The final Signature Event of the season has arrived: the Travelers Championship. After yesterday’s news, only one more year of putting up with these. Can’t stress enough how much they suck! But full fields and cuts at every tournament will be back soon enough.
Signature Events, especially by the last one, become harder and harder to find actual storylines or topics I’m excited about for the week. But this is what I came up with.
Can Fleetwood Avenge Last Year’s Defeat Here?
Last year at the Travelers Championship, Tommy Fleetwood took a 3-stroke lead into the final round and seemingly looked well on his way to his long-desired and awaited first PGA Tour victory. He even led by 2 strokes with only three holes to play, but that cushion proved to not be enough.
It was a closing birdie from hometown favorite Keegan Bradley and a soft bogey from Fleetwood that led to an Uno Reverse at 18.
Fleetwood went on to win a couple of months later at the Tour Championship, but his win in the 30-man field remains his sole PGA Tour win.
So the question begs: can he win in a larger field and avenge last year’s close call at TPC River Highlands?
Will Ben James Continue to Impress?
Ben James, the recipient of a PGA Tour card a couple of weeks ago as the #1 senior in the PGA Tour University Rankings, has proved he belongs rather quickly.
He’s only had two starts as a pro, one being the US Open, but has showcased his serious talent right out of the gates. At the RBC Canadian Open, his first start, he solo led through 36 holes. Insanely impressive.
The weekend in Canada went poorly, but he demonstrated resilience by bouncing back quickly at the US Open, where he finished T23 and ahead of some of the game’s best, such as Rory McIlroy, Cam Young, Chris Gotterup, Hideki Matsuyama… You get the point.
James now has a golden opportunity via a sponsor exemption this week to showcase his talents again against the PGA Tour’s top players, minus Rory.
Can he get in the mix again?
Can Scheffler Snap his Slump?
It’s not often we label a guy who has three runner-ups and a couple of third and fourth-place finishes in the last few months as being in a slump, but I think it’s fair to diagnose Scheffler with just that.
When you win at the rate Scheffler has the last couple of seasons, you get accustomed to that. It felt like a guarantee that if Scheffler was in the mix on a Sunday over the past two years, he was winning the tournament. But ever since his win at the start of the season, that hasn’t been the case.
He’s had the close calls and has still been in the mix almost every tournament he tees it up in, but he just can’t get across the finish line.
The Travelers Championship presents him with another great opportunity to end this “winning slump” narrative. It’s a place he won at a couple of years ago.
First Solo Win for Alex Fitzpatrick..?
Since winning the Zurich team event with his brother, Alex has arguably been the better Fitzpatrick on Tour. In six starts, he has three top 10s, all coming in big Signature Events, and a T25 finish at the US Open. He’s more than proved he belongs and has the game to compete individually on the PGA Tour.
My question is: can he take this solid play and turn it into his first solo PGA Tour win this week?
The results in Signature Events, plus the ball striking, give me lots of confidence that this could be Alex Fitzpatrick’s week.
New Putter for Jordan Spieth?
It’s been reported by multiple people that Spieth has been testing new LAB Putters at the Travelers this week after another disappointing week on the greens at Shinnecock.
Jordan, who’s one of the few blade putter soldiers remaining on Tour, may have finally given in… We shall see if it’s in the bag come Thursday.
And if it is, will it be an automatic fix to his game? Doubtful, but it will be interesting to monitor.
