into the Travelers. Consider a second-round 81 at last week’s U.S. Open, leading to his second straight missed cut.

An opening even-par 70 this week seemed to merely continue the troubling trend, but Thomas found some of the game on Friday by firing a six-under-par 64—his lowest round the year, besting his final-round 65 at the Waste Management.

Thomas flashed his strong tee-to-green game by leading the field in strokes gained in that category in Round 2, knocking many approaches close. On the greens, he benefited from a 53-footer for birdie at the par-4 fourth that got some positive momentum going.

However, JT had to be frustrated by his finish. Standing at eight under on his round going to 17, he went long on his approach on 17, then found the fairway bunker off the tee on 18, both miscues leading to bogeys.

So is Thomas back or just teasing us. The weekend at TPC River Highlands could answer that question.

Connecticut club pro makes the weekend in his backyard

Andrew Svoboda isn’t just any club professional. The head pro at Great River Golf Club in Milford, Conn., a short jump up the Merritt Parkway to I-91 and TPC River Highlands, not only is comfortable playing PGA Tour events, but doing well in them.

Svoboda shot 65 Friday and finds himself T-22 heading into the weekend. The round could have been better, save for a tee shot that found the left rough on the side of a hill on 17 that led to him dunking his second in the water. Svoboda, however, rebounded to make bogey.

Such steeliness is borne out of 79 previous PGA Tour starts, including three top-10s with a runner-up at the 2014 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, helping him to a season where he won $1.17 million.

Since 2015, however, Svoboda—a legend in the PGA’s Met Section—has just three PGA Tour starts, making this week a special one in front of the home fans and family, including his sister and niece and a bunch of Great River members.

“It’s just kind of cool to be part of that,” Svoboda said. “I’m a new head pro there. I’ve been working there for like three months. So, yeah, there was a little bit of pressure with all the members watching.”

And pressure to continue doing well. Asked how much time he had to be club pro if he kept doing well at tournaments, Svoboda didn’t blink.

“Yeah, well, unless I get a top-10 this week I’ll be back being club pro next week.”

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On a day of low scoring, you have to scroll pretty far down the leaderboard to find the name Wyndham Clark. But good luck finding anyone in the field who flashed more smiles during the first round of the Travelers Championship.

Just four days following his US Open victory at Los Angeles Country Club, Clark was on the East Coast teeing it up at TPC River Highlands. And it didn’t take long for him to feel different than he has during any other tournament of his career.

“I definitely was a little less stressed or anxious today than I think I normally would be to start a tournament,” Clark said. “I was more relaxed. I didn’t have much expectations, which was really nice. And then obviously the fan interaction was great. We went off early, which normally when I’m going off on a Thursday that early there is hardly any fans watching me and there as of decent amount, so that was kind of nice.”

Clark was announced as the “US Open champion” before beginning his round bright and early at 7.35am on the 10th tee along with Justin Thomas and Max Homa. He took some playful ribbing from Thomas, but received plenty of crowd support throughout the day on his way to a solid opening-round two-under 68.

“Every hole they were saying: ‘The champ’s here,’ and: ‘Congrats,’” Clark said of the fans. People know my name now, which is nice. Four or five years ago they didn’t know who I am. So it’s been an amazing day.”

Since holding off Rory McIlroy to win the US Open on Sunday it’s been a bit of a whirlwind. Clark says he’s been amazed by some of the “influential” people he’s received calls and texts from, and his media tour of New York City included stops at the “Today” show and “Good Morning America” earlier in the week. He admitted he “hardly had any prep” for this week. So little, in fact, he forgot to tweak his 4-iron that gave him problems at LACC.

He hit his worst shot with that club on Thursday, his shot on the par-3 fifth hole clunked off a teenager’s head. But like he did at LACC time and time again, Clark scrambled for par.

“I had an incredible up and down, so I think he probably saved me,” said Clark, who finished the morning wave six shots behind early leader Keegan Bradley. “So whatever his name is, thank you.”

Clark says his competitive drive has him wanting to do well, but you can’t blame him if deep down he’s treating this week’s tournament as a bonus. In addition to the US Open, Clark won another designated event at the Wells Fargo Championship last month, bringing his winnings over the past six weeks to $7.6 million after earning only $2.6 million over the previous six years.

“No, hasn’t hit me yet,” Clark said. “I’m still kind of on the high. I’m sure as the week goes on it might hit me, but fortunately I have two week off after this to get refreshed and ready for the rest of the year.”

In the meantime, Clark is still in this tournament at two under after Day 1. And he’s still enjoying his victory lap.

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For a second consecutive week, there were a pair of opening 62s shot on the PGA Tour. Only this time, they were actually topped.

Of course, low scoring is expected at the Travelers Championship and not so much at a US Open. But Thursday’s fireworks were impressive even by this tournament’s standards as Keegan Bradley set the pace with a morning eight-under 62 that was matched in the afternoon by Adam Scott. Denny McCarthy didn’t only go lower, though, he narrowly missed history.

McCarthy sat at nine-under, having come up about a rotation short with a lengthy birdie try on No. 8, his 17th hole. So his shooting a 59 — or even a 58 like Jim Furyk shot at the 2016 Travelers — seemed be dashed … until he nearly holed his approach on the par-4 ninth hole. Watch just how close he came to a walk-off eagle for 59:

SO CLOSE! ?@_DennyMcCarthy nearly holes out for eagle at the final hole for a 59! pic.twitter.com/qDJbfvAWg7

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 22, 2023

Amazing. Slow it down and he literally missed the hole by an inch. Moments later, he settled for birdie and a 60 to grab the lead after a wild Day 1 at TPC River Highlands.

“We were just going off the crowd’s reaction at that point,” said McCarthy, who hit a 7-iron from 170 yards. “Obviously it came pretty close to going in. In the air I wasn’t expecting it to be anywhere close to going in, but obviously it was exciting that it had a chance.”

There have been 12 sub-60s in PGA Tour history, the last of which was Scottie Scheffler’s at the 2020 Northern Trust. But while McCarthy couldn’t quite get there, it’s been a hot run for arguably the PGA Tour’s best putter. The 30-year-old is up to a career-best 33rd in the Official World Golf Ranking thanks in large part to a runner-up at last month’s Memorial. But he’s still looking for that elusive maiden PGA Tour title.

“I mean, it sucked that I bogeyed the last hole and bogeyed again in the playoff, but I did a lot of good things down the stretch and I felt really comfortable in that position,” McCarthy said of his playoff loss to Viktor Hovland. “I didn’t feel — there was some nerves and adrenaline, but I didn’t feel shaky. Just kind of felt like I belong in that situation, so I’m hungry to get right back.”

Here are our other takeaways from the opening round:

Keegan Bradley. Patrick Smith

Keegan’s unusual prep pays off
After missing the cut at the US Open, Keegan Bradley spent Father’s Day playing mini golf with his boys. It might turn into a regular thing after the way he putted on Thursday.
Bradley was red-hot with the flatstick, even bowing down to it after rolling in a 75-footer from the fringe on No. 17. It was a putt that wasn’t struck as he planned, but fortunately, it hit the middle of the flagstick and dropped in. That had Keegan thinking about going sub-60 as well.
“Well, when I made that really long putt on 17 and it was — could have gone in the water. I don’t know, crossed my mind,” Bradley said. “I wasn’t thinking about it a lot, but I certainly was going to try to do it.”
Instead, he settled for 62 — and potentially some more mini golf with the New England native’s family here.
“Oh, yeah, my boy played already this morning,” Bradley said with a smile. “Said he wants to go this afternoon. We’ll see.”
The rest of the field could be in trouble.

Scottie Scheffler. Patrick Smith

Scottie Scheffler lurking … as usual
The World No. 1 was up to his usual tricks on Thursday. Scheffler wasn’t sharp off the tee, but his otherworldly iron play allowed him to hit 17 greens on his way to an opening 63.
But again, this is just typical stuff from Scottie. Yesterday’s birthday boy (he turned 27) entered this week with an incredible string of 17 consecutive top-12 finishes, including five straight top fives.
“I felt good out there,” Scheffler said. “Like I said, I didn’t drive it great but it’s not US Open rough out there, so you can kind of manage your way around the golf course as long as you avoid the bunkers.” In other words, ho-hum.

Min Woo Lee. Sean M Haffey

Min Woo Lee’s apology to his sister
The rising star wasn’t supposed to play in this tournament, but got in thanks to a top-10 finish at the US Open — and a pep talk from fellow Aussie Adam Scott. The only problem is that he had to tell his sister, Minjee, that he wasn’t coming to Baltusrol to watch at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
“Yeah, I was supposed to go,” Lee said. “Everything was booked. Booked a house and media stuff, too, for this week at the KPMG, and obviously ended up Top-10ing into this tournament. Sorry, sis. Had to come play here.”
But Minjee will certainly understand — especially if younger bro, who opened with 66 at TPC River Highlands, continues his rise in the Official World Golf Ranking. Oh, and it sounds like it might be for the best anyway.
“She’s probably happy,” Lee said. “I annoy her too much.”

Justin Thomas. Patrick Smith

Justin Thomas’ bounceback
After an 81 on Friday at the US Open left the former World No. 1 the “lowest I’ve felt” in his career, things didn’t start well on Thursday. Thomas bogeyed two of his first five holes then found the water with his tee shot on the drivable par-4 15th.
At that point, the Thomas train was officially headed off the tracks as he was tied for dead last among the morning wave. But the two-time major champ continued fighting.
After taking a penalty drop, Thomas got up and down for par. Then he made two birdies and no bogeys the rest of the way to shoot an even-par 70. It’s still not where the 15-time PGA Tour winner wants to be at 10 shots off the pace, but he’s got to feel at least a bit better heading into Friday.

The post Travelers takeaways: Denny McCarthy’s incredibly close call at history, Keegan Bradley’s unusual prep pays off, and Justin Thomas’ bounceback appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Ask Australia’s Min Woo Lee how he got into the field at the $20 million Travelers Championship despite being a Special Temporary Member on the PGA Tour, and he’ll tell you it’s a funny story.

Lee originally planned to spend this week watching his sister Minjee, a two-time LPGA major winner, compete at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at New Jersey’s famed Baltusrol Golf Club. He was not in the field for Travelers, a designated event, and so it was a nicely timed week off. Those plans still looked firm Saturday night in Los Angeles, after the third round of the U.S. Open, when Lee was two under par and eight shots off the 54-hole lead.

That night, Min Woo got a text from Adam Scott, Lee’s countryman and childhood idol, with an offer to ride on the former World No.1’s private jet to Hartford, Connecticut. “I’m not in Travelers, sorry,” Lee responded, to which Scott had a pointed reply that Lee paraphrased: “Just finish in the top 10 then and you can come. Go get it done.”

Indeed, a top-10 finish at LACC would qualify Lee to start in the next PGA Tour event if not already in the field.

Inspired, Lee shot a bogey-free 67 in the final round to finish tied for fifth. It was his best result in a major championship and first top-10 on the PGA Tour. Sure enough, Lee and his caddie, Stu Davidson, hitched a ride on Scott’s plane.

A ride in Adam Scott’s private jet inspired tour pro’s impressive Sunday US Open finish. Mike Mulholland

“It was a really cool feeling for Adam to do that for me. He’s been a good mentor in my career,” Lee said of the 14-time PGA Tour winner. “I grew up watching him win the [2013] Masters and now he’s become a friend. It’s special.”

Lee has until the end of the season, which will include the autumn portion of the schedule after the FedEx Cup Playoffs, to earn at least the same non-member points as No. 125 in the standings to secure his PGA Tour card next season. With a T-6 at the Players Championship in March and the T-5 at the US Open, he’s well on track. Either way, the 24-year-old is feeling good about his attempt to transition from the DP World Tour, where he’s won twice, to the PGA Tour.

The native of Perth, Western Australia just wants to examine why he sometimes has a poor round within a big event that drops him out of contention, like a Saturday 74 at LACC when he was only three off the lead.

“I really have to dig deep on why the occasional bad round happens but my good golf is awesome I feel I can compete out here,” Lee said. “If I do the right things, experience will start to develop. I’ve only played in a handful of majors, so it’s nice to play well in the early stages of my career. I’m excited to play Travelers this week.”

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Cantlay is playing in the Travelers Championship for a ninth time, the most he’s played any event on the PGA Tour. Of course, it helps when you start playing in a PGA Tour event while you’re still a rising sophomore in college. It helps even more when you shoot the lowest score by an amateur in PGA Tour history.

That came during the second round in 2011 when Cantlay, then 19, fired a then course-record 60 (“Mr 58” Jim Furyk broke it in 2016) to take the 36-hole lead. He failed to break par over the weekend, but the top-25 finish signalled the arrival of a future PGA Tour star and the following year he made his pro debut at the Travelers. Crazy enough, it took 11 more years for Cantlay to match that score on the PGA Tour, which he did at last year’s Shriners Children’s Open.

“Yeah, I think golf is a funny game like that,” Cantlay said at his pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday. “I remember that day I just got in a rhythm and felt like every putt was going to go in and pretty much they all did.”

But back to why this year could be different as Cantlay, now 31, tries to win the Travelers, one of the PGA Tour’s designated events in 2023, for the first time. He’ll have a different, but familiar face reading those putts now. And one that’s especially familiar around these parts.

That would be Joe LaCava. The long-time caddie for Tiger Woods and Fred Couples among others began working with Cantlay full time last month with the 15-time major champ undergoing his latest surgery. Long before that, LaCava grew up in nearby Newtown, Connecticut.

But with Woods having never played in the annual tournament in the Constitution State, LaCava hasn’t worked it many years. Not that he isn’t still familiar with the course.

“It’s been a long time,” LaCava told CTInsider.com earlier this week. “I’ve been fortunate enough to play TPC enough times to know the course well. I think I did work there two times over 20 years.”

Since joining forces full time, Cantlay and LaCava have played four events together. The results (T-21, T-9, T-30 and T-14) have been solid, and Cantlay is loving his new looper.

“He’s been great,” the eight-time PGA Tour winner said. “He’s a pro. He’s done this for a number of years for some great players. It’s really nice to be out there with him. He’s funny, too, so it’s been a good hang.”

Not that Cantlay needs much help around here. In addition to that spectacular debut a dozen years ago, the 2021 FedEx Cup champ arrives with five consecutive top-15 finishes. And he’s also coming off another top 15 at last week’s US Open. So will the crowds be cheering louder for the World No. 4 or their local hero carrying his bag?

“I’m not sure,” Cantlay said with a laugh. “We’re a team, so I don’t mind either way.”

The post Why Patrick Cantlay could have more crowd support than ever this week (no matter how he plays) appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Billy Horschel was all smiles as he wrapped up a Tuesday range session ahead of the Travelers Championship. Less than three weeks before his face had told a much different story.

Following an opening-round 84 at the Memorial — as the tournament’s defending champ — an emotional Horschel fought back tears as he opened up about his recent struggles on the golf course. “My confidence is the lowest it’s been in my entire career,” he said that day.

Horschel was applauded for his candid comments. Heck, the seven-time PGA Tour winner was praised for even making comments after a poor round instead of just scurrying to his courtesy car and slamming his trunk. But he’s glad he did, because he’s been blown away by the support he’s received since.

?? Billy Horschel was in tears today after an opening round 84: “My confidence is the lowest it's been in my entire career. I think ever in my entire golf career. It's funny, as low as it feels, it feels like I'm not that far off at the same time…”
pic.twitter.com/dJvhVMM8Cc

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) June 2, 2023

“It’s been pretty, pretty amazing to see the people reached out to me and, and you know, just sending messages and, you know, the messages themselves were great,” Horschel said. “But the thing that meant more to me is people taking time out of their day, even if it’s for 30 seconds to write a simple text message and, you know, try to help me out and everything. It’s pretty cool and I appreciate everything. It’s been surreal to see.”

Horschel’s words didn’t just reach the people in his life, but the golf community at large. There were many on social media who appreciated one of the best golfers on the planet seeming more relateable than ever.

“Listen, we all struggle at this game and I’m not the first PGA Tour pro to play bad for an extended stretch,” Horschel continued. “There are some people that think we should play well every week right. But golf’s a tough game. Life’s a tough game. So I think just the struggle alone, whether it be golf, whether it be life or anything that you’re doing and you’re putting the work in and you have a lot of passion for, and love for, you’re not getting anything out of it. It’s gonna wear on you, grind on you. And I think a lot of people can resonate with that.”

And since that low point, there have already been positive signs that the 2014 FedEx Cup champ is rounding back into form. He followed up that 84 at Muirfield Village with a 72. Then after opening last week’s US Open with 73, he fired a Friday 67 to make the cut, eventually finishing T-41.

“It’s getting there,” the 36-year-old Horschel said of his golf game. “Still need to continue to hit some good shots and more regularly, but it’s starting to turn around. Just gotta stay patient and not try to get ahead of myself.”

One thing’s for certain is that if and when Horschel does win again, he’ll have more fans rooting for him than ever before.

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