PGA Tour back to normality at Travelers
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2008 Travelers Championship | Preview | 18 Jun 2008
The outer suburbs of Hartford in Connecticut are a long way from the dizzying heights of the US Open where Tiger Woods claimed his 14th major title last week.
Cromwell has a population of some 13,000 but this week comes alive as the Travelers Championship is played at TPC River Highlands, a layout originally built in 1928 but totally rebuilt in 1998 by designers Bobby Weed and Pete Dye.
The tournament was first played in nearby Wethersfield in 1952 as the Insurance City Open and has remained in the Greater Hartford area since.
In 2007, Hunter Mahan defeated Jay Williamson and in doing so won his first PGA Tour event. Mahan returns to Hartford in similar form to that he had been in prior to last year’s event. Mahan finished 13th at the US Open in 2007 and last week was 18th at Torrey Pines after being in contention heading into day four. Mahan also finished runner up behind J.J. Henry in 2006 so has great form on the layout and arrives here off an encouraging week in San Diego.
Vijay Singh is likely to be the favourite but it was a rather disappointing effort from him last week at Torrey Pines when finishing 65th. Singh has seldom played this golf course but was 4th last year after weekend rounds of 66 and 65 and although his current form is not his best he could still do well.
Stewart Cink has been a previous winner of this event and on this golf course and was also runner up the year following his win. Cink has been in outstanding form in 2008 and although he has not won for nearly four years, this offers a very good opportunity. He finished 14th last week at the US Open after a very impressive last round of 67.
Kenny Perry made the decision to not even attempt to play last week but arrives in Hartford off the back of some very good recent form including his very impressive win at the Memorial. Perry has six top ten finishes to his name at this venue and might be advantaged by the fact that he did not play last week. There is little question that he is the most inform player in the field this week.
Carl Pettersson appears to me to be working his way back to some very good form. He has started this event well in each of the last two years, finishing 15th last year after an opening 65. His 6th place last week at the Open was his best ever finish in a major championship, indicating the health of his game at present.
Justin Rose went close to winning this event three years ago and finished 9th last year but, despite his unquestionable talent, his form in 2008 has been a roller coaster. He finished runner up to Kenny Perry at the Memorial but has missed four of his last five cuts.
Heath Slocum’s final round 65 in San Diego last week was the best round of the week and he is in very consistent form in recent weeks. In four visits to this event he has not missed a cut and there have been several very good rounds in that time. He stands a very good chance this week of winning his third PGA Tour title.
Nathan Green might not be an automatic choice but in his one start at the TPC River Highlands two years ago he finished 4th. He has had a two week break to recharge the batteries and sharpen his game and might do well on a golf course that clearly fits his eye. He has played well enough in 2008 for a good finish to not be out of the question this week.
Rod Pampling who had his second best finish in major championship golf last week is in the field as are fellow Australians Nick O’Hern who was impressive when third in this event last week, Stuart Appleby, Peter Lonard who returns after a six week break to let a back injury heal, Steve Elkington, Gavin Coles who went so close in Memphis, Jason Day, Nick Flanagan, Brett Rumford, Steve Allan, Andrew Buckle, Mark Hensby, Matt Jones, Stephen Leaney, David Lutterus and New Zealander Tim Wilkinson.
Jason Day’s return will be interesting. The brilliant 20-year-old has missed eight of his last nine cuts but there have been issues with his back and perhaps a little too much scrutiny on his precocious talent. He has moved house to Fort Worth since last playing at the Memorial and his progress between now and the end of the year will be watched with interest.
