Watson and Mahan favourites at Travelers
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 Travelers Championship | Preview | 22 Jun 2011
The PGA Tour moves north from Washington DC to Hartford in Connecticut this week for the Travelers Championship at the TPC River Highlands.
The grind of last week has taken its toll on the field with only one player from the world top ten in the field although there are many playing this week destined for that place in golf.
Hunter Mahan has a good record in this event having won in 2007 and finished runner-up in 2006 and 2007. Mahan comes off a missed cut at Congressional but he was not the only leading player to be a casualty there. He was in fine form prior to the US open however and should bounce back.
Bubba Watson is the defending champion this week but since his win in New Orleans he has been below his best. He finished 63rd last week at Congressional but I believe he can quickly return to contention.
David Toms has not won this tournament but did finish runner-up a couple of years ago and is in fine form in 2011 despite missing the cut in his last two starts.
Webb Simpson was very impressive on the final day at Congressional and he has played well generally in 2011. He has done ok in the two times in this event and might be a good chance at longer odds.
Zach Johnson has put together several good tournaments of late and although he has not won at this venue he did finish 3rd several years ago.
Bo Van Pelt is another playing well enough to do well on a golf course he has often played well on previously.
The Australians are headed by Aaron Baddeley who struggled in round two at the US Open after what had been a good start. It was a surprising slip by Baddeley who has generally played very well this year.
Geoff Ogilvy is currently in the field but he is still struggling to find the form he produced at Augusta National. He was underdone at last week’s US Open following shoulder surgery earlier and hopefully he is better for having played the event.
Michael Sim, Steven Bowditch, Jarrod Lyle, Matt Jones, Nathan Green, Greg Chalmers, Nick O’Hern, Stuart Appleby, Steve Elkington and late inclusion Aaron Price are the Australians in the field.
