2025 Travelers Championship offers a relaxed birdie-fest after the U.S. Open grind
2025 Travelers Championship offers a relaxed birdie-fest after the U.S. Open grind After the grind at Oakmont, TPC River Highlands offers a friendly atmosphere, a stacked field, and a course that yields low scores.
CROMWELL, Conn. – Golf fans who were white-knuckled last week watching the U.S. Open, squinting their eyes as Oakmont Country Club battered, bruised, and at times, humiliated the game's best players, might want to keep their seatbelts buckled. Not because the 2025 Travelers Championship will be another grindfest. Quite the opposite. If the U.S. Open is like pushing a broken lawn mower on a hot summer day, then the Travelers Championship, this week's PGA Tour Signature Event at TPC River Highlands, is like sitting under an umbrella on the porch, cold beverage in hand, admiring the freshly-cut grass. Here, players will transition from survival mode to chill mode — and maybe enjoy a little New Haven-style pizza.
This year's Travelers Championship field boasts 18 of the top 20 players on the Official World Golf Ranking, a $20 million purse, with $3.6 million going to the winner, along with guys who are ready to shoot low scores. Really low scores.
TPC River Highlands contrast is the charm
In 2022, Xander Schauffele went 63-63 on the weekend to win at 261 (19 under). In 2023, Keegan Bradley shot 62-63 over the first two rounds and finished at 257 (23-under par). Last year, Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim tied at 22-under after four rounds, with Scheffler winning in a playoff. These are not scorecards you see at Oakmont, Winged Foot or Pinehurst No. 2.
TPC River Highlands, which plays to a par of 70, is one of the shortest courses on the PGA Tour — measuring just 6,844 yards — and it rewards precision, imagination, and hot putters. A 65 here doesn't raise eyebrows, but a 71 does. Last year, Cameron Young shot 59 in the third round, but folks in the Nutmeg State are still buzzing about Jim Furyk's all-time PGA Tour scoring record, a 58 he carded in the fourth round back in 2016. That's not a typo. Fifty-eight. He birdied half the holes and never looked like he broke a sweat.
'We're at a point in the schedule when guys are competitively sharp,' said Tony Finau. 'This is not early in the season, this is not the middle of the season, we're coming to the end of the season. We've got three majors under our belt, a lot of Signature Events under our belt and a lot of competition. So, everybody is sharp and everybody is playing great golf. Now that the Travelers is a Signature Event, this is an event that a lot of guys circle on their calendar. They want to play well here and win.'
Year Champion Round 1 Score Final Score (To‑Par) 2024 Scottie Scheffler 65 (−5) 258 (−22) 2023 Keegan Bradley 62 (−8) 257 (−23) 2022 Xander Schauffele 63 (−7) 261 (−19) 2021 Harris English 65 (−5) 267 (−13) 2020 Dustin Johnson 69 (−1) 261 (−19) 2019 Chez Reavie 65 (−5) 263 (−17) 2018 Bubba Watson 70 (E) 263 (−17) 2017 Jordan Spieth 63 (−7) 268 (−12) 2016 Russell Knox 67 (−3) 266 (−14) 2015 Bubba Watson 62 (−8) 264 (−16) Average 65.1 263 (-17)
Travelers Week has appeal for Scottie Scheffler, other stars
Despite being an event that comes after one of golf's four majors, the Travelers has carved out a spot as a can't-miss tournament on the calendar.
'When I think about the Travelers in general, I think of how fun it is, how fun the week is for me and for my family,' said defending champion Scottie Scheffler. 'It's a week in which the players and our families and our caddies get treated as good as we do all year. If you ask any caddie on tour what's his favorite event, it's probably going to be the Travelers Championship.'
Top-ranked players have been showing up for years thanks to strong relationships tournament organizers have made with them, but chartered flights from West Coast U.S. Open venues have helped, too. So has the event's elevation to Signature Event status, but perks and amenities still abound, like the pizza truck in the practice area, which makes custom pies to complement the espresso and ice cream bar that is there all week.
'I think the most welcoming thing here is the hospitality, how nice everyone is treated and how sort of comfy everything is here,' Xander Schauffele said recently. 'Our caddies have courtesy cars this week, and that's the extent of how Travelers has gone to make everyone feel comfortable, and I think it's an awesome thing.'
Rain fell on TPC River Highlands on Tuesday, with a chance of more showers dampening and softening the course on Thursday as temperatures rise through the 70s and into the high 80s. By Saturday and Sunday, golfers and fans at the Travelers Championship will get to enjoy classic New England summer conditions, with temperatures near 90 degrees with plenty of humidity.
Regardless, coming just a few days after the pressure and stress of the U.S. Open, the Travelers Championship will provide a welcome, albeit challenging, relief.
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